Over the past 3 years, I have had to prepare for 3 2-week jury trials. In 2021, it was the "pandemic" trial. We were the first major trial in Travis County during the pandemic. Our clients, Litigation Support person, and I were confined to the jury box. The jurors sat in the gallery, spread out 6-ft apart, and we had facemasks and face shields. I supported 2 attorneys during that 2-week jury trial and the weeks of trial prep leading up to the trial. In 2022, while we still wore facemasks, things were more or less back to normal post-pandemic. In that trial, I supported 3 of our attorneys and, in a sense, 2 of our co-counsels. I also learned a available lesson: attend pretrial and track which exhibits were preadmitted.
However, the preparation for the trial in 2023 took it to a whole new level for me. Now only did we take this case over from another law firm, but I also took this case over from another paralegal. Leading up to the May trial setting, the biggest challenge were the trial exhibits - ours and the other side's exhibits. On the deadline to exchange exhibit lists, I was at the office until midnight as two attorneys sent me documents after documents to add to the exhibit list. We ended up with over 700 exhibits on our list and served our list with a couple of minutes to spare. The other side had over 700 exhibits on their list as well. The task then became to gather the exhibits and affix exhibit stickers on set of exhibits. However, since both sides decided not to exchange exhibits, I also had to pull the other side's exhibits and affix exhibits stickers on them. This presented a challenge because they listed multiple variations of the same document on their exhibit list. In the end, the trial got continued and reset to September.
Fast-forward to September and we faced a different challenge with our trial exhibits. One of our attorneys wanted to convert all our Excel files to PDFs and add the "metadata" information for the Excel spreadsheets at the end. It took us days to complete this conversion but we did it. Since the May trial setting to this one, we added another 100 exhibits to our list and the other side added another 50 or so more exhibits. They did not send us their exhibits until the weekend before trial started but, at that point, I was just glad that they sent the PDFs of their trial exhibits to us. In the end, the case was resolved before jury selection and, just like that, it was over. In the days following the resolution of the case and, after I was able to catch my breath, I thought back on lessons learned and reflected on my experience supporting 6 attorneys preparing for a 2-week jury trial. Interesting enough, God put on my heart thoughts on how this trial preparation experience is like preparing ourselves for heaven.
In this Gospel for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we read Jesus parable of "The Workers in the "Vineyard" from the Gospel of Matthew. In this Gospel, we learn that to obtain the kingdom of heaven, we have to work for it in our lifetime. Even those who come last still have to work and do their part to obtain the kingdom of heaven. They must experience a conversion of the heart and make the effort to repent and change their ways of life and thinking, putting behind their old ways and being renewed in Christ. However, they were not alone in the vineyard. There were other workers laboring away beside them. While I was the primary paralegal supporting 6 attorneys in preparation for trial, I could not have done it without the help of my fellow paralegals. From highlighting deposition designations to converting Excel files to PDFs to responding to the various needs of the attorneys, my colleagues jumped in to help me with various aspects of trial preparation. It was a team effort! I am blessed to be part of this amazing group of paralegals! On our journey to heaven, we cannot do it all my ourselves, which is why God gave us each other - the many parts of the One Body of Christ. In our CALLED TO BE ONE Marriage Class, we tell our couples that their most important responsibility is to get each other to heaven but they do not have to do it alone. They have their families and friends but they also have their parish community and the Communion of Saints to help them.
In the first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, we hear that God is "generous in forgiving." I remember one afternoon, we were feverishly working on the trial exhibits to meet a deadline. Emails were flying, phones were ringing off the hook, and I had attorneys in and out of my office giving me instructions and checking up on our progress. Then I received a phone call from one of the attorneys who apologized to me for being short with me earlier. It took me by surprise and I tried to think of if and when this attorney was "short" with me. I responded saying that I did not think the person was "short" with me at all. When tasks have short fuses and everyone has worked long hours and late into the night, it is important to be respectful of each other. After all, we are call on the same team, working toward the same goal. It is the same on our journey to heaven. Peter once asked Jesus how often he should forgive a brother who had sinned against him - 7 times? Jesus responded 77 times or 7 times 77 times (in another passage of the Gospels). In those moments, when I receive tasks (at work or from God) that cause me to think to myself "seriously" or "are you kidding me?", I pause, say a prayer, and remind myself that God is merciful and for me to trust in Him.
Whenever I have a case that is approaching trial, I always pray for the case to settle because I know that the two parties can reach an agreement that is in each other's best interests if they work together rather than put it in the hands of 12 jurors. This is how Jesus teaches us to resolve our differences. We first approach the person who wronged us and try to work it out. If that does not work, then we invite a few others as witnesses to help us work through things. And, if that does not work, then we involve the Church. For more personal and selfish reasons, I have experience and prepare for enough trials to last me a lifetime. However, I trust in God that if a case does go through a full trial, then there is a lesson that God is trying to teach me through that experience. I find this to be true with the trials in 2021 and 2022, and preparation for this trial in 2023 that was resolved before jury selection. I am reminded of what Saint Paul wrote to the Philippians in today's second reading: "I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit." We are on this journey in life for a purpose and that purpose is to prepare ourselves for eternal life. We help each other along the way, we forgive and ask for forgiveness, and we trust in God's mercy and turn to Him in faith, knowing in our hearts that everything we are going through has meaning and purpose - to help us grow closer to our Father in heaven.
In the throes of the craziness of life and work, we can lose perspective on the goodness and faithfulness of God in our lives. For example, I had a case set for trial at the end of April, which would have caused preparing for the May trial setting to be challenging, but that case settled. Then, I had a case that was set for trial in October, which would have made preparing for that trial while handling this trial to be challenging (to say the least), but that case also settled. When we go through various trials and tribulations in life, as we a living through them and not being able to see the "light at the end of the tunnel", we lose sight of God's loving presence in the midst of it all. However, if we take a deep breath and pray, we will know in our heart that God is with us each and every step of the way, guiding our path to be with Him in heaven. Jesus, I trust in you.
