It Isn’t All Exciting

Being a trial Lawyer is a great profession. I have done it for more than 50 years and I would do it for another 50 if I could. But not every day is exciting.

Today is an example. I had agreed to stand in for a lawyer friend on a case in St. Charles County. That is not an unusual event. We frequently cover for one another when there is a conflict in scheduling.

I also had three cases in St. Louis County and had agreed to meet a man about the possibility of taking on his son’s rape case. I wanted to make sure I concluded the St. Charles County case right away so I could then get to St. Louis County.

Too Early To Retire

I arrived at the St. Charles Courthouse by 8:15 a.m. To my delight another lawyer I know, more of an acquaintance actually, showed up early We got to sit and talk about the state of affairs in both politics and the legal profession. His name is Vic. He is not quite as old as I but has been at being a lawyer for a long time, long enough to talk about why he does not want to retire.

The client was good enough to show up early so we were ready with our paperwork when Court started. Well, I thought we were ready. This was what is called an arraignment. The Court memo had spaces for dates to be filled in for upcoming tasks that needed to be completed. I had selected the dates from a schedule that is posted in the Courtroom. I handed the paper to the Judge. He looked at it and wrinkled his forehead.

Hey, It Is His Courtroom

He didn’t like any of the dates. He crossed them out, said they wouldn’t work and picked dates of his own liking. Okay by me. I mean it is his Court after all. But it was only 9:20 a.m. by then and I would have plenty of time to make it to St. Louis County for my docket there.

I arrived in Clayton at about 9:45 a.m., found a parking place reasonably close to the Courthouse (the temperature was in the low 30’s). I got through the metal detectors okay and headed to Division 46.

So Where Is Division 46 Now?

In January a lot of the Divisions change around. So, the signage for Division 46 was incorrect. It only took a few minutes to find the right courtroom. I took care of business there and headed to another part of the Courthouse to meet with the father who had called me about his son.

He was sitting in the Courtroom where his son was about to have a bond hearing. I found the son among the confined prisoners who were there. I told him who I was and that his father had contacted me about representing him. He pointed out his father.

Oops!

I went to the father and introduced myself and asked him to come out of the Courtroom so we could talk. He agreed and we found a place to sit. I started to ask him some questions about his son and he announced that he had already hired an attorney to represent his son.

It would have been nice if he had let me know beforehand. But I was in Clayton anyway so it was not really an inconvenience.

I walked back to my car in the cold and wind and headed back to the office. The rest of the day was paperwork.