Year In Review, 2019.

Books Read (in order read)
1. The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture by David Mamet (2011) [cd unabridged]
2. America: The Farewell Tour by Chris Hedges (2018)
3. Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich (2009)[cd unabridged]
4. The Tenth Island by Diana Marcum (2018)
5. Looking for Alaska by Peter Jenkins (2001)
6. 3 Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama by David Mamet (1998)
7. Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward(2018) [cd unabridged]
8. Melting Pot or Civil War? by Reihan Salam (2018)
9. Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux (2008) [cd unabridged]
10. Hippie by Paulo Coelho (2018) [cd unabridged]
11. Ship of Fools by Tucker Carlson [cd unabridged]
12. Hoaxed: Everything They Told You is a Lie by Mike Cernovich (2108)
13. Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis (2005) [cd unabridged]
14. What Does This Button Do? by Bruce Dickinson (2017)
15. The Great Dissent: How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind--and Changed the History of Free Speech in America by Thomas Healy (2013) [cd unabridged]
16. Big Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking (2018)
17. Dopesick by Beth Macy (2018)[cd unabridged]
18. Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis (1985)
19. The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi (English trans. 2002 by William Scott Wilson)
20. Why Religion? by Elaine Pagels (2018)[cd unabridged]
21. The Seven Year Trap: Back Office Observations of the Business of Law & the Path to Partnership by Charles Gillis (2018)
22. American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey Into the Business of Punishment by Shane Bauer (2018) [cd unabridged]
23. The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels (1979)[cd unabridged]
24. The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis (2018)
25. You've Been So Lucky Already: A Memoir by Alethea Black (2018)
26. Almost Everything: Notes on Hope by Anne Lamott (2018)[cd unabridged]
27. The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts by Joan Biskupic (2019)
28. Contempt by Ken Starr (2018)
29. Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks (1969)[cd unabridged]
30. The Rational Male by Rollo Tomassi (2013)
31. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (2003) [cd unabridged]
32. The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau (2010) [cd unabridged]
33. Team of Vipers by Cliff Sims (2018)
34. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (2005) [cd unabridged]
35. The Loudest Voice in the Room by Gabriel Sherman (2014)
36. Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport (2019)
37. Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson (2015) [cd unabridged]
38. Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude by Raymond M. Kethledge and Michael S. Erwin (2017)
39. The Reversal (a Lincoln Lawyer novel) by Michael Connelly (2010) [cd unabridged]
40. First: Sandra Day O'Connor by Evan Thomas (2019)
41. Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing by Robert A. Caro (2019)
42. The Brass Verdict (a Lincoln Lawyer novel) by Michael Connelly (2008) [cd unabridged]
43. The Fifth Witness (a Lincoln Lawyer novel) by Michael Connelly (2011) [cd unabridged]
44. Out of Order: Stories from the History of the Supreme Court by Sandra Day O'Connor (2013)
45. The Majesty of the Law: Reflections of a Supreme Court Justice by Sandra Day O'Connor (2003) [cd unabridged]
46. Solitude: Seeking Wisdom in Extremes; A Year Alone in the Patagonia Wilderness by Robert Kull (2008)
47. The Gods of Guilt (a Lincoln Lawyer novel) by Michael Connelly (2013) [cd unabridged]
48. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1994) [cd abridged]
49. Deep Work by Cal Newport (2016)
50. Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir by John Paul Stevens (2011) [cd unabridged]
51. Ten Years A Nomad by Matthew Kepnes (2019)
52. The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker (2014) [cd unabridged]
53. Bitcoin Billionaires by Ben Mezrich (2019)
54. Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Timothy Ferriss (2017)
55. Doing Justice: A Prosecutor's Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law by Preet Bharara (2019) [cd unabridged]
56. White by Bret Easton Ellis (2019)
57. A Republic, If You Can Keep It by Neil Gorsuch with Jane Nitze and David J. Feder (2019)
58. The Innovators by Walter Isaacson (2014) [cd unabridged]
59. "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" by Richard P. Feynman (1985) [cd unabridged]
60. Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning by Viktor E Frankl (1997) [cd unabridged]
61. "What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman (1988)
[cd unabridged]
62. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl (1984 ed.) [cd unabridged]
63. Deep State: Trump, the FBI, and the Rule of Law by James B. Stewart (2019)
64. Permanent Record by Edward Snowden (2019)
65. Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Tim Ferriss (2016)
66. Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime by Sean Carroll (2019)
67. Eisenhower: A Life by Paul Johnson (2014) [cd unabridged]
68. Methods of Persuasion: How to Use Psychology to Influence Human Behavior by Nick Kolenda (2013)
69. Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace by D. T. Max (2012)
70. The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace (1989) [cd unabridged]

Losses Sustained
John Bogle
John Radcliffe (younger cousin)
Ric Ocasek

Book of the Year
Tie: Permanent Record by Edward Snowden (2019) and "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" by Richard P. Feynman (1985)
Honorable Mention: Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport (2019)

Concert of the Year
Tool (10/20/19 Los Angeles)



Film of Year
The Irishman
Honorable Mentions: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Apollo 11

Trial of the Year
"What's in a Title?"

In a year where I went 5-0 in trials, one case particularly stood out for its windfall to my clients. My clients (husband and wife) purchased a four-unit investment property with the wife's sister and her spouse. So, the four of them went on title. The other couple advanced all of the down payment, and my clients' credit rating secured the loan on the property. (The other couple conceded they couldn't have qualified without help.) Thereafter, the other couple suffered a marital dissolution. As a result, wife (my client's sister) bought out her husband's interest in the property (using her own funds), leaving only three on title.

My clients grew weary of not receiving any income from the property, despite reporting all income on their taxes. They wondered what legal rights they had. Since they were on title, I suggested a partition by sale cause of action, which we filed. The other side cross-complained for breach of an oral agreement, alleging essentially that my clients never acquired any ownership interest in the property, but only lent their credit to help buy the property as a favor to their sister.

After a trial involving many witnesses, including the parties, tenants, family members, and even the ex-husband (who ardently advocated his ex-wife's position), the trial court ruled in my client's favor on the complaint and cross-complaint, ruling that they were 66.67 percent owners of the property, and accordingly, entitled to that percentage of the net proceeds of its sale that the court ordered, plus attorneys' fees. Distilled to its essence, title controlled.

As a bonus, opposing counsel after the trial remarked about my cross-examination, "You got my client to say whatever you wanted her to say." I offered no rebuttal.

Appeal of the Year
"Resurrection of a Wrongful Death Case"

A 75-year-old Alzheimer's patient was placed in a locked unit and positioned next to a young man known to be violent. The young man battered the helpless elderly patient, who eventually died. In turn, the decedent's personal representative brought a lawsuit against the hospital, attending physicians, and nurses for: (a) professional negligence, (b) elder abuse, (c) wrongful death, and (d) willful misconduct.

After a few attempts, the trial judge dismissed the lawsuit on a demurrer for "uncertainty" and untimeliness--without leave to amend. Plaintiff's counsel requested that I brief the appeal in this tragic case.

My arguments apparently convinced the court of appeal that the pleading was not "uncertain" and not time-barred, but in fact stated valid claims. The appellate court reversed the trial court's dismissal of the action, remanded the case for a trial, and awarded costs to my client.


Athletic Achievement of the Year
Best (running) mile time in decades
Long segment of PCT in Washington (Stevens Pass)



Plus 365/365 workouts [fifth year-in-row]
Fulfilled annual treks to Maui and Sedona