mind_chaos

I can say that it never ceases to amaze, but has ceased to surprise, me what people will say and do in Court.  Questions go Where you present when the court handed down it's ruling, did you receive the ruling, did you read the ruling, did you understand the ruling, did you follow the ruling.  Answers Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, and NO!.  He was then surprised when the Court found that he was in contempt, ordered him to pay attorney's fees, and advised him that next time he would go to jail.

All of this was bad enough. But after the court has spent some considerable time telling the parties that they were bloody well going to follow the orders of the court. He had the temerity to ask the court how long she would place him in jail if he failed to comply.  I was a little surprised that the court didn't put him in jail for the question.  The answer was, "it depends on how mad I am, but not for a year".

As he left the Court room, after the judge had departed the bench, he indicated that he was not going to follow the direction of the Court.  I can't wait to see how this works out.  Since our next court date is tomorrow, I don't think I'll have to wait long. 

Once again I find that I have not posted anything thereby defeating the whole purpose of having a blog, such as it is.  So, once again dear friends . . .

On the whole life is good and well worth living.  keep in mind that I say that as I continue with the same headache for going on 2.5 weeks.  Yes, a series of headaches is no longer enough, now I have just one that like an uninvited guest, simply will not go away.  Note that I am seeking medical attention for this.

My beautiful wife suggests that the problem originates not exactly with my work, but with my clerk.  She also suggests that it may be solved by some judicious cephalic attrition.  I find that I'm not in disagreement, although it took me about 10 min to figure out what the hell it meant.

I'm helping out some people with various problems, some legal, some plumbing, some pruning.  All in all if feel . . . helpful?.

I'll try to write more and more consistently.

Peace

   Working at Legal Aid I get to hear some interesting stories and statements.  The gentleman who the day after he got married decided to make sure that his 'common-law' divorce was in fact valid - it wasn't; or the 'dancer' who was upset that her baby would be given her husband's last name as "He's not the Father!!!".  Unfortunately I also get to hear some disturbing things as well.  Today it was a young lady (read minor) who had given birth and didn't understand why the state had taken her child.  Mostly it had to do with the fact that she was living with a child molester, had been molested herself, had conceived while at a party where she was drunk and stoned, and was sure that one person was the father because he had been the last 'visitor' during the party.  She neither understood why her child was taken, nor did she understand why her father might be criminally charged for his part in all of this.  Frankly I just didn't really know what to say to her other than to contact the Public Defender's Office.  I just don't think that a Law degree is the only degree that someone will need to help this young lady.  For what very little it is worth, I hope things go well for both her and her child.

   This week was moderately insane.  I made eight court appearances in four days.  On Thursday I had four contested hearings.  Three of those hearings were against opposing counsel.  I can however say that the person who appeared without an attorney didn't make her case any worse.  Two of the opposing counsels did worse that that for their clients.  Two things about those hearings come to mind.

   One, when taking a client to court, make sure you know why you're there and you know what orders the court has made before.  This is especially true when the court has scheduled a hearing on your motion.  I still have trouble believing that I was covering a court for another attorney at the office and I had a better understanding of the case history and standing that the opposing counsel who had filed the petition.  His client got nothing but yelled at by the court, which is exactly what the lead attorney and I had told him was going to happen.  On a side note the court did tell the parties that they should try to communicate the way they did at the 'moment of conception'.  My wife opined that they probably had been, as they were both yelling and not making any sense.

  While the last attorney's failure was mostly in preparation (failing to review his file, understand the standing of the case, or control his client's expectations) he didn't really do her any lasting harm.  The attorney from my contested custody case doesn't have that much going for them.  She seemed to have a good handle on history of the case and why we were in court, unfortunately that's really the last positive thing that can be said.  She allowed my client to testify to things which my client had no personal knowledge without objection.  She tried to bring this out on cross but the damage was already done.  She belabored the point that her client had no drivers license when he had been transporting the child, she belabored the domestic violence which her client had committed, she belabored the point that there are several ongoing investigations of her client without ever making the point of innocent until proven guilty and she confused the court, my client and her client with her inability to listen to the answer to the questions she was asking so that she could use the answers to make a coherent point.  Finally she attempted to make a new rule of evidence when she did make an objection to the introduction of documentary evidence and was asked the basis of the objection - 'It's not fair'.  I was able to keep from asking for a cite to the rules of evidence for that objection.

   At the end of the week we went out to see some new friends.  She is an attorney who helped out at the office some while looking for a job.  He's in IT project management.  It was good to get out and speak to some people who I didn't have to ask "And you though that was a good idea?"

   All in all it's been a good week just a little exhausting.  I think I've been able to do some good for many and harm to few.  I'd definitely call that a win.

I always said that I wanted to go to court alot as an attorney.  When I thought about being a public defender I knew that at a minimum I would have cattle call courts a couple of times a week and hearings a fair amount of the time.  However with Family law at Legal Aid things tend to be a little more spaced out if not exactly peaceful.  However eight hearings in a week, with a couple of contested hearings is a little much, even for me.  I have no doubt that things will be work out well but it does make for a busy week.

   With tax returns coming in, life at work has been interesting to say the least.  We've already had about 1300 people through the door.  As each person gets to talk to one of the 5 attorney's, and at the least get some advice and a referral you can see that we are working full tilt.  Each year about this time it seems to get busy.  There are a couple of theories about this.
      1) With their tax returns people have the money to finally move out and get away from each other.  This includes security deposits, first months rent, divorce filing fee's, etc.  The only real problem with this theory is that most of our clients have been separated for between 3 months and (longest I've personally seen) 45 years.
      2) With people trying to file taxes it matters to them if they are claimed on someone else's taxes and who gets to claim the kids.  This is the one that I subscribe to.  I'm not entirely sure why as most of our clients haven't worked in 3-18 months.  As much as anything else I think that they can't stand the thought of someone else getting something (a larger tax return), even if it doesn't cost them any thing.  That is of course before any economic stimulus based on tax returns.

   Today was a little slow for the interviews which was good since I have a tonne of paperwork to get through.  I think I only saw 5 people (maybe six).  A couple of divorces, 2-3 child support disputes, a contempt of parenting time, and a young lady who wants to establish paternity in someone who's been dead for more than a year.  This last one is the most problematic.  The law does not allow for this under any circumstances (here in Indiana at least).  She couldn't understand why the law would not allow this.  Of course she had no explanation for her delay.  Some of it was understandable since she didn't realize that you could file a paternity action before the child was born, but then again that's why you talk to an attorney about legal matters.

   After dealing with these problems I got to work on some of the cases that I've actually taken.  One of the rules that Attorney's live by is that you cannot speak directly to another party who is represented by counsel without that attorney's permission.  So I have a case where the attorney in question has asked the Court to be allowed to withdraw stating that she has no contact with her client.  The problem is that this was filed several months ago.  The court has refused the request because the attorney in question didn't follow the local rules.  I got tired of calling and asking about the status so I went and looked it up myself and called the attorney and told her what the problem was.  That was sometime ago now.  It still hasn't been corrected.  I wouldn't care all that much except that I've had a settlement ready to go for about 2.5 months now.  I'm afraid that I'm going to have to request a hearing to get an agreement before the court so that I can put this to bed.  I understand this kind of behavior from my clients but from other attorney's it just don't get it.

A Half Orc's Day is Never Done.  

Working for a true Mafia Princess (of the Elven variety) is not what it is cracked up to be.  Like so many employers she never tells me everything that I think I need to know.  Instead she tells me what she thinks it would be good for me to know.  Today's revelation included the fate of a number of my predecessors.  It seems that there have been a few more of those than I was otherwise aware.  As far as I can tell none of them are drawing a pensions at this time.

   So, she gets word from her twin sister that just doesn't sound right, so off we go to find out what's wrong.  When we arrive at the family estate we find a whole city is being slowly drugged.  It's not clear who or what is behind the action, however at least one person we had previously left decidedly dead is implicated.  Oh yea and her sister is pregnant, with twins, by a human.  Frankly I'm not sure which of these situations is more notable.  I can say that I don't want to be the one to tell their mother.

   The question was asked by a colleague which of the sisters was the 'good' twin.  That's when I discovered that they had been triplets.  It's a good thing I'm planning my own retirement.

   Having recently contacted a couple of people that I should not have lost contact with, and having been asked how I was doing, I thought that I would once again attempt a blog.

   Life is really, really good.  I enjoy my job as an attorney, helping individuals with little or no income.  I get to help people who would otherwise have no help.  It's not uncommon for people who come to my office to have little or no understanding of the Legal System.  Mostly they think that it's either Law and Order or Judge Judy.

   It never ceases to amaze me the things that people will do and say in an Attorney's Office.  Some are quotable, some are not, but invariably they can be described as "it sounded like a good idea at the time".  One of my personal favorites was the gentleman who needed his fifth divorce, but has only had one wife.  After the final hearing I witnessed him going into the clerks office to check on a marriage license.  Unfortunately I don't know if he was looking for information or an application.

   I do a fair amount of work on the house.  I am currently remodeling a 1/2 bath off the main hall.  I took most of the floor back to joists to deal with a pre-existing water problem and have gotten to the point of having dry laid the tile.  I think that the project is going to be a success even if it has upped my OCD quotient.

   Having gotten married (again) in June, I find that this time I got it right (again). 2 out of three (one death, one divorce) is pretty good I think.  I am as happy now as I think I have ever been.  Life has not taken the paths I would have thought, or chosen, but I'm glad to be where I am now.