Ask Howard Treesong About Law or Lawyering

[Howard Treesong]

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what kind of pro bono work do you do, if any? what area of law do you find the most interesting?

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In my current role, none -- although I was highly tempted to go roust up a class to sue the Flying Imams on an intentional-infliction of emotional distress case. In the past, I've represented several indigent criminal defendants.

Oddly enough, I'm a process geek and generally avoided a subject-matter specialty. Of all the areas I dabbled in, I liked litigating in bankruptcy courts the best. That's because trials there have no juries and are usually on an accelerated time frame, avoiding the stupid discovery fights that burden down most civil litigation. Plus, a ton of my opponents were bankruptcy lawyers rather than litigators who didn't know enough about the rules of evidence or other trial issues, and at times, litigating against these guys felt like spearing fish in barrel. One transcript I'll remember for a long time:

Witness: Well, the banker told me . . .

Me (interrupting): Objection. Hearsay.

Court: Well?

Enemy lawyer: We really need this testimony, your honor.

Me: shrugs shoulders.

Court: Sustained.