My most memorable trial was a murder trial where there was no body. The defendant was a serial killer who acted like a "black widow" in the sense that he would involve himself in another's life, kill them and then assume their identity to steal everything they had. The victim was a rich transvestite who used both male and female identities. The defense was that he faked his own death and was living elsewhere as a woman. Didn't fly...

My most memorable moment at trial was a "Perry Mason moment" where I was prosecuting a defendant whose neighbor went over to his house and was stabbed by him in the doorway with a can opener. When questioned, the defendant said that the victim came to his house and fell off the stoop into some rose bushes cutting himself. I called a neighbor in rebuttal to say that he was looking down from his second story window and say that he didn't see the incident but that he saw the victim walking away from the stoop holding his stomach. Then he said he saw the defendant come out of his house, look around, and then climb down and "stomp on his own rosebushes!"

The hardest lesson to learn as a trial lawyer is when NOT to cross-examine.

My Dad inspired me to become a lawyer. He never graduated high school but had friends who were lawyers and he admired them and the profession.

The biggest lesson to learn early in the profession is to gain a reputation of honesty and fair dealing. I admire the well prepared lawyer who is considerate of his client and myself and not the "Rambo" lawyer who does anything to win, including unethical conduct.