I work for attorneys and judges as a forensic computer scientist at a firm that I started way back in the last millennium. My firm examines computers and data so that facts can be uncovered, explained, and understood by attorneys, judges, and juries in any kind of legal proceeding. We're all pretty hardcore and have done some of the most cutting-edge work in the field to date.

Recently, I was testifying in a trial. While I was on the stand being examined by an attorney, a couple of people entered the courtroom and sat in the gallery, listening to me testify for about ten minutes. The judge then announced that we would take a brief break to allow him to hold a brief pre-trial hearing that has been on his schedule for some time and could not easily be moved. About fifteen minutes later, I was back on the stand and the people in the gallery were gone. I assumed that they were attorneys waiting for their time with the judge in that hearing.

After being dismissed, I ran into one of the people who listened to my testimony from the gallery. As we took the elevator ride down to the ground floor (why is it always the elevator?) he said to me, “I think that I learned more than I ever knew or wanted to know about computers in listening to ten minutes of your testimony!” I produced a business card and said that if he's got a case where evidence is electronic, he should give me a call before opposing counsel does.

He took my card with a laugh, knowing that I was giving good advice, and being tickled by ease with which the pitch was made. Practice indeed makes perfect and it can be just that much easier if you remember that everything you do in front of other people can give you foundation and take care not just to get the job done any way that you can, but in a way that will position you for the next pitch.