First hearing...for real this time.

I've waited a few days to write this post, but wanted to do so before I lost a lot of my memories (aka: the rest of my mind). As plenty of people know, this week I attended my first court hearing. And what a hearing that was. I was supposed to have a hearing last week, but it was rescheduled with another judge due to a conflict with the previous judge.

Now, some background info about this hearing (but obvs not too much)....it was a custody dispute. And custody disputes are NEVER EVER EVARRRRRRR fun. They suck. People cry, kids act like assholes, and there are no true winners. None.

I went into this hearing expecting for everyone to give testimony, for a finding of the best interest of the child to be offered up by the judge, and for my client to get her kid back (that she's raised for 16 years with no friggin support from his deadbeat asshole of a father). Judge messed that over when he said he was inclined to grant custody....before testimony was given, before child had been interviewed, before any fights were made..and based on a piece of shit motion by OC.

What followed was a quick argument that involved the kitchen sink, and afterwards....six hours in court. Six long, looong, LOOOONG hours in court. My client did not win, but the one who did pissed the judge off. So though she didn't win custody, she got visitation, was ordered to pay no child support, and the asshole ex is going to have to come up with over $40K to pay my client within the next two years in back child support.

And that's just phase one. I implement phase two next week. Justice works in mysterious ways, but I've learned a shitton from my client, her case, and that proceeding. And I've figure out that sometimes justice isn't what you're asking for, or may come about in a different way than expected....

Welcome to the big girl world....

Last week I mentioned sending my letter to opposing counsel. I can only imagine what he did when he received it, but I don't think him shitting on it and setting it on fire are outside of the realm of possibility. 

I say this because this week, my client was served with motions regarding her case, after he knew I was her attorney. For you non-attorneys out there, let me explain: that doesn't go against figurative ethical protocol. It goes against ACTUAL WRITTEN FUCKING RULES. Specifically, one regarding contacting a person that they know to be represented by counsel. I was pissed, but I let it slide. 

Even though I wanted to smack a bitch. 

He also filed a piece of shit motion that was passed ex parte. And, again, for you non-legal scholars, ex parte doesn't mean a party where all your exes are in attendance (although given the circumstances--custody, I find  the name ironic)-- it simply means my client didn't receive notice of the proceedings. 

I may have done some of this when I got wind of this shit. 

But today. TODAY. While arranging a hearing with him on the phone during a conference call with a judicial assistant, I happened to ask if he had gotten the letter of confirmation regarding another hearing we have together. His response: I'm sure my girls got it. 

To which I replied "That's funny, because I called your office yesterday and "your girl" told me you were the only one who had access to that email account. So....is there a secondary address I can send this next confirmation to in order to assure you get it?" 

Come at me, bro bitch. 

Sometimes, it's the little things. 

Super Exciting......

Today, aside from studying, I did something super exciting. I edited a letter that's been sitting in my documents folder for twenty days. I cleaned it up, and printed it out on nice, cream-colored linen paper. I printed a matching envelope out with my address on it. And after my name, I put "Attorney at Law."

Because today I mailed a letter to opposing counsel on behalf of my very first (albeit pro bono) client. I was nice. I was cordial. I was fair. But I was also firm. And I feel awesome. 

Let's not mention the fact that this is the very first time I'm practicing law on someone without any supervision. Or the fact that I am terrified of committing some sort of terrible instance of malpractice. Or the fact that SOMEONE'S LEGAL EXISTENCE IS IN MY HANDS.

Nope, I'm going to focus on the fact that until this letter hits and I get a response, I am the head motherfucker in charge. Then, we'll just have to see how it plays out. Besides, my client knows she's the first person I've represented...

GOD HELP ME 

(and my client)

Potential Solo Practitioner?

The past few days I've been thinking more and more about opening my own firm. I've been hesitant to do it until now for several reasons, including (a) my lack of resources (opening a firm takes money, yo), (b) my lack of experience, (c) my lack of connections, and (d) the yellow belly I kept hidden under my shirt. However, I just had the pleasure of counting up how many jobs I've been rejected for in the past year, and I came up with around 250.

I also read a recent article one of my friends posted on Facebook in which it discussed how going jobless for one year has more than an impact of making you hate your life broke for an entire year--it actually decreases your life's overall expected earning potential.

Let's just speed up the process a little.

I don't speak often about my earlier years, but here's some knowledge for ya: my mom owned her own business for the first thirteen years of my life. She rented movies and made pizza, and I saw the daily struggles associated with owning one's own business. A lot of times she was in the red, our store got broken into once and the idiot bled EVERYWHERE (he broke a window, then rather than opening it, CLIMBED THROUGH IT AND SCRATCHED HIMSELF TO HELL). I saw it when the supply truck didn't come when he was supposed to. And I saw her have to deal with difficult customers. I also saw the perks--she was able to have the school bus drop us off each day, she could close early if there was inclement weather or if my brother or I were puking our guts out, and she was head bitch in charge.

M, head bitch in charge (and my hero)

As for me, I've been waiting and hoping and praying to God I could get a job. But that's normally not the kind of person I am. I like to make my own opportunities, and I don't do well taking a backseat waiting for things to happen. And, quite frankly, I've reached the point where I'm tired of waiting.

So I guess what I'm saying is that my cowardice has finally been trumped by my impatience and sense of being fed up with the state of my professional life. As such, I've started researching what I'm going to need to start my own law firm. After looking a lot of stuff up, I feel reasonably confident that I can start a law firm with about a $2000-$3000 shoestring budget (and that will cover a downpayment for malpractice insurance as well). I want to aim at opening at the beginning of next year, and I've picked a small town next to a big city in which to operate, both to limit competition and to lower costs of operation. This means I'll have to move there in October-November, then focus on learning the community and networking my ass off.

But honestly? I'm kinda excited. JURIS IS BACK IN ACTION, BABY.

Prepared for the best. And by best, I mean worst. 

Any tips or suggestions? Or comments?