Kott/Weyhrauch Pre Trial 1

I went to the US District Court Clerk's office today to see what their public computers might tell me about the upcoming trials of Pete Kott and Bruce Weyhrauch. For one thing it listed all the attorneys. In this post I'll give a little background I found through Google on the defendants' attorneys.



Bruce Weyhrauch’s attorneys


Ray R. Brown has been a shareholder in the firm since 1994. His legal interests are centered on complex civil litigation and trial practice. He is particularly interested in plaintiff's medical malpractice and litigation that involves the use of scientific or technical expertise. Ray graduated cum laude from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1981. He has an undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Texas at Arlington. He has also attended and completed the Trial Practice Institute of the National Criminal Defense College at Mercer Law School.

Following law school and his admission to the bar, Ray served as a senior felony trial attorney and later as the training director for the Alaska Public Defender Agency. He also served as an Assistant District Attorney with the State of Alaska Department of Law, Criminal Division. Following a successful career in the criminal justice system, Ray decided to pursue a civil practice.

Ray's main areas of civil practice include plaintiff's medical malpractice, employee side labor law, class action litigation and serious injury or death cases.

He has tried to verdict more than 150 cases. He is "AV" rated by Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in the Best Lawyers in America since 2003. He served on the Alaska Bar Association Board of Governors (1995-98), and is a frequent presenter at Trial Advocacy programs both in Alaska and in the lower 48. He is a member of the Alaska Academy of Trial Lawyers, Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He loves traveling, his family and his two dogs. Source



Douglas Pope
Member

Practice Areas: Civil Practice; Personal Injury; Products Liability; Wrongful Discharge; Antitrust; Commercial Torts; Corporate Law; Constitutional Law; Appellate Practice.

Admitted: 1973, Alaska; 1974, U.S. District Court, District of Alaska; 1976, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; 1978, U.S. Supreme Court

Law School: Willamette University, J.D., 1973

College: University of Alaska, B.S., 1970

Member: Alaska and American Bar Associations; The Association of Trial Lawyers of America; National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Alaska Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Biography: (Also Member, Pope & Katcher)

Reported Cases: Hammond v. Hickel, 588 P.2d 256 (Alaska 1978); Brown v. United States, 665 F.2d 271 (9th Cir. 1982); Johns v. Commercial Fisheries Entry Comm., 699 P.2d 334 (Alaska 1985); Hickel v. Cowper, 874 P.2d 922 (Alaska 1994); Capital Info. Group v. Office of Governor, 923 A.2d 29 (Alaska 1996); Brooks v. Wright, 971 P.2d 1025 (Alaska 1999); Chijide v. Maniilaq Assoc. of Kotz., 972 P.2d 167 (Alaska, 1999); Cable v. Shefchik, 985 P.2d 474 (Alaska, 1999).

Born: Fairbanks, Alaska, June 1, 1945
Source





Pete Kott's Attorneys

Margaret R. Simonian ("Meg") joined Friedman, Rubin & White in 2003. Her prior experience includes a successful career as a criminal defense attorney at the Alaska Public Defender's Office and the Office of Public Advocacy. In this capacity she gained valuable trial skills. Before that, she served as a law clerk for Judge Eric Sanders on the Alaska Superior Court. She is a member of the Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions Committee, the Alaska Trust Board of the Alaska Trial Lawyers Association and the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Meg was born and raised in Alaska. She graduated with honors from the University of Alaska. While an undergraduate, she was a national debate champion and nationally honored as a Truman Scholar. She graduated from Northeastern University School of Law in 1997. She is admitted to practice in Alaska.

Source


James A. Wendt

I couldn't find a bio on Wendt. I couldn't find a law firm website. Just the bare minimum. From martindale.com I got this:

James A. Wendt
Anchorage, Alaska
(Third Judicial District)

Featured BV Peer Review Rated Lawyer Source

He did run in the Humpy’s Half Marathon August 16, 2007 finishing at a pretty respectable pace for his age group. He came in 104th out of 200 finishers listed at 1:56:43, a 8:55 miles/per minute pace. Not bad for 58 years old.


Brown was supposed to teach a seminar for the Alaska Bar Association on September 14, but he's been replaced - presumably because he expects this trial not to be finished. We was going to teach "Look Good" Cross-Examination with Terry MacCarthy which covers:

• The 3 Types of Cross
• How to Tell Your Story Persuasively through Cross to the Jury
• How to Structure Your Cross with Transitions and Looping
• How to Control Your Witness Without Appearing Overbearing
• How to Elicit and Reinforce Helpful Information from Your Witness
• How to Use Short Statements Effectively
• How to Respond to Objections

Maybe we can watch for these in the courtroom.