Litigation is trial practice is performance
Or: All the World's a Stage
I feel guilty that I haven't updated in a while, and certain people (cough! cough! diana! cough!) are pestering me. So here, for your reading pleasure, is a bit of an e-mail I wrote earlier this year to my middle-school drama teacher. I had no idea where to find him, but I wanted to get back in touch, and Google is a master at those things. Unfortunately, my teacher's name is "Dean Acheson" -- yes, relative of former U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson -- so it was pretty damn hard to winnow the results. But I did, because I am a Web God -- and I got a response.
Dean asked me why I decided to "strike it poor as a lawyer" instead of going into a more creative, performance-oriented field. I thought about this for a moment, and then I began to wax philosophical on the similarities of law and acting:
Actually, part of the reason I enjoy law school so much is because there is a major performance aspect to it. My professors tell me that of all the students they've seen this year, I am the best at getting up in front of a judge and arguing my case, weaving in cases to support me. Apparently, I am a natural up there -- good speaker, good eye contact, good stage presence. And the key: good timing. That's VERY important, and it amazes me how many people have absolutely no skill in that area. You have to know when to pause, when to look up, when to hold back just a bit, and when to deliver a line with force. When to be confident and completely certain in what you're saying, and when to back off and admit when the law is murky. When to be consoling and when to be dismissive. I believe my drama "training" (what little training I had) helped prepare me for this line of work.
To all the future James Lipton guests out there: take note.
12 Comments:
Are you choking? Do you need me to give you the Heimlich?! And who the hell is Dean Acheson? Where the hell did you go to middle school?!
Di
By Anonymous, at 1:16 PM
My thinking exactly. It sounds like you expect that people know who Dean Acheson is, the way you wrote the post. I had no idea who he was. Would you say that in Washington D.C., more people are more knowledgable about politics than the average American? I think so, but I really don't know.
Um, but I do know the current secretary of state, I think. Colin Powell right? I'm pretty sure it's him. Yeah, condelleza rice is national security, and rumsfeld is secretary of war. And powell is secretary of state. I'm almost sure.
I know the old one was Madeline Albright because I saw her on an episode of the daily show. Crap, or was Janet Reno the old secretary of state? Wait, she was attorney general? I think so. She appeared on Saturday Night Live once, so I remember her.
I met Bill Bradbury once. I know for a fact he is the secretary of state for oregon. I even voted for him because he seemed like a swell guy.
By Anthiypatus, at 7:07 PM
This is like instant messaging each other, only with a really long delay!
Dean Acheson was my middle school drama teacher. His grandfather or uncle or something was Secretary of State from 1949-1953. The two look almost identical.
I went to middle school at Roeper in Birmingham, Michigan. It's a private school for the gifted. In this context, "gifted" is a synonym for "fiscally impetuous."
Anything else, Special Agent Di?
By Matt, at 12:15 AM
Anthi--
You are right on all counts. Most people in DC know a little more about politics than the average bear. Your knowledge of the U.S. cabinet is dead on, although I'm not sure how much longer Powell will be with us. (He has expressed interest in leaving his job.) You have also confirmed that most young people today get their political knowledge from the Daily Show. What is the world coming to!
By Matt, at 12:18 AM
Um, so I take it you aren't going to vote for Jon Stewart in 2008? Damn, I was hoping you could do some writing for the campaign.
Dude, though, seriously. If Arnold can be governer, Stewart can da prez.
Actually, I was watching C-span and they had Jon Stewart on. Well, I guess I should say that I was watching C-span because they had Jon Stewart on. Anyways, he said something very interesting. They asked him, "(really big number)% of young people say they get their news from you. Do you feel some sort of responsibility blah blah blah moral blah blah youth blah blah?"
His response was really good. I suggest you go watch the episode. You can go download it off bittorrent, along with the Crossfire episode. It was amazingly funny, as Stewart always is.
His basic point was that, to find the Daily Show funny, you need to know quite a bit of politics already. If you didn't already know anything about politics, the show wouldn't be funny. It would just be confusing. So no, I don't really get my political knowledge from the Daily Show.
I do usually get my political opinions from the Daily Show though. I mean, I was kind of undecided, but then I saw just one episode of the Daily Show, and then I hated Bush from the bottom of my heart.
Also, the last time I saw CNN, I watched it because Jon Stewart was on. Did you see that episode of Crossfire? It was beautiful. I never thought that two people on CNN would be exchanging insults like that. The guy with the bowtie called Stewart "Kerry's Buttboy" and Stewart called bowtie guy, "an even bigger dick in person."
I just wanted to point this out. I thought it would cheer you up. :)
Hmm, a new thought occurred to me. How about Jon Stewart for pope? I mean, really anyone can be elected as pope. They've raised lay people to the papacy before. We've had Catholic popes for what, 1900 years or so? I think it's time to try something new, something different. We should get a little diversity and try out a Jewish pope instead. I bet it would do wonders for Church enrollment worldwide.
(This post contains hyperbole. PLEASE don't take it literally.)
By Anthiypatus, at 7:12 PM
Sadness? Powell is leaving? I respected that guy ever since he apologized to the United Nations. It takes balls to stand up in front of the entire world and say, "Oops, we just made a mistake and killed many thousands of people. Sorry 'bout that."
Now if only President Bush had the balls to say that, maybe I could forgive him.
By Anthiypatus, at 7:17 PM
You use a mac? Cool beans. I don't know many people who use macs.
By Anthiypatus, at 8:50 PM
You went to Roeper? You geek. I trained Kung Fu with a bunch of brilliant punk freaks who also went to Roeper. To their (and your) credit, they were really smart. I guess I thought you went to Berkshire like the rest of us Groves folks. Huh.
SA Di
By Di, at 8:42 AM
Yes, Di, I am a geek. And sadly, I must admit that I went to school with a bunch of Revolutionaries with spiky hair and piercings everywhere. They were odd but a very smart bunch. :-)
By Matt, at 4:51 PM
Did you transfer from Case to G-town law? Wow, that must be like going from off off Broadway to, well, Broadway. Congratulations.
I was just curious how well acting translates to litigating. I mean, do you think Jude Law would make a good defense attorney? Tom Cruise? They are both so hot though, don't you think? Oooooooh....what about Vince Vaughn. He can cross examine me any time he wants!
By Anonymous, at 6:31 PM
Thanks.
Acting skills help but intelligence is crucial. So Jude Law or Tom Cruise, while "cute," would have an advantage over many other trial lawyers in that they might be better able to connect with a jury. However, that's only useful if they have something to connect about. In other words, they need a brain too.
By Matt, at 4:27 PM
Strange--Dean Acheson was my high school drama teacher at Roeper, and I also went to law school-- where is he? Very hard to find due to the name and all.
By Anonymous, at 10:27 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home