I hope that you’re all enjoying the holiday weekend. I was relaxing by the lake this morning and talking to my adorable and precocious niece when the conversation turned to what I do for a living. We didn’t get very far, because she cut me off, oral-argument style, with the titular query–“What’s a trial?”

Good question.

I did not have a particularly satisfying answer. I’ll send a copy of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to the reader who comes up with the best way to explain a trial to an (admittedly brilliant) young elementary schooler. Arbitrary response deadline: June 12th.