T.'s Courtroom Chronicles, #123020

"Merry Christmas" Edition

Waaaayyyy back in the halcyon days of 2013, when I was still in my first year of practice, I got hired by a guy to help him with a Driving While License Revoked ticket

Let's call him Wayne

Wayne was on felony probation for some large number of years

His driver's license also got revoked back in the George H.W. Bush administration for reasons I don't recall (I'm pretty sure it was for missing court on a speeding ticket when he was in jail)

But, like most folks, Wayne kept driving because that was the only way he could afford to get to his job

His prior attorney, on an unrelated ticket a year or two before, took his money and never went to court (creating an extra basis for suspension on top of the original suspension)

So I handled his Durham ticket, told him he'd need to get his other ticket square, and he'd be fine

For reasons unknown to me, he evidently appreciated me explaining to him how everything worked, because I basically became his first go-to on everything legal that came up

Represented him on assorted things, represented his now-wife, provided referrals for stuff I don't handle

And so it was last week, as I'm sitting next to my wife watching something I don't remember after we'd finished eating dinner, when I see Wayne calling me...

The phone rings once, I see who it is, I look at the clock, and I tell her "It's 8:30 at night and Wayne's calling me. Someone got arrested. I think I'm gonna let it go to voicemail"

But I also have a soft spot for certain clients so I picked up the phone anyway

And Wayne starts with the "heeeyyyyyy T." that clients do when they got arrested and know I'm going to be annoyed with them

We exchange pleasantries

Wayne (): "Sooooo guess what happened yesterday?"

Me (): ::in my head::

: "You got arrested?"

: ::sucks his teeth:: "Come on, man!"

: "Your wife got arrested?"

: "What?? No!"

:

Turns out no one got arrested

Wayne had actually threatened to report his earlier attorney to the State Bar if the guy didn't fix the ticket where he took Wayne's money and no-showed

The attorney fixed it, Wayne paid the DMV the assorted fines and fees owed, and re-took the driver's exam

And passed

And his probation expired, so he no longer had to wear an ankle monitor or worry about a PO

And in the 24 hours since he was both a free man and a legally licensed driver, he'd gotten two different job offers that paid quite a bit more than where he had been working

So he was just calling to let me know things were going well and he was staying out of trouble and finally turned a corner with life

We ended up on the phone for nearly 30 minutes, me just getting caught up on everything that had happened in his life since the last time we'd talked

Sent me a text earlier this week with a photo of his license so I'd know he wasn't bullsh*tting me

Since the pandemic began, there have been more days than not where I hate my job

Then stuff like this happens and I like it again