May 17, 2007
The law, it ain't what it use'ta be
David Hardy attended the rarest of creatures: a Continuing Legal Education seminar that sounds like it was a hoot. Four old-timers held forth on what it was like practicing law in Arizona way back when.
I particularly enjoyed this one.
One of the presenters had sat on the Court of Appeals. He smoked. They never wore fancy clothes, since it would all be under the robes anyway. He'd been in the Marine Corps and had a collection of tattoos.
So he's outside the courthouse smoking, in casual clothes and tennis shoes, when a group of Phoenix attorneys in fancy suits asks him where the court of appeals is. He replies, that building over there, there's a directory inside, you can find it.
Then he asked them, are you attorneys?
One says yes.
The judge jokes "I bet your clients would be worried to find out you didn't know the way to the courthouse."
One of them snaps "smartass."
As the judges come out on the bench, he's first in line. He sees the attorney who spoke close his eyes in shock and then bang his head on the table.
You never know who you're talking to. Everyone in the community is a potential juror, another reason to avoid being a jerk -- if good manners weren't enough.
Then there's this one.
A tough county judge who, upset by how long an attorney was taking to get documents admitted into evidence, told him to bring that stack of documents up to the bench.
The judge looks at them, takes the stack, leans over the bench and slaps the attorney in the face with them, lets them fall to the floor.
The attorney gathers them up, goes red, opposing counsel realizes what is about to happen, grabs his arm, but with the other arm the attorney slaps the judge in the face with the same stack.
The jury watches in shock. The judge calls a ten minute recess. Then he comes back in and says to the attorney, "you may proceed."
Good stuff. More here.
Posted by Mike Lief at May 17, 2007 08:46 PM
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