The Dover Trial Comes to a Close

On Friday, the curtain came down on the Dover ID trial. Rather ironically, the drama lasted a Biblically-significant 40 days and 40 nights from start to finish. Eric Rothschild delivered the closing argument for the plaintiffs, available here, and Patrick Gillen for the defense. After the attorneys finished their arguments, the judge addressed the participants in a heartfelt address, saying that watching their professionalism and passion had "made me aware of why I became a lawyer and why I became a judge" and that the two sides had delivered two of the "best presentations and finest lawyers I have ever had the privilege to see."

After the day ended, the plaintiffs, attorneys, consultants and behind the scenes folks attended a performance of Inherit the Wind and then threw a party at a local bar. I'm setting the over/under on drinks imbibed by Nick and Burt at 18; place your bets. Seriously, there have been so many people who have worked incredibly hard on this case. The attorneys and consultants and paralegals and administrative staff have been working basically around the clock for 3 months, most of them away from their families. Trials like this are as much an endurance test as they are an exercise in legal brilliance. We owe them all a lot of gratitude for their hard work and dedication. I know a lot of people are sleeping in their own beds tonight for the first time in many weeks.

I'm actually hoping the case hasn't officially ended for me. I've pitched a proposal for an article on the trial, a thorough analysis of the case from beginning to end, to a couple of publications and I'm hoping one of them will like the idea. The judge said that he hoped to have a ruling no later than January in the case. So stay tuned for that.