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Home , 1988 World Series, Bill Russell (baseball), Davey Lopes, Dusty Baker, Dynasty (sports), Fernando Valenzuela

Journal of Consumer Attorneys Associations for Southern

CAALA President Jeffrey Rudman THE RUDMAN LAW FIRM October 2020

Embracing the new normal in and the practice of law AS LAWYERS, WE ARE SKILLED IN ADJUSTING OUR OUTLOOK, TACTICS AND STRATEGIES TO EACH CASE As I write this article, the and . My dad appear in the stands of Major League Dodgers have clinched Major League had just bought a new VHS recorder and and the NFL). Games feature Baseball’s West Division, recorded the game. When we returned audio tracks of crowds cheering in an the lead in the NBA home I found that, during the singing of attempt to re-create the same listening Western Conference Finals, and the Los the national anthem, we were shown on experience we are accustomed to when Angeles Rams have won their first two games TV as the camera panned the stands. I still watching a game. It takes some getting of the NFL season. It feels great to have have the VHS tape (and have converted it used to, but in the end, I have cherished sports back in the picture after COVID-19 to a digital file, which I keep in my watching my teams play, and excel, in brought seasons to a halt, even if they look Dropbox). Like all Angelenos, I was this new reality. and feel a little different. I have been an LA spoiled by the of the Showtime sports fan since I was a young child. Being Lakers who went to the finals nine times The new normal for the courts able to watch games on TV again has felt like between 1980 and 1991, winning five As attorneys, we also have been the return of part of my identity. Championships. Eventually, as an returning to some normalcy after having My father and his law partners owned attorney, I joined friends in sharing season experienced the shutdown of the courts Dodgers season tickets during my tickets and was privileged to witness the and the need to socially distance. childhood and through my 20s, so I was greatness of the era and his However, again, it is a new normal. fortunate to attend many games. My first five championship runs (three with Although we still need civil trials to return, vivid memories were rooting for the teams Shaquille O’Neal and two with ). after four months without law and motion of the late ’70s and early ’80s with players in civil cases, we have resumed arguing like , , , Cheering on the Rams before the court on behalf of our clients, Pedro Guerrero, , Mike Although I never had the opportunity albeit primarily via audio or video Scioscia, , and to attend an LA Rams game before they conference through LASC’s LA Kenny Landreaux. I was lucky enough to moved to St. Louis in 1995, I enjoyed CourtConnect platform. Mandatory attend a game in each of the 1978 and watching them on TV when I was young. Settlement Conferences and mediations 1981 matchups between the Even though they had recently moved to are happening, also mostly by video. With Dodgers and the . I can Anaheim, and the Oakland Raiders moved changes in the law, we are able to take still feel the excitement that built up with to Los Angeles, the Rams still felt like the depositions remotely even without a court phenom ’s home team I grew up with. I remember reporter being in the same location as the rise to stardom in the . And it seems John Robinson leading the team deponent. In some counties, there have like only yesterday that I was jumping up featuring star running back Eric been civil trials where all have had to and down in the stands as we watched an Dickerson, and ultimately quarterback Jim adapt to the times, keeping jurors, injured hobble around the Everett. The Rams had some success attorneys, witnesses and judicial staff bases with his pinch walk-off home during those years, although no Super appropriately socially distanced, using in Game 1 of the vs. the Bowl rings. Nonetheless, I have fond masks and plexiglass barriers to provide Oakland A’s. All these years, I have held memories of cheering them on. I have additional protection. Some trials have on to the World Series baseball cap my been a season ticket holder since the Rams featured remote witness testimony. Like dad bought me at that game. I wore it moved back to Los Angeles and going to with sports, the practice of law is slowly back to Dodgers Stadium in 2017 when those games are amongst my favorite ways returning to some level of normalcy. the team returned to the World Series for to spend a day. However, we have to be open to the time in 29 years. Unfortunately, it I am a father of two teenage boys. We changes, be willing to adapt, and let did not bring them luck. have attended, and watched on TV, ourselves appreciate the aspects of the countless Dodgers, Lakers and Rams practice of law that we can still enjoy even The LA Lakers dynasty years games together. Those experiences are a though they look and feel different. As much love as I had for the part of who we are. As lawyers, we are skilled in adjusting Dodgers, I had it tenfold for the LA So, after all this time since the our outlook, tactics and strategies on our Lakers. I had watched the Lakers on TV pandemic hit and upended so many cases with the emergence of new facts, for years before I attended my first live aspects of our lives, it is incredible to get a rulings which may not be in our favor, or game as a 9-year-old in 1983 when my dose of normal with the return of sports changes in the law. We are therefore adept father’s partner gave him his two front- on TV. Yet, it is a new normal. The at achieving goals, even in the face of row seats behind the Lakers bench. That Dodgers, Lakers and Rams play in great change. Let us not forget that as we team was the reigning champs, featuring stadiums without any fans (unless you embrace this new normal, bringing justice in his third year in the count the video feeds of fans watching to our clients while appreciating what we league, as well as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, from home that are featured in NBA do for a living, even in these challenging Jamaal “Silk” Wilkes, , games, or the cardboard cutouts that times.