Re: watching court cases

Court proceedings in the courtroom are open to the public 99% of the time. The major categories are trials, law and motion hearings, case management conferences, and "all other," at least in general civil departments.

Being in Sunnyvale, I suppose in Santa Clara County, the main civil courthouse is, I think, 191 North 1st, not too hard for you to get to.

I would start with studying the Court's Web site, to get an idea of cases coming up for hearing or trial and the courtrooms and dates. I'd start by finding a date and time for some judge's law and motion calendar, get there for the beginning, sit in the back, keep quiet and listen to a morning's or afternoon's calendar, which may be anywhere from a few to a couple dozen matters taking anywhere from one minute to one hour of time to hear and decide.

If you decide to sit in on trials, be prepared to learn a little more about the parties and issues before devoting a lot of time to sitting in the courtroom to hear about things that are not relevant to your interests.

Re: watching court cases

I commend your interest in the law. It is difficult to become a lawyer without going to law school. It is also difficult to understand investment and IP law without knowing the basics of contract law, property law. You should be fine in a courtroom, if asked, just say you are interested in the law and observing. good luck.

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Re: watching court cases

the ninth circuit will allow visitors for patent cases. You can generally get a calender from the clerk or on-line at the ninth circuit website.