Eureka, Discovery?

This morning (10am), I went to Discovery, for the car accident that happened two years ago. A friend of mine who has gone through the whole process found it very stressful. An ICBC lawyer sits there and grills you while a court reporter takes down your every word on her funny little machine... even the "uhhhh"s! But I found the experience almost anticlimatic. The lawyer was evidently a very very junior one. She was very nice (the first clue!) and, while organized, didn't look like she really knew the material she was covering.

... and she asked the stupidest questions! She was listening to what I was saying, as her notes will testify, and yet I am sure she wasn't really listening (or thinking for that matter). For instance:

Lawyer: According to your report, you complained about dizzy spells and blurred vision. Is that correct?
Gen: Yes.
Lawyer: Did you discuss these symptoms with your doctor?
Gen: Yes, along with the other problems I already mentioned.
Lawyer: Ah yes, can you describe your dizzy spells?
Gen: I was dizzy.
Lawyer: Ok, and you also experienced blurred vision, is that correct?
Gen: Yes, occasionally.
Lawyer: Please describe your blurred vision for me.
Gen: Things were blurry.

I almost laughed at times, it was too funny. It seems my lawyer also had trouble keeping a straight face, and I am sure I got a couple of twinkles from the court reporter when I glanced her way.

Of course, before you begin, you have to swear to tell the truth with your right hand on a Bible; one that is fairly old, but evidently never opened... until today, that is: my lawyer finally got so bored with the repetitive series of questions that he started reading it while he waited for her to progress to the next important parts!

The ICBC lawyer really didn't seem too sure of what direction to take, other than reading off the pages and pages of questions from her script. At one point, she started to inquire about my student loans, wanting to know how much I owe, if the payments are made monthly, if they are regular (Are you regular? hee hee hee!). My lawyer looked up from the Bible to ask "I'm sorry, why is that relevant?" She didn't seem to know what to say, she just looked at him and paused, so he continued "That's ok, I'll make it easy for you. It's NOT relevant. So I'll just instruct my client not to answer, and we can move along." He told me later that while he wanted to make her work a little, he took pity and decided not to be mean!

By about 1:30pm she started to run out of ideas (or her script came to and end?) and didn't quite know what to do about it. "Uhhhhm, I don't think I have enough here to go until 4:30......" (why until 4:30?)

Since we hadn't breaked for lunch yet, the court secretary seemed a little worried! But my lawyer quickly said "Well I have to get back to my office this afternoon, and my client doesn't want to stay here all day either, so why don't we just wrap it up?"

And, just like that, it was over. Three hours of mindless questions and silly repetitions. I will have to get a copy of the transcript, as there were several parts where it was very difficult not to grin!