Being a lawyer -- especially a lawyer at trial -- is a strange alchemy of boredom, stress, exhilaration, and exhaustion.

You're stuck in a "war room" with its sickly fluorescent light, staring at a computer for up to 18 or 20 hours a day, moving only to go to the bathroom or walk 15 feet to the catered lunch or dinner, trying to push the ball forward on some part of the case or another in an ungainly dance with your colleagues, experts, opposing counsel, and the Court, as expectations, uncertainty -- and occasionally body odor -- swirl in the air.

This particular trial took place in Marshall, Texas in Federal Court. It was a patent case dealing with fairly technical mobile phone technology. I attended this trial as a graphics consultant, helping the lawyers craft visuals that told the story to the jury. I stole away when I could to shoot candid photos in the war room. Every so often I even got to go outside.

At the end of the case our side walked down the steps of the courthouse with barely-controlled smiles that slowly turned exuberant -- our side had won. The jury foreman (last picture) even congratulated the lawyers and hoped the jury had done the right thing.