✏️ Legal Pad:
One of the most common mistakes people make after a car wreck is reaching for their phone to share the story online. A quick post about the crash, a picture of the damage, even something as simple as “feeling okay” can end up in the hands of the insurance company and, once it’s out there, you can’t take it back. Equally as dangerous is posting things online in the months following the wreck.
Social media is never the whole truth. A smiling picture at a tailgate doesn’t show the back pain that made you leave early. A caption about “getting back to normal” doesn’t reflect the hours of physical therapy or the nights you can’t sleep. But insurance companies are masters at taking those curated snapshots and arguing they prove you aren’t really hurt. Why give them that opportunity?
The safest move is simple: stay off social media until your case is resolved. No posts, no tags, no “check-ins.” If friends or family want updates here’s a novel thought: call them, meet for lunch, grab a drink. Your case is built on evidence and credibility, and the less ammunition you give the other side, the stronger your position will be when it matters most.
💡 Sidebar:
Fiction may dominate the Summer months, but I’ve always leaned towards nonfiction when fall rolls around. The evenings get cooler, the light slants earlier, and the whole season lends itself to revisiting the past.
On my shelf right now is ‘Devil in the Grove’ by Gilbert King — a Pulitzer Prize winner that reads like both a courtroom drama and a moral reckoning. It follows Thurgood Marshall, long before he wore the robe, defending four young men in the lake country backwaters of Florida. Fans of Harper Lee’s classic, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ will immediately see the parallels.
Books like this are a reminder of why fall reading matters. In a season that asks us to slow down, they force us to look back — to see how far we’ve come, and how much work still lies ahead. And for lawyers, it’s a gentle nudge that the cases we take on today, however local or small they may seem, can echo far beyond the courtroom.
⚖️ Closing Arguments:
Today (since 4:00 AM, to be precise) I’ve traded the courtroom for the cooking tent, competing in the Greenville County Bar Association’s BBQ Cook-Off with our team, May It Please The Pork. My brother — a partner at Holland & Alderson, Greenville’s premier real estate firm — is fortunately standing by to make sure what comes off the pit is safe for human consumption.
If you’ve ever smoked a pork butt or tended a rack of ribs, you know BBQ isn’t about shortcuts. It’s hours of slow heat, careful attention, and trust that the work you put in early will pay off when it’s time to pull from the pit.
Litigation isn’t very different. Cases rarely turn on a single flashy moment. They’re built in the quiet hours of preparation: the research, the motions, the strategy sessions, the patience to wait for the right timing. Just like BBQ, the process takes longer than you think, but the result is worth the wait.
And like BBQ, the best cases aren’t handled alone. They require trust, communication, and the kind of teamwork that highlights each teammate’s strengths. Whether it’s co-counsel in the courtroom or your brother, in-laws, and friends by the smoker, the end result benefits from team effort.
So whether you’re tending the pit, watching football, or just enjoying the fall air, remember- some of the best outcomes in life come not from rushing, but from letting the work breathe, season, and mature. Here’s to a weekend slow cooked to perfection.
Court is in recess- see you next Friday.
