Last week I traveled to Corpus Christi–the Sparkling City by the Sea located on the South Texas Gulf Coast–to assist with a jury trial. Unlike some of the small Texas towns I’ve been to for trial, Corpus Christi is the big city, with a population of approximately 325,000, making it the 8th most populous city in Texas. In fact, the Port of Corpus Christi is the third largest port in the United States.

The Nueces County Courthouse, where our trial was being held, is a moderne style courthouse, built in 1977.

 

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The city has a historic courthouse, built in 1914, which sadly has been abandoned since 1977. The six-story building’s facade is gray brick, with white terra cotta trim, a red tile roof, and Ionic columns. Whether the once-majestic building will be redeveloped, rehabilitated, or torn down is the subject of debate, and a recent plan to convert it to a 4-star hotel fell through.

Corpus Christi means body of Christ in Latin, and it seemed a fitting place to have a trial during the Christmas holiday season. Each afternoon, as I entered the courthouse, I was greeted by local school children rocking Christmas carols:

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The Omni Hotel, where I spent the night, was cheerfully decorated for the holidays. Just look at Rudy at the front desk, who can hardly contain his holiday cheer amidst all the sparkly shrubbery:

Rudy granted my Christmas wish for a room with a view:

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That ship in the distance is the USS Lexington, now an aircraft carrier museum:

My room was comfortable, but more importantly, it was all mine:

Although I couldn’t help but think how much Jasper and Maisy would have enjoyed the extra bed:

The trial concerned trees that our client had removed from an easement, to the landowner’s dismay. Many of the trees were palms. (Did you know there are around 2600 different species of palms? Learn something new every day!) The landowner brought some palm fronds for the judge and the jury to see:

My partner (as in law partner, not life partner) couldn’t resist doing a little dance with one while the jury was out:

The courtroom’s ceiling reminded me of an alien space ship hovering overhead, like something out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind:

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Trial had been going on for 2-1/2 days by the time I was summoned. I got to watch the last witness’s testimony, and then we had a short conference with the judge before recessing for the day. We headed to the Republic of Texas Bar and Grill on the 20th floor of the hotel for dinner before retiring to our rooms to prepare for the final day of trial.

Most of the group had steak, but I opted for Shrimp Republic — jumbo shrimp in a white wine scampi sauce — which was very good:

Honorable mention goes to the epic hash browns my partner (law partner, not life partner) ordered:

The restaurant had a spectacular view of the water, and we enjoyed watching night fall over the water:

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Even better was the full moon over the water:

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Back in my room, I settled in to draft VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS and earn my keep. I was up until 1:30 a.m. drafting them, and then, of course, I was too wired to fall asleep. Flipping through the channels on the TV, I landed on “My 600-Pound Life,” and eventually fell asleep from sheer exhaustion coupled with depression brought on by the show.

The next morning my boss and partner (yeah, yeah) were up and at it at the crack of dawn. I was not. I joined them in time for the 10:00 a.m. jury charge conference, at which I had a rare speaking role. Our opposing counsel was starting to get on my nerves with her insignificant changes to the charge that I had been tasked with drafting. I didn’t have access to wifi, which I needed to circulate the charge to everyone, but my boss helped out by telling me to “get in his hot spot.” We had a break for lunch, and then the jury returned to the courtroom, the judge read the charge to them, and they retired to the jury room to make their findings.

The jury didn’t take long to reach a verdict. They awarded the landowner more than our client would have preferred, but a whole lot less than the landowner asked for, so who won? You tell me.

As the jury was leaving, a few of them stopped to talk to my boss, who continued to argue his theory of damages to them. I could almost hear the theme song from Frozen, “Let It Go,” softly playing overhead. Gotta admire his passion!

We didn’t waste any time loading up the car and heading back to Houston. Kinda fun running into Santa buying jerky when we stopped for gas. 🙂

With the trial behind us, we are all looking forward to the holidays. Wishing you a Merry Christmas!