You may have noticed that we've been mostly offline the past week and that we have not been posting with our usual frequency.
Fear not: we were not AWOL or otherwise goofing off. We were actually doing what lawyers do: appearing in a real, live, in-person courtroom!
This was a bench trial in the Sixteenth Judicial District, State of Florida at the literal end of the road (U.S. 1, the Overseas Highway), or maybe the beginning of the road, depending on your perspective. Otherwise known as the Monroe County courthouse, otherwise known as the Key West courthouse.
Yes, quite literally the southernmost courthouse in the (continental) United States (protip: there's a lot of "southernmost [something]" in Key West, if you have not been there before).
We're not going to get into the details of the case due to it being still under consideration by the court. This was a bench trial, and after closing arguments, the court took the case under advisement and will render a verdict after the parties submit our post-trial papers. But we can say the case involved regulatory takings, of both the Penn Central and Lucas varieties. Loss of use and value; distinct investment-backed expectations, character of the government action. Good stuff.
The Key West courthouse is conveniently located near the "downtown" tourist district, next to the Truman Little White House historical site. Walking distance from the hotel at which our trial team stayed. A bit of humidity tempered by tropical sea breezes. Very Hemingwayesque. Key Lime pie. Feral chickens (as a visitor these are quaint, but were we residents we're not so sure we'd be happy with the early-morning wake up calls that come with having feral chickens in your neighborhood).
And this being the Conch Republic, the shell motif was everywhere, including the courthouse friezes.
Nice touch, courthouse architect.
The courthouse is the "new" courthouse (circa 2006). The historical Monroe County courthouse is right around the corner, and is depicted on a mural just outside the front door of the new courthouse.
Being walking distance from the hotel, we didn't need to use the courthouse's parking. Thank goodness. Wouldn't want to get on the Clerk's bad side by taking their space.
There were restrictions on cameras in the courtroom, so we couldn't get any shots of the in-court action. Not that it was super photo-worthy, more like florescent-wood-paneled-Courtroom-Modern style. You know what we mean.
One interesting detail. The courthouse itself is a County facility. Thus, no masks, no distancing requirements in the hallways, conference rooms, elevators. This is Florida, after all, where the restrictions were lifted in full a few weeks ago. But the inside of the courtrooms are governed by the rules of the Florida Supreme Court, which maintained some covid restrictions. Thus, when we were inside the actual courtroom we and the court personnel and the witnesses masked up. But once we stepped outside into the hall, off they came.
We were honored to second-chair two of our colleagues who carried the load of the two-day trial. It's good to see younger lawyers taking the lead, doing the things that lawyers do in a real (not virtual) courtroom: witness examination and cross, setting up demonstratives, making a record, opening and closing, and all that good stuff.
With most of the last year-plus being remote, everyone was admittedly a bit rusty. But we got the job done. Here they are, looking none the worse for wear, after closing arguments.
One final word: everyone involved in the trial--the court personnel, opposing counsel, the percipient and expert witnesses--made the trial process smooth. It made our first time appearing in a Florida courtroom a pleasure. It was good to be back. Even going through security was a happy experience. We almost forgot what being in a courtroom felt like.
