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

Year In Review, 2023.

Books Read (in order read)

1. Freezing Order by Bill Browder (2022)

2. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (2005) [cd unabridged]

3.  Sycamore Oaks by John Grisham (2013)

4. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (1929) [cd unabridged]

5. The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel (2021)

6. Off the Deep End: Jerry and Becki Falwell and the Collapse of an Evangelical Dynasty by Giancarlo Granda with Mark Ebner (2022)

7. Straight Man by Richard Russo (1997) [cd unabridged]

8. The Judge’s List by John Grisham (2021)

9. Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America by Maggie Haberman (2022)

10. Desert Star by Michael Connelly (2022) [cd unabridged]

11. Defend Us in Battle by George Monsoor and Rose Rea (2022)

12. Blue Nights by Joan Didion (2011) [cd unabridged]

13. Everything Reminds Me of Something by Adam Carolla (2022)

14. Under A Wing by Reeve Lindbergh (1998)

15. A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market by Edward O. Thorp (2017)

16. Route 66: The Mother Road by David Knudson (2012)

17. Facing Reality by Charles Murray (2021)

18. South and West by Joan Didion (2017)

19. A Father's Story by Lionel Dahmer (2021)

20. Paul: A Biography by N.T. Wright (2018)

21. The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow (2008) [cd unabridged]

22. Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh And The Rise Of Right-Wing Extremism by Jeffrey Toobin (2023)

23. About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior by Col. David H. Hackworth (ret.) and Julie Sherman (1989)

24. It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis (1935)

25. Is Atheism Dead? by Eric Metaxas (2021)

26. Miracles by Eric Metaxas (2014) [cd unabridged]

27. Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe (2021) [audio unabridged]

28. Laptop from Hell by Miranda Devine (2021)

29. A Time for Mercy by John Grisham (2020) [cd unabridged]

30. Sprinting Through No Man’s Land: Endurance, Tragedy, and Rebirth in the 1919 Tour de France by Adin Dobkin (2021)

31. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir by Matthew Perry (2022) [cd unabridged]

32. Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson (2023)

33. America's Cultural Revolution by Christopher F. Rufo (2023)

34. Social Justice Fallacies by Thomas Sowell (2023) [cd unabridged]

35. As Nature Made Him by John Colapinto (2000)

36. Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis (2023)

Book of the Year

About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior by Col. David H. Hackworth (ret.) and Julie Sherman (1989)

Honorable Mentions: Paul: A Biography by N.T. Wright (2018) and Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe (2021)

Film of the Year

All Quiet On the Western Front

Honorable Mention: Oppenheimer

Concert of the Year

Greta Van Fleet (Honda Center--Anaheim, CA)

Appeal of the Year

This one's genesis is in a prior trial of the year (2021). The other side appealed the judgment against it. They contested the estate's liability under a prior judgment against a decedent. Like the trial court, the appellate court agreed with me that the earlier judgment applied to the estate on behalf of the decedent and that the estate violated it. To put the cherry on the proverbial sundae, we were awarded every cent of attorneys' fees requested for the appeal as well as the trial.

Trial of the Year

This one was an arbitration. Like a hotly contested trial, this arbitration involved multiple experts, witnesses, and documentary evidence. My clients purchased a million dollar house in South Orange County. After the escrow closed, they discovered that the written disclosures were false. According to the arbitrator, we proved fraud and breach of contract. The arbitrator set a hearing for punitive damages and/or attorneys' fees.

Athletic Achievement of the Year

106 5ks or longer in 2023

365/365 workouts (9th year in a row)

Ran at least one mile a day from 7/1/23 through 12/31/23 (as inspired by Wayne Z.C. Marsh)

Fulfilled annual treks to Hawaii and Sedona

Losses Sustained

Dr. Timothy Keller

Year In Review, 2022.

Books Read (in order read)

1. The Brethren by John Grisham (2000)

2. The Premonition by Michael Lewis (2021)

3. Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill with Dan Piepenbring (2019)

4. Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa (2021)

5. Going There by Katie Couric (2021) [cd unabridged]

6. The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman (2018) [cd unabridged]

7. My Dark Places by James Ellroy (1996)

8. Showtime by Jeff Pearlman (2014)

9. Three-Ring Circus by Jeff Pearlman (2020)

10. The Law of Innocence (sixth Lincoln Lawyer novel) by Michael Connelly (2020) [cd unabridged]

11. Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century (2017) by Jessica Bruder [audiobook unabridged]

12. Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet (2007) [cd unabridged]

13. Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton by Jeff Pearlman (2011)

14. The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly (2016) [cd unabridged]

15. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (2003) [cd unabridged]

16. The Drop by Michael Connelly (2016) [cd unabridged]

17. The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman (2022)

18. The Betrayal by Robert Mazur (2022)

19. Kennedy's Avenger: Assassination, Conspiracy, and Forgotten Trial of Jack Ruby by Dan Abrams and David Fisher (2021)

20. Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903)

21. Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (2017)

22. One D%&@ Thing After Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General by William P. Barr (2022)

23. San Fransicko by Michael Shellenberger (2021)

24. The Partisan: The Life of William Rehnquist by John A. Jenkins (2012)

25. Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld (2020)

26. Pesos: The Rise and Fall of a Border Family by Pietro La Greca, Jr. with Rebecca Paley

27. Our Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison by Chris Hedges (2021) [cd unabridged]

28. Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber by Mike Isaac (2019)

29. The War on the West by Douglas Murray (2022)

30. The Appeal by John Grisham (2009) [cd unabridged]

31. The Tender Bar: A Memoir by J.R. Moehringer (2005)

32. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) [audio unabridged]

33. Sparring Partners by John Grisham (2022) [cd unabridged]

34. Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi (2009) [cd unabridged]

35. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (2005) [cd unabridged]

36. Holding the Line by Geoffrey Berman (2022)

Book of the Year

Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill with Dan Piepenbring (2019)

It reminds one of Moby Dick. Both as Melville and Captain Ahab. Tremendous, decades-long effort that nearly destroyed the pursuer.

Athletic Achievement of the Year

53 10k runs

365/365 workouts (8th year in a row)

Honorable Mention: FKT (for me) Mt. Baldy (or Mt. San Antonio)

https://twitter.com/nblaw/status/1551002344677994498?s=20&t=ppBuNpmo1MeRsmI85dC_JQ

Concert of the Year

Tool Phoenix, AZ

Losses Sustained

Stephanie Radcliffe (Mom) (3-8-22)

FAMILY

Family was everything to Mom. And her roles in those families. I say plural because there were two families that were significant to her: the Human Family and the Family of God.

Human Family

Even though she was highly educated with a master’s degree and professionally accomplished as an educator (and other things), I've said that having children or being a mom was her life’s purpose within this human family.

She really was an excellent mother. I reflect on the hallmarks of her life as a mother. Some characteristics predominate: her selflessness, for example. If there was one last slice of pizza, she wasn't taking it.  

Her supportiveness stood out. While she wasn’t a sports fan in particular prior to my emergence on the scene, that changed. She would come to my baseball games, and as I recall, who write up summaries of the games in a newsletter that the Little League distributed. 

Mother-child wasn't her only relationship. She had rings of them. She was also a superb spouse, sister, aunt, cousin, daughter, and friend. People talked about how she support them often.

As her mother, she was unconditionally loving. I never questioned her love. And she set that example for her family. But she got this example from Christ (and her parents). This human familial setting leads us to the Family of God.

Family of God

Life of service. While pastor’s spouse, entertained often. She was a good host. I remember we had a guest book in the house. It was fun to review it and see who had some to visit over the years.

Growing up, I remember Mom and Dad singing the song, Family of God by Bill Gaither. Its lyrics include:

"I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God-
I've been washed in the fountain,
cleansed by His blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus
as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
the family of God."

She loved the Lord and his Word. I remember she spent the time to write out in long hand the book of Proverbs, as if it were addressed to personally. In this and many other ways, she wanted me to develop the love she had for the Bible. 

Even after Dad left the professional ministry, they both remained involved in church, including  organizing a church library and playing piano. I remember meeting someone at their church who said, "People don’t see all the things they the do." It's an understatement to say that she exhibited a life of service.

I saw her the morning of her passing. And said to her, "You did it. You made it."

Appeal of the Year

"Do you like representing Appellants or winning?"

--question posed to appellate practitioner on podcast

It's true that appellate courts don't seem particularly happy to see appellants at oral arguments.

However, I'm pleased to report that I fell into the relatively small group of appellate attorneys who obtained a reversal of a judgment this year. The case pertained to an arcane issue where the trial court did not believe the plaintiff had standing to sue in state court due to earlier events in a federal court. The court of appeal reversed 3-0 and published it.

Trial Court Case of the Year

Used a statute to establish a breach of a fiduciary duty and in turn obtained a seven-figure judgment against several defendants for my client.

Honorable Mention:

https://twitter.com/nblaw/status/1541599756824129537?s=20&t=lnKz1p4RR_0mNzgPYWDjEA

Fulfilled annual treks to Maui and Sedona

Year In Review, 2021.

Books Read (in order read)

1. Live Not By Lies by Rob Dreher (2020)

2. The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row (2018) by Anthony Ray Hinton with Lara Love Hardin

3. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester (1998) [cd unabridged]

4. Rage by Bob Woodward (2020) [audiobook unabridged]

5. Fortunate Son: The Healing of a Vietnam Vet by Lewis B. Puller, Jr. (1991)

6. The Racketeer by John Grisham (2012) 

7. Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything by Viktor Frankl (2019)

8. The Last Trial by Scott Turow (2020)

9. A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 by Simon Winchester (2005)

10. Limitations by Scott Turow (2006)

11. Exposure by Robert Bilott with Tom Shroder (2019)

12. Rational Male: Religion by Rollo Tomassi (2020)

13. American Pilgrim by Roosh Valizadeh (2021)

14. Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet by Jesse Itzler (2016)

15. Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & the Making of the College Admissions Scandal by Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz (2020)

16. The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success by Ross Douthat (2020) [cd unabridged]

17. At the End of the World: A True Story of Murder in the Arctic by Lawrence Millman (2017)

18. Disloyal by Michael Cohen (2020)

19. Innocent by Scott Turow (2010) [audiobook unabridged]

20. Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins (2018)

21. The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance by Ron Chernow (1990) [cd unabridged]

22. Grant by Ron Chernow (2017)

23. The Curmudgeon's Guide to Getting Ahead: Dos and Don'ts of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life by Charles Murray (2014)

24. The Psychopath by Mary Turner Thomson (2021)

25. Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical by Timothy Kelly (2016) [cd unabridged]

26. Freedom by Sebastian Junger (2021)

27. Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time by Ian O'Connor (2018) [audiobook unabridged]

28. Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense: The Courtroom Battle to Save His Legacy by Dan Abrams and David Fisher (2019)

29. Sooley by John Grisham (2021) [cd unabridged]

30. So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport (2012)

31. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink (2009) [cd unabridged]

32. There's a Hole in my Bucket: A Journey of Two Brothers by Royd Tolkien (2021)

33. A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload by Cal Newport (2021)

34. Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice by Bill Browder (2015)

35. The Dynasty by Jeff Benedict (2020)

35. Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong by Raymond Bonner (2012)

36. The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos by Brian Greene (2011) 37. Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe by Brian Greene (2020)

38. The Long Slide by Tucker Carlson (2021) [audiobook unabridged]

39. Mothertrucker by Amy Butcher (2021)

40. The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell (2021)

41. The Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope (2018) [audiobook unabridged]

42. The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray (2019)

43. Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer (1954 [English trans.]) [cd unabridged]

44. The Parasitic Mind by Gad Saad (2020)

Book of the Year

Fortunate Son: The Healing of a Vietnam Vet by Lewis B. Puller, Jr. (1991)

Honorable Mention: Exposure by Robert Bilott with Tom Shroder (2019)

Film of the Year

Dark Waters (2019). It's inspired by the environmental litigation and other events described in book Exposure by Robert Bilott with Tom Shroder (2019).

Appeal of the Year

"Federal Court Really is Different"

Someone filed a petition claiming that she was the surviving spouse of a decedent, who died in late December, 2019. The petitioner demanded a share of his multimillion dollar estate. In response, the administrator and the law firm presented to the probate court a certified copy of a divorce decree dissolving the decedent and petitioner's marriage--in 1972. The petitioner claimed it was a fraud. The probate judge found that judgment for dissolution of the marriage was controlling and dismissed the purported surviving spouse's petition. Dissatisfied with this ruling, the petitioner sued the administrator and the law firm representing her in federal court asserting federal claims and pendant jurisdiction. I represented the administrator and law firm. I brought a Rule 12(b) motion to dismiss based on the grounds of (1) lack of standing; and (2) litigation privilege. In turn, the trial court dismissed the lawsuit against my clients. 

The plaintiff (and petitioner in the underlying probate) appealed. Before any briefs were filed, the Ninth Circuit issued an order indicating that upon its review of the record, it appeared to the reviewing court that the appeal might be frivolous and invited statements from the parties about whether the appeal should proceed. Appellant submitted one exceeding 30 pages, and I wrote our response.

The appellate court ruled: "Upon a review of the record and the responses to the court’s ... order, we conclude this appeal is frivolous...and dismiss this appeal as frivolous."

Federal court really is different.

Trial of the Year

"A Genius for a Client"

Many years ago, a Bay Area couple negotiated their own divorce. In their stipulation for dissolution of the marriage, they provided for monthly spousal support from husband to wife for a fixed period of time. However, they included an unusual provision. It stated that if the husband were to die before the expiration of the required payments, then the support obligation would be his estate's. Judgment was entered on the stipulation. Although husband was in his 40s when the stipulation was entered into, he unfortunately passed away as a relatively young man. He was married to another when this happened. The surviving spouse immediately discontinued the automatic payments to the prior wife, but paid other creditors. We filed a creditor's claim in the husband's probate proceeding, and then a lawsuit on the claim since no payments had been made. The lawsuit went to trial in Northern California and the court ruled that the estate breached the contract and awarded damages--including consequential damages on top of the unpaid support. Then, the court awarded virtually all of the attorneys' fees and other costs my client incurred over several years of the litigation (exceeding six figures) due to a prevailing party attorneys' fees provision in the stipulated judgment.

While I don't practice dissolution law, it seemed to me that the provision for support continuing after the death of one of the marriage partners was unusual. It was the idea of my client, who was representing herself at the time. Genius. Sometimes the adage--one who represents oneself has a fool for a client--doesn't apply.

Losses Sustained

Brian Sterzer

Athletic Achievement of the Year

PR in run distance (multiple runs in double digit miles)

Plus 365/365 workouts (7th year in a row)
Fulfilled annual trek to Sedona

 

 

Year in Review, 2020.

Books Read (in order read)
1. Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow (2019)
2. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949) [cd unabridged]
3. Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell (2019)
4. The War of Art: Break Through and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield (2012; originally pub. 2002)
5. The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough (2019) [cd unabridged]
6. Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court by Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Servino (2019)
7. Loserthink: How Untrained Brains are Ruining America by Scott Adams (2019)
8. Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer (2019)
9. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford (2004) [cd unabridged]
10. Persuader by Lee Child (2003) [cd unabridged]
11. The Spirit of St. Louis by Charles Lindbergh (1953)
12. Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin (2015) [audiobook unabridged]
13. Roadshow: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle by Neil Peart (2006)
14. The Flight: Charles Lindbergh's Daring and Immortal 1927 Transatlantic Crossing by Dan Hampton (2017)
15. Night School by Lee Child (2016) [cd unabridged]
16. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely (2008) [audiobook unabridged]
17. Letters to the Church by Francis Chan (2018)
18. The Club King by Peter Gatien (2020)
19. Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero by James Romm (2014)
20. I'm Your Emotional Support Animal by Adam Carolla (2020)
21. Far and Wide: Bring the Horizon to Me! by Neil Peart (2016)
22. Broken Faith by Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr (2020)
23. The Operator by Robert O'Brien (2017)
24. The Devil's Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High-Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers by Vicky Ward (2010)
25. Kushner, Inc. by Vicky Ward (2019)
26. Facebook: The Inside Story by Steven Levy (2020) [audiobook unabridged]
27. The Dog Went Over the Mountain by by Peter Zheutlin (2019)
28. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1985) [cd unabridged]
29. Relentless Pursuit by Bradley J. Edwards with Brittany Henderson (2020)
30. Writing to Persuade by Trish Hall (2019) [audiobook unabridged]
31. The Liar's Ball: The Extraordinary Saga Of How One Building Broke the World's Toughest Tycoons by Vicky Ward (2014)
32. Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck (1962) [cd unabridged]
33. Chasing the Light: Writing, Directing, and Surviving Platoon, Midnight Express, Scarface, Salvador, and the Movie Game by Oliver Stone (2020) [audiobook unabridged]
34. We by Charles A. Lindbergh (1927)
35. The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson (2019) [cd unabridged]
36. Church of Cowards by Matt Walsh (2020)
37. How to Keep Your Cool: An Ancient Guide to Anger Management by Seneca (edited and translated by James S. Romm) (2019) [audiobook unabridged]
38. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry (2004) [cd unabridged]
39. Supreme Ambition: Brett Kavanaugh and the Conservative Takeover by Ruth Marcus (2019)
40. Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery by Erica C. Barnett (2020)
41. So Long, And Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams (1984) [cd unabridged]
42. Out of the Silence: After the Crash by Eduardo Strauch with Mireya Soriano (2019, translated by Jennie Erikson)
43. True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump by Jeffrey Toobin (2020) [audiobook unabridged]
44. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey (2020)
45. The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham (2006)
46. 2000 Miles Together: The Story of the Largest Family to Hike the Appalachian Trail by Ben Crawford with Meghan McCraken (2020)


Losses Sustained
Neil Peart
James T. Capretz (former law partner)
Eddie Van Halen (saw him twice in concert--at LA Coliseum and Forum)
J.I. Packer
Sean Connery
Chuck Yeager

Concert of the Year
Tool (1/10/20 San Diego; 11th Tool Show attended)

Film of the Year
The Way Back
Honorable Mention: The Trial of the Chicago 7

Book of the Year
The Spirit of St. Louis by Charles Lindbergh (1953)
Honorable Mention: Relentless Pursuit by Bradley Edwards with Brittany Henderson (2020)

Trial of the Year

"Have a House"

My client befriended a gentleman in his neighborhood. Over the years, they bonded over their mutual loves of cars and sports. After the gentleman lost his wife, he received a terminal diagnosis as well. He told my client that he wanted to give him his house upon his death, but didn't want to deal with a will or trust. My client had heard of a "deed upon death" that would allow the gentleman to stay in the house for his lifetime, and then have the property transfer to my client at his death. My client suggested that the gentleman look into it. He did. The gentleman decided to have such a deed prepared, reviewed it, and then executed it with a notary. It was then recorded. However, it was not recorded in a timely fashion. As a result, my client was informed by a title company that it would not be able to insure title. Thus, my client would not be able to refinance or sell it. He was told he would need to quiet title to the property. He then came to us. We brought a lawsuit to quiet titled in his name. At the trial, I elicited extensive testimony of the deceden't intent to transfer title to my client. We introduced evidence of their long-standing relationship, but also that there was no "care-giver" relationship that could have potentially disqualified my client from receiving it. At the conclusion of the trial, the court quieted title to the property in favor of my client. At 25 years of age, my client had his first house.

Appeal of the Year

"A Record Without A Record"

Our client sued a tech company for breach of contracts. The tech company cross-complained. Each pleading demanded damages in the millions. My client, as plaintiff, brought an affirmative motion for summary adjudication on its complaint. Prior to the hearing, the tech company dismissed its cross-complaint without prejudice. The trial court granted my client's summary adjudication motion and awarded it damages of approximately $8 million, plus attorneys' fees and other costs. The other side appealed. At the oral argument, appellant's counsel argued first, as is customary. He told the justices that he would organize his remarks around the four main arguments of our respondent’s brief. I made a mental note that he was distracted from his contentions that the trial court somehow made an error below in granting summary adjudication and instead focused on our arguments. Among other things, we argued that the appellant failed to provide an adequate record for the appeal. We also contended that the trial court's written evidentiary rulings on our objections to the evidence were correct. One particularly amusing piece of purported evidence was that the appellant had included a declaration in opposition to the motion that averred he had "recently" visited a website to claim that it contents somehow violated the contracts. We objected this statement lacked foundation as to when he viewed it and whose website it was. One of the justices noted that “recently” was not defined, was not a "term of art", and needed a “temporal component” essential to foundation. She also observed that there was no date on the website print-out submitted to the trial court. Appellant’s told the panel they could check to see it was still up there now. Almost in unison, they said something to the effect of that’s not how we do things on appeal. The opinion ensued unanimously upholding the judgment in its entirety, and then tacked on additional attorneys' fees and costs. With interest, it has grown to eight figures. A personal record.

Athletic Achievement of the Year

Completed 52 Hike Challenge (in actuality, doubled it--over 104)
Plus 365/365 workouts (6th year in a row)
Fulfilled annual trek to Sedona (annual trek to Maui was a Covid-19 casualty)

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

Year In Review, 2018.

Books Read (in order)
1. A Criminal Defense by William L. Myers, Jr. (2017)
2. A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape by Masaji Ishikawa (2017)
3. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir by Haruki Murakami (2008) [cd unabridged]
4. Deliverance by James Dickey (1970)
5. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King (2000) [cd unabridged]
6. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami (2013) [cd unabridged]
7. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam (2000)
8. Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and Finding Redemption by Shon Hopwood with Dennis Burke (2012)
9. I'm Fine...and Other Lies by Whitney Cummings (2017)
10. Capital Gains: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Things by Chip Gaines (2017)
11. Hacks by Donna Brazile (2017)
12. Republican Like Me: How I Left the Liberal Bubble and Learned to Love the Right by Ken Stern (2017)
13. Jesus Before the Gospels: How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Their Stories of the Savior by Bart D. Ehrman (2016) [cd unabridged]
14. The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein (2013)
15. Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer (2011) [cd unabridged]
16. World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech by Franklin Foer (2017)
17. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan (2012)
18. Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One by Thomas Sowell (2004) [cd unabridged]
19. Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical by Timothy Keller (2016)[cd unabridged]
20. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson (2018)
21. How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars: The Snapchat Story by Billy Gallagher (2018)
22. After the New Testament: The Writings of the Apostolic Fathers by Bart D. Ehrman (2005) [cd unabridged]
23. Big Sur by Jack Jack Kerouac (1962) [cd unabridged]
24. Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2018)
25. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) [cd unabridged]
26. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe (1968)
27. Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon by Craig Nelson (2009) [cd unabridged]
28. A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins (1979)
29. Death is a Lonely Business by Ray Bradbury (1985) [cd unabridged]
30. North: finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail by Scott Jurek with Jenny Jurek (2018)
31. Finished I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (2018)
32. Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue by Ryan Holiday (2018)
33. A Marriage in Dog Years: a Memoir by Nancy Balbirer (2018)
34. The Walk West: A Walk Across America 2 by Peter and Barbara Jenkins (1981)
35. The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls (2005) [cd unabridged]
36. Submission by Michael Houellebecq (Lorin Stein, trans., 2015)
37. The Triumph of Christianity by Bart D. Ehrman (2018)
38. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe (1987) [cd unabridged]
39. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson (2014) [cd unabridged]
40. But Enough About Me by Burt Reynolds and Jon Winokur (2015) [cd unabridged]
41. Plunder and Deceit: Big Government's Exploitation of Young People and the Future by Mark Levin (2015) [cd unabridged]
42. The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli (1532)[cd unabridged]
43. First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen (2005)
44. The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld (2014) [cd unabridged]
45. Resistance is Futile! by Ann Coulter (2018)
46. Everyman by Philip Roth (2006) [cd unabridged]
47. Lincoln's Last Trial: The Murder Case that Propelled Him to the Presidency by Dan Abrams and David Fisher (2018)
48. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961) [cd unabridged]
49. Enough. True Measures of Money, Business, and Life by John C. Bogle (2009)
50. Shattered Air: A True Account of Catastrophe and Courage on Yosemite's Half Dome by Bob Madgic (2005)
51. Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes (2017) [cd unabridged]
52. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle (2007) [cd unabridged]
53. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (2018)
54. Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs (2018)
55. Alone on the Wall by Alex Honnold with Dave Roberts (2016)
56. Republicans Buy Sneakers, Too by Clay Travis (2018)
57. Educated by Tara Westover (2018) [cd unabridged]
58. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (1993) [cd unabridged]
59. The Bite in the Apple: A Memoir of My Life With Steve Jobs by Chrisann Brennan (2013)
60. Thomas Paine's Rights of Man by Christopher Hitchens (2007) [cd unabridged]
61. Over the Edge: The True Story of Four American Climbers' Kidnap and Escape in the Mountains of Central Asia by Greg Child (2002)
62. Thanks A Thousand by A.J. Jacobs (2018)

The Golden Decade of Cinema List (in order of year)
1. MASH (1970)
2. Patton (1970)
3. The Landlord (1970)
4. Love Story (1970)
5. Harold and Maude (1971)
6. Duel (1971)
7. The French Connection (1971)
8. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
9. Dirty Harry (1971)
10. The Godfather (1972)
11. Deliverance (1972)
12. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
13. The Mechanic (1972)
14. The Exorcist (1973)
15. The Sting (1973)
16. Serpico (1973)
17. American Graffiti (1973)
18. The Paper Chase (1973)
19. High Plains Drifter (1973)
20. The Godfather, Part II (1974)
21. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
22. Death Wish (1974)
23. The Conversation (1974)
24. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
25. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
26. The Eiger Sanction (1975)
27. Jaws (1975)
28. Rocky (1976)
29. Taxi Driver (1976)
30. All the President's Men (1976)
31. The Gauntlet (1977)
32. Star Wars (1977)
33. Deer Hunter (1978)
34. Coming Home (1978)
35. Midnight Express (1978)
36. ...And Justice for All (1979)
37. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
38. Breaking Away (1979)
39. Being There (1979)
40. Apocalypse Now (1979)
Honorable Mention: Escape From Alcatraz (1979)

Losses Sustained
John W. Young
Stephen Hawking
Milos Forman
Tom Wolfe

Book of the Year
A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape by Masaji Ishikawa (2017)
Honorable Mentions: Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2018) and Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (2018)

Film of the Year
Free Solo

Trial of the Year

"Trust"

My client was the successor trustee of a trust. We obtained an order removing the predecessor trustee, his brother. In addition, the prior trustee and his spouse sought to charge the trust with "salaries" for himself and his wife. After we cross-examined them using logs of caregivers, who were paid separately from the trust, the trial judge found no reason for this duplication of expenses and efforts. The court disallowed six figures of these purported expenses and rejected the other side's attempt to remove my client as successor trustee or to find any breaches of fiduciary duty on my client's part. He was an inspirational figure. He became blind as an adult (while serving in the military), and thereafter obtained a master's degree in mathematics. He demonstrated grace and dignity under pressure.


Athletic Achievement of the Year
Long segment of PCT (near Big Bear Lake, CA)


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