The Federal Bar Association Young Lawyers Division hosted an informative brown-bag lunch and roundtable event on Wednesday, March 20th at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse. The roundtable luncheon was led by the Honorable George A. O’Toole, Jr., United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts, and former Justice of the Boston Municipal Court and then the Massachusetts Superior Court.
The roundtable format gave the young attorneys the opportunity to ask the Judge questions regarding practice in federal courts and how it compares to practice in Massachusetts State Courts. Some of the topics covered included general “do’s and dont’s” of practice, the voir dire process, courtroom technology and using it to your advantage, considerations for trying a bench trial versus and jury trial, Judge O’Toole’s process for trying a case, how the District Court judges interact with one another, and opportunities for young lawyers to improve their practice skills.