Amateur lawyers

This whole process is very interesting. So much of it is very lawyerly, which most of the major parties using lawyers to represent them. The format is like an informal court session, with pre-filed testimony, cross-examination of the witness who testified, objections and those sorts of things.

But there are a number of parties who are not lawyers who have the right to participate. For the most part, the individual parties are deferring to lawyers on the sides they are aligned with, but not all the time.

B.G. Read is now questioning APA staff member Colleen Parker, and there have been several objections. Yesterday, Fred Schuller tried to make a comment about some testimony, but he didn’t reserve the right to question and didn’t submit pre-file testimony, so he wasn’t allowed to. Also yesterday, Carol Richer tried to submit concerns about some testimony before the time was appropriate, and when she was allowed to make an objection, she tried to question it rather than raise an objection.

Judge O’Connell is trying to be understanding and allow parties to participate, giving them a good amount of guidance here and there, but he’s definitely not allowing them to waste much time.

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