Adventures in Self-Publishing: Part One -- The Law Office Journals

Early December 2015

Friday, December 1, 1995

Sometimes, I just get so tired, I don't even want to think about my day, let alone write about it. Why I should be so tired, I don't know.

Rick's getting over the flu—slowly.

I attended the Howard County Bar Association lunch meeting. Robert Gonzales, the MSBA president, spoke on various topics of concern. Issues on the horizon, the shape of things to come ... that sort of thing.

I suppose I could summarize what he said as follows: We are the caretakers of American justice. We are the ones who have to look out for the rights of the poor, the hungry—the huddled masses, yearning to breathe free—the wretched refuse of your teeming shore ... blah diddy blah blah ...

Why does it all seem to ring so hollow in my ear?

I hope everything goes okay for E. it's the weekend before her trial. I may be in her shoes one day. Although, not with a custody case—that's for damn sure.

I finally entered my appearance in the PD panel case. Now, my traffic case is being postponed. But my pretrial conference in Mr. X's case is scheduled for December 20. Now what happens? We shall see.

To go back to what I was saying about the huddled masses—it was part of Gonzales's talk. Actually, it's part of the poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty. But Gonzales was talking about the need for private practitioners to step in and fill the void that will be left if (or when) the Legal Services Corp. is eliminated. Especially us hard-working solos. As if we didn't have enough problems.

Some of the slack will be picked up by the kindhearted among us. The rest will fall through the cracks. The fact is, in any organization, whether it's a workplace or a society, there are a few people who end up doing most of the work. And even they have their limits. In a society where those who cannot afford legal services must depend on the kindness of strangers, there are no guarantees. Not even the most minimal of guarantees. Kindness only goes so far when the beginning of the month is just around the corner.

Sunday, when I'm solvent, I may feel kindly again.

Friday, December 2, 1995

I attended the Sisters in Crime lunch. The speakers were a DC Superior Court judge in the federal prosecutor.

C couldn't make the meeting today because of the class, but she really should have blown it off for this. It was one of the best I've been to.

The prosecutor made an interesting comment on jury selection. She said she doesn't look as much at age, sex, profession, etc., as she does at personality. Will the jurors get along? If so, they're more likely to reach agreement. As a defense attorney, of course, one would want the jurors to be at each other's throats. An interesting point to keep in mind.

I was impressed with both of them. Despite years of working in the trenches, they maintained a strong belief in the system. I like that. It's easy to knock the system, but not so easy to come up with a viable alternative.

We put up the indoor Christmas lights tonight. Rick is still slightly feverish, but doing much better. Tomorrow, we have to do a lot of stuff that got put off today.

Wednesday, December 6, 1995 (8:20 a.m.)

Once again, I'm in a writing mode. I'm supposed to hear from the AG's office soon about the position with the collections unit. I keep wondering if I really want it.

L is back. Apparently, she's been in pain and having difficulty sleeping. But she checked out okay at the doctor's.

During the slow, I should work on my PI article.

Wednesday, December 6, 1995 (11:15 p.m.)

The most significant thing I did today was called Ms. W to discuss the proposed Christmas visit, which, of course, is not going to happen. But I had to try.

I got a message from my traffic client. It appears he's in Ohio, on business. He's trying to get a "business driving only" license or something like that. I guess he planned on representing himself, because there is an MVA hearing on Saturday, but he didn't hire me to be there.

My B&E client hasn't called.

I should call Ms. Y to discuss the bill. I should work on the PI article.

I told Rick I should just shut down the office if I don't get the AG job. Just write for a living. I'm fed up with these jokers.

He said that, a year ago, he would've encouraged me to keep the office open. Now—after all the bullshit—he's just as inclined as I to say screw it. Clients that don't pay, divorcing spouses that behave like children, and attorneys with no judgment or scruples. Wacko clients that report attorneys to the Attorney Grievance Commission without reason. Judges who don't know the law. Attorneys who can bend or break the rules with impunity.

It is one screwy-ass world out there. Is it any wonder that Bob Gonzales' flag-waving speech left me cold?

I should explain a few things here. E's trial—the one that's supposed to go for four days—was delayed. Then, Toby B said she couldn't be there on Thursday and Friday. Just like that, on the eve of trial. I would never even think of trying to get away with shit like that. E had to put on her case in the time she had left—a day, maybe a day and a half—or at least as much of her case as possible—then the trial stops—then it will resume at a later date. That's crazy.

The whole thing makes no sense. E looked like she was wiped when she came in from court this evening.

I gotta stop here.

Friday, December 8, 1995

I got the Answers to Interrogatories yesterday. Ms. W had said that if I had any questions after getting the information, she'd be very surprised. Well, guess again, Ms. W.

Mrs. X did an information dump in response to my question about income. She appears to have copied the entries of the bank statements for all accounts with her name on them. As usual, she's overplayed her hand. She's provided detailed information about the sources of the most minute amounts of money—a .22 coupon here, a $10 service charge there—but indicates that of a $2900 deposit, $1500 is "interest plus emergency funds" from her trust and the remaining $1400 is from "an unknown source." She does this for any amount in excess of $1500. Also, the $4500 and $5000 deposit I found on her bank statements do not show any indication of source at all. Not even "unknown". So where did it come from? Did it fall from the sky? Did it grow on a tree in the front yard? Lady, you're going to have to do a lot better than that.

Also, there was income going into their joint account, for which he provides no source. Sometimes, large lump-sum deposits. I'll have to ask him [my client] to look those over, and see if he knows anything about them.

Now, of course, I have to look at trust documents. I forgot to mention that she did not indicate any payments from the trust until 12/92—the month of the first deposit that I can verify from the document production I requested from them. What a coincidence—NOT! I don't believe for a New York minute that the trust paid no income from 1988 to 1992. She's trying so hard to be clever, but she just isn't clever. Stubborn and attitudinal, yes—clever, no.

It's hard to imagine someone with the guts tocall payments that are coming to them every single month for 2 1/2 years"emergency" payments. Sort of turns the whole concept of"emergency" on its head.