Approaching the U.S judicial system. A first impression

Today I appeased a long time curiosity and, taking advantage of my stay in Chicago, I entered for the first time a U.S. Court of Justice. Fortunately, I did so just as a foreign onlooker, not as a party in a trial.

The first thing that impressed me about the Daley Center was its dimensions: the Chicagoan court house has something like 30 floors (to make a comparable example, Milan court of justice has 7, and is majestic). Huge, but yet very well-arranged and easy to visit. Definitely more organized and less chaotic that its Milanese counter part, despite the different dimensions (in its defense, the Milan court of justice houses both criminal and civil procedures, while the Daley Center houses only civil trials).

As soon as I went in, an unexpected kindness and feeling of relaxation took the place of the rude frenzy I 'm used to witnessing in Milan's halls. From the information desk, up to a lawyer on the 23^rd floor, everybody was helpful and somehow willing to get the outsider law student from Europe i what he was looking for: a civil trial to observe (don't expect the same type of courtesy if you visit the Palazzo di Giustizia, especially from lawyers).

The trial I witnessed was a damage claim after a car incident: the plaintiff asserted he suffered from continuous back pains after the incident and tried to prove that the defendant was driving recklessly at the moment of the accident.

As I walked in, the plaintiff's attorney was presenting his opening statement, telling the judge and the jury the facts of the case, immediately followed by the defendant's counselor. Then the parties presented key evidence and started the examination, which honestly was the part I was awaiting the most.

First to sit on the bench was the defendant who, after taking the ritual oath, faced the persistent questions of the plaintiff's attorney, interrupted only by the series of objection of the defendant and the replies of the judge. This part went on for about an hour, and as soon as the defendant's interrogatory was over, the judge arranged a break. That was the moment when I left the court, not realizing that I had already spent more than 1 h and 45 minutes observing. Not much for a complex comparative law analysis, but enough for a first, general impression.

First of all, and I can't stress it enough, the order and the quietness. Only one case at a time in the court, no chaotic crowd in the corridor and the respectful silence one expects in a court of justice. If you will ever observe a minor civil trial (such a damage claim) in an Italian court this is what you will probably see: dozens of lawyers coming in and out of the judge room, taking files, discussing, chatting, filing the hearing reports and trying to reach the judge for a brief discussion of the case, in spite of the schedule. When you are a joung practitioner, the first time in a court house is always shocking.

Of course this is the direct consequence of the second big difference: the way to proceed is mainly oral while according to the Italian Code of Civil Procedure, most of the part of the civil procedure is written. And, even more important, there is no jury nor direct or cross examination in an Italian Civil trial. The attorneys do not orally expose the facts to a jury of peers, but they draft legal deeds, pleadings and statements of fact that the judge will read and on the grounds of which he will admit the evidence and decide the case.

Of course the most theatrical and interesting part was the interrogatory. Observing a cross- examination was very exciting, mostly because to perform a successful cross-examination a lawyer has to be good and well prepared. It is like the ultimate legal challenge: you have to be very combat-ready, prepared both on the particular case and on legal grounds. It is something you are not going to see in an Italian Civil court, for this is a evidence- gathering method used only in criminal procedures. But fortunately, most of the criminal hearings, unlike than the civil ones, are open to the public in Italy too.