So I sit and wait yesterday with my client for a Deposition that never happened. When the Court reporter still wasn't there 10 minutes after the scheduled beginning time I called- and it turned out that the other lawyer had to fire his scheduler (You know, I just can't imagine working in an office when you have someone who does nothing but schedule your trial stuff.) so he didn't even know that he didn't know there was a deposition.
I laughed about it, but damn, now dude has a "big trial" with Jere Beasley (a hotshot lawyer in Alabama) in January, so I'm shuffled off to end of January- when we could have gotten an offer before Christmas. Sigh. I guess I'll just have to be patient.
Last week, I received a snippy letter from an older, very respected member of the bar. It pissed me off so I wrote him back, using the word umbrage, and the sentence, "While my client did punch your client in the face, she did so because your client brought his girlfriend into the marital residence and proceeded to speak disrespectfully to her, his wife." It was a good letter, a good, don't mess with me I'm no pushover, but I respect you very much letter.
So I saw the lawyer today and followed up with my offer that if he would prepare the papers I would allow my client to sign them. He laughed, and said, "Well, I sent you a copy of the letter I sent to my client today. I'm tired of fooling with him so I sent his money back. He's entirely too much trouble."
Which is not at all what I wanted. I wanted him to just tell his stupid client to sign the no contest divorce papers I prepared and be done with it. I would even have lived with him preparing the "cruelty" divorce papers and allowing my client to sign. Ack. I guess I did too good a job.
Ewwww, and tomorrow I have the awful trial with the, "Why can't I sit in my car with the keys in the ignition so I could turn the music on, drinking a six pack? I wasn't going to drive anywhere. So I am totally innocent and my boyfriend says he's a better lawyer than you are because everyone knows you have to be driving to get a DUI. " girl.
At the crack ass of dawn, no less.
So let this be a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: If you're drinking, you should not have the keys to the automobile under your control. If you're drunk and want to pass out in your car, throw the keys in a bush near your car and crawl in the back seat- you could get a DUI, but you'll probably win. If the keys are in the ignition, you are sunk. If the keys are in your pocket and you're in the back seat, the law is real clear- you can be given a DUI.
And to you, the client I had today, the one who started yelling at the cop and then put her 11 year old in the car with her and got behind the wheel "Just to see if the car would start for me tomorrow, I wasn't going to drive anywhere. I was going to have the officer give me a ride to my sister's house," Just because I tell you that there is a 90% chance we're going to loose, doesn't mean I'm against you. I'm being honest- based on the facts. Its like I said to you, "even if everything you have told me is true, and the Judge believes everything your say, he can still find you guilty because you got behind the wheel and turned the car on and you had been drinking and taking sleeping pills." (And you didn't take a test. And plus, calling the cop a dirty pig and telling him you hoped someone killed him, was just really, really stupid.)
Oh and let this be another PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: The fact that you have children will have no bearing whatsoever on whether or not you are given jail time for a crime. Bringing your children to Court and holding them in your arms while arguing with the prosecutor and Judge will NOT decrease the chances of your going to jail. "I can't go to jail, I have children." is just not how it works. Repeating "I have children. I can't go to jail." until your attorney wants to call DHR and sic them on you, will not change that fact.
No comments:
Post a Comment