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inns of courtLegal Jeopardy!The best Inns Of Court presentationsget all of its membersinvolved. Instead of justhaving a group standing upperforming for their adoring fans inthe audience, the best groups makethe adoring fans part of the performance.Judge Maier’s group (starringErika Littlefield, Lisa Mendes,Matthew Mraule, Nick Casper,Nicholas Jay, Janine Ogando, PatrickPerez, Scott Reep, LaureenBethards and John Warnlof) provedthis old saw one more time with agreat “Legal Jeopardy!” presentationat the March 14, 2013, meeting.If you’ve ever watched an episodeof “Jeopardy!,” seen the ”SaturdayNight Live” always hilarious“Celebrity Jeopardy!” skits, or evencaught any part of the “E! True HollywoodStory” on Alex Trebek, youknow how “Jeopardy!” works. Theygive you the answer, you give themthe question!The twist here is that all of the categorieswere legal in nature. Eventhe “Movies” category related tolaw movies, like the always realistic“Jury Duty” (Pauly Shore’s greatestrole). The most basic questions werefairly easy; most practitioners inthat field would quickly get them.However, the difficulty quickly escalatedand most teams spent theentire night in the negative. Yes, it’strue. An entire room full of veteranattorneys and judges got the vastmajority of the questions ... wrong.Partial credit should go to JudgeMaier’s group for crafting increasinglychallenging questions. However,more of the credit (or blame)should go to the groups for buzzingin too soon or failing to answerin the form of a question. Theseare basic “Jeopardy!” tenets, yetthey tripped up so many groups.Groups had plenty of enthusiasmfor the rules of the game and werenot bashful about alerting JudgeMaier’s group when the answeringgroups made the most basic mistakes.When it comes to a raucousenergy at an Inns Of Court meeting,you don’t have to turn up the stovetoo much to get that water to boil.Inns President Scott Reep playedAlex Trebek, but went old schoolTrebek, donning a perm wig androcking a red blazer. He wielded abuzzer like it was a light saber, strikingdown the groups that daredanswer incorrectly (although, itshould be noted, that actuallydidn’t make them more powerfulthan you could ever imagine).The groups careened helplesslytowards “Final Jeopardy!,” sadly arrivingto the championship roundmostly empty handed. Only twogroups were actually in the positive,which meant that only twogroups could even really take partby Matthew Talbotin “Final Jeopardy!”It came down to Judge Cram’sgroup (my group) versus JudgeMockler’s group for all the marbles!Judge Mockler’s group was up byapproximately $2,000, so they hadthe advantage. Before we receivedthe “Final Jeopardy!” answer, bothgroups had to enter our wagers. Ourgroup decided to bet a single dollar,pinning our hopes on Judge Mockler’sgroup failing. It was the conservativeplay and I was concerned.Were we betting not to lose? But Iwas assured it was the way to go.Plus, you have to have hope.The “Final Jeopardy!” answercame in: “This justice said: ‘It isbetter, so the Fourth Amendmentteaches us, that the guilty sometimesgo free than the citizens besubject to easy arrest.’”We guessed Justice Douglas,which was correct! Judge Mockler’sgroup guessed another, incorrectjustice. What’s more, they had wageredso much money that they fellbehind us into second place! Our$1 betting plan had worked! ClearEyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!It was an extremely successfulevening that helped bring the InnsOf Court community together in afun and funny way. s32MAY 2013
The next Inns ofCourt meetingis May 9, 2013,at the LafayettePark Hotel.To learn moreabout the InnsOf Court and getinvolved, contactPresidentScott Reep at707.748.0900 orScott@Solanolawgroup.com.Roger F. Allen510.832-7770Ericksen, Arbuthnot155 Grand Avenue, Suite 1050Oakland, CA 94612rallen@ericksenarbuthnot.comNorthern CaliforniaMediator / Arbitrator16 years as Mediator25 years as Arbitrator33 years in Civil Practice• Training includes Mediation Course atPepperdine University 1995• Serving on Kaiser Medical MalpracticeNeutral Arbitrators Panel• Settlement Commissioner, Alameda and<strong>Contra</strong> <strong>Costa</strong> Counties• Experienced in all areas of Tort Litigation,including injury, property damage, fire loss,malpractice, construction defectMorrill Law Firm1333 N. California Blvd., Ste 620 • Walnut Creek, CA 94596Phone 925.322.8615 • Fax 925.357.3151Will & Trust LitigationFinancial Elder AbuseConservatorshipsGeneral Civil LitigationProbate & Civil AppealsMediationJoseph MorrillAndrew R. VerriereNicole MorrillParalegalCONTRA COSTA COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION CONTRA COSTA LAWYER 33
Page 2 and 3: Perry A. NovakSenior Vice President
Page 6 and 7: insideRevolutionizing LawWelcome to
Page 8: The Future of Law in Admissionsto t
Page 11 and 12: have crippled the judiciary’s abi
Page 14 and 15: Growing Trends in Today’s Legal W
Page 16 and 17: Growing Trends,cont. from page 15si
Page 18 and 19: LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SERIES 2013
Page 20: Solo SectionBreakfastFebruary 21, 2
Page 23 and 24: 2013 MEXICO MCLERELAX AND STUDY IN
Page 25 and 26: 1990, it was 15 months; in 2001 it
Page 27 and 28: California lawyers and courts may a
Page 29 and 30: 1A virtual law office has been defi
Page 31: A GOODREVIEWbut only if the stateme
Page 35 and 36: CALENDARUPCOMING EVENTS | OVERVIEWM
Page 37 and 38: May 29 | CCCBAFast Track Bench/Bar
Page 39 and 40: Interested inAdvertisingin theContr

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