Year In Review, 2024.

Books Read (in order read)

1. Killing Floor by Lee Child (1997) [cd unabridged]

2. The Wager by David Grann (2023)

3. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (2018) [audiobook]

4. All for a Few Perfect Waves: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora by David Rensin (2008)

5. Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child (2007) [cd unabridged]

6. The Great Good Thing by Andrew Klavan (2016)

7. Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly (2023) [cd unabridged]

8. Wired by John Belushi by Bob Woodward (1984)

9. Age of Entitlement by Christopher Caldwell (2020) [cd unabridged]

10. Stoner by John Williams (1965)

11. Number Go Up by Zeke Faux (2023)

12. All-American Murder: The Rise and Fall of Aaron Hernandez, the Superstar Whose Life Ended on Murderers' Row by James Patterson and Alex Abramovich with Mike Harvkey (2018) [cd unabridged]

13. Ghost Town Living by Brent Underwood (2024)

14. Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond by Henry Winkler (2023) [cd unabridged]

15. Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez (2nd rev. ed. 2018)

16. Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class by Rob Henderson (2024)

17. Back From The Dead by Bill Walton (2016)

18. Lost City of Z by David Grann (2009) [audiobook unabridged]

19. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (2015) [cd unabridged]

20. Die With Zero by Bill Perkins (2020)

21. You Can't Joke About That by Kat Timpf (2023)

22. The Southern Lawyer by Peter O'Mahoney (2022)

23. In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife by Sebastian Junger (2024) [audiobook unabridged]

24. The Real Watergate Scandal Geoff Shepard (2015) [audiobook unabridged]

25. Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen (2013) [cd unabridged] 

26. The Exchange: After the Firm (2023) by John Grisham [audiobook unabridged] 

27. The Second Shot by Gene Yu (2024)

28. LeBron by Jeff Benedict (2023) [cd unabridged] 

29. Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown (2013) [audiobook unabridged] 

30. The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I by Douglas Brunt (2023) [audiobook unabridged]

31. The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl (2021) [audiobook unabridged] 

32. Confessions of a Cartel Hitman by Martin Corona with Tony Rafael (2017) [audiobook unabridged]

33. Trial by Ambush by Marcia Clark (2024)

34. Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law by Neil Gorsuch and Janie Nitze (2024)

35. The Black Box by Michael Connelly (2012) [cd unabridged] 

36. Brothers by Alex Van Halen (2024)

Book of the Year

Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class by Rob Henderson (2024). Fodder for thought and discussions, months after reading.

Honorable Mentions: Back From The Dead by Bill Walton (chronicling an exceptionally charmed life [except for the injuries], and in the fiction category, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (2015) (employing unreal turns of phrase to tell a creative, engrossing story with historical guideposts).

 

Concert of the Year

Tool (13th show)

Film of the Year

Gladiator II

After a 24 year wait, Ridley Scott delivers again. While it does not reach the zenith of its predecessor, it victoriously fights for its own place in the pantheon of epic films.

Honorable Mention: On a much smaller scale, Clint Eastwood's Juror #2 evidences excellent writing and directing through the exploration of ethical dilemmas from two perspectives.

Trial of the Year--"The $600 Question"

After proving fraud in a real estate transaction, the next phase for us was to seek punitive damages. One of the factors in awarding punitive damages is the defendant's financial condition. So, for this phase, I had to show the defendant's net worth. To do this, I served a bunch of document requests on the defendant. I was able to obtain defendant's tax returns and other financial records, such as bank statements. Looking at the tax returns, I observed that for one tax year there was an enormous sum for interest earned placed on the defendant's tax return, suggesting that the defendant had a ton of money parked in bank accounts based on the amount of interest earned. However, it dropped over the ensuing tax year's return, suggesting that the accounts no longer existed. Also, before the hearing, I reviewed the bank statements and saw transfers in and out of a few accounts for which we were provided no records. This strongly suggested that they were hiding monies. So, I zeroed in on one of these accounts and asked the defendant in cross-examination what happened to it? Defendant said it was closed out and transferred to defendant's brother (while this case was going on and after the first phase on liability commenced). I then asked defendnat how much was the balance when it was closed? Defendant said "600." Some say you should never ask a question at trial that you don't know the answer to. However, I disagree if you set it up properly, such that either answer won't hurt you. Thus, I went to the next question and asked almost in a joking tone, "600 hundred thousand?" And defendant said yes! This was a devastating admission and it showed up in the subsequent ruling as to both the hiding of assets and also for defendant's net worth, which was found north of $6 million. Before it became a judgment, the defendant settled for not just the compensatory damages, but also for punitive damages, attorneys' fees, and prejudgment interest.

Appeal of the Year--"Long Time Coming" 

In my Appellant's Reply Brief I employed the line, "Respondent's Brief bespeaks the sound of silence..." As it turned out, I won the appeal. 

First, winning an appeal is a statistically rare occurence, and even more so where, as here, the standard of review is "abuse of discretion." In other words, we showed that the trial judge abused his discretion, which appellate courts embue with wide latitude and are loath to disturb. 

Second, because the result of this is to reinstate an eight-year-old judgment with interest (accruing at 10 percent beginning nearly a decade ago) makes it an especially satisfying result. In other words, the appellate court didn't remand for a new trial; the case is over and the judgment creditor (my client) can collect, and it is collectible because there's an insurance company for the judgment debtor.

Third, the court adopted my arguments that (1) the insurance company and defendant weren't diligent; and (2) the prejudice to plaintiff was extreme because given how old the case is there would be a potential for loss of witnesses, dicumentary evidence, and faded memories." 

Good things apparently come to those who wait.

Athletic Achievement of the Year

Half Marathon (3/10/24)

[224 5ks or longer]

365/365 10th year in a row

Fulfilled annual trek to Sedona, AZ