Court Observation

Being that procrastination is a big part of my life, on April 4th I went to NY Supreme Court, Kings County to observe a civil court case.  I begin to the supreme court on 330 jay st but then remembered that one is for felony cases only so I headed to the civil one on 360 Adams st. After going through the metal detectors, which made me feel like I had a flight to catch, I went to the information desk and asked where should I go to sit in on a case. The court officer gave me a bunch of numbers of floors to choose from so as I entered the elevator I randomly pressed a button and decided the 4th floor was the one for me. I got off the elevator and not too far from the doors was another court officer who gave me more numbers of rooms to choose from so I chose room 441. As I entered the room the bailiff quietly approached me, I told her I was there to observe the case for my civil law class and she generously told me where to sit and if I had any questions I can come to her before recess. The case was a motor vehicle accident and to my understanding the plaintiff was rear ended which caused a ongoing physical pain in his back and left shoulder and was suing for more than $100,000 (which is why it was supreme court and not civil). During my time there, which was approximately 3 hours, they called the plaintiffs doctor to the stand who played as a witness and expert witness because of his experience and education as a neurologist. during the questioning of the witness things started getting intense. there was a lot of objections thrown out and hearing the judge say “overruled” was my favorite part. Around 12:45 the judge dismissed the jurors for recess, the lawyers made a couple more statements and then the judge dismissed them and himself for recess. I then went to the bailiff and the assistant in the room for all the information on the case and this concluded my day in court.

1 Comment

  1. Kerin E. Coughlin

    Corey, thank you for your “descriptive” summary, I agree security is like being in an airport! (Minus the fun destinations.) It sounds like you had a positive experience, and I’m glad you took the initiative to approach the staff for the information you needed. That’s an important quality in a paralegal. I look forward to learning more about your case!
    Prof. C.

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