THURSDAY
June 23, 2011
www.djcOregon.com
Reprinted from the Daily Journal of Commerce.
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You always remember your first ...
Okay, stop snickering. We're not talking
x-rated content here. We're just asking local attorneys to share memories of their first solo case or
courtroom trial: the nerves and jitters,
the planning and preparing, the right moves they
made, and even the wrong ones. This week: Lane
Powell shareholder Pilar French tells all.
Pilar French was a third-year law student at
Indiana University when she tried her first case
in 1995 as part of a criminal defense clinic
sponsored by the law school. Her client was a
young man charged with stealing a necklace
from a festival booth. He had been convicted
twice before, and a third conviction meant he
would be headed to prison.
After studying the statute at issue and preparing her cross-examination of the witnesses,
French headed into the bench trial with a law
professor at her side in case
she needed help. French faced
off against an experienced prosecutor who clearly felt he had
the upper hand.
“He was so confident he was
going to win that he waived opening statements,” recalls French,
now a shareholder at Lane Powell
in Portland.
She and her opponent both questioned the police officer who arrested
the defendant and a couple of other
witnesses. In her closing statement,
French argued for reasonable doubt,
pointing out that no one actually saw
the defendant take the necklace or could refute his
claim that someone had given it to him.
“The judge said, ‘I think this guy probably did it, but
the prosecutor hasn’t met the burden of proof so
I’m just going to acquit,’” French says. “The prosecutor nearly fell out of his chair. My law professor
and client just about did, too.”
French says the experience taught her an
invaluable lesson that she has carried throughout her career.
“I learned that you should never, ever presuppose that
you’re going to be smarter than the other lawyer just
because you’re older or have more experience,” she
says. “More experienced lawyers may have a lot of
tricks in their bag, but that doesn’t necessarily mean
they’re going to win the case because a younger attorney may be more diligent or better prepared.
“You should never size up your
opponent based on what their bar
number is.”
Lane Powell Shareholder Pilar
French focuses her practice in the
area of commercial litigation. She
has been lead counsel on a variety
of matters, including cases involving securities laws and regulations,
banking and lender liability, fair
credit reporting, truth-in-lending,
fair debt collection, equal credit,
RESPA, and unlawful trade
practices. She can be reached
at 503-778-2170 or
frenchp@lanepowell.com.