Sunday, December 04, 2005

Spinning dizzying understanding

Most of you who read Ocean are not in any way connected with the legal profession. Me, I practiced the stuff and now I teach it. I am likely in some way responsible for the training of most, if not all, the young family law attorneys in town. Others teach about corporate mergers and acquisitions. I teach about marriage and divorce. If you practice either (what’s there to practice in marriage law?), likely as not you will have taken my class. Cool.

A commenter once wrote that I have never written with such raw emotion as when I was trying to sell the house. Watch me now.

I teach family law. I teach about compassion. I teach about clients who, for reasons too difficult to understand, cannot get it together at the time of divorce. I teach about lawyers and judges who are ill equipped to deal with what is thrust upon them. I teach about how impossibly difficult it is to make reasoned judgments in this area.

Okay. And then, suddenly, I have a personal issue that requires the intervention of the legal system. And I need to hire an attorney. And the other side needs to hire an attorney. And things are not going right. What? What’s happening? I did not say that! The other party did not say that! (The opposing party and I happen to be in good communication with each other.) Oh, suddenly I understand. The attorney on the other side is engaging in the art of exaggeration.


But wait, such conclusions! Where are they being drawn from? Oh! Reading blogs, I am told. The attorney on the other side reads OCEAN! Material from here? To be used against me? Poor Ocean is sobbing as we speak! That's just shameless! Oh, I cannot wait for this to be done with legal matters.

And now I am reminded of the time I was selling the house. Don’t write about this publicly – I was told. Keep quiet, keep quiet.

And I am reminded of the time I was called before the judicial system some 8 years ago, unfairly, on someone’s whim and fear. Keep quiet. This will resolve itself. Just keep quiet.

I cannot. I stand behind my life. I have made plenty of errors. I take responsibility for them. I am not ashamed to admit to them. But this? You, lawyer on the other side, shame on you. Shame. I will never teach my students to be like you. Yes, you may have won your case. Now go and sleep on it. Sleep on your conscience. Nighty night.


P.S. Had it not been for the asinine issue that arose, I would have been posting about my brunch this afternoon. And I would have said to you, pal, that I do indeed post photos of me smiling. Here's one that someone took this afternoon at said brunch.


Madison Dec 05 028

5 comments:

  1. I can't help but think that rather being so angry at the lawyer you should be saving some anger for whomever who is paying the lawyer to pursue these things so vigorously. --Kestrel

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  2. me: I'm not going to let the lawyers pick this one up. I'm going to take it from their hands and work it out myself. Enough already.

    kestrel: I will not reap great benefits from it, but I do understand that in terms of comfort level, I come into this with significant advantages. I know most of the attorneys practicing in this area. I know the law. I have lawyer friends who will review things with me and have done so within the last 24 hours. Generous people. Think how hard it must be for the person on the other side. All he has is the person whom he has entrusted to represent his interest. If I thought he aggressively and belligerently went after me now, I'd agree. But I don't see it. All I see is her messy claws and her slanderous words. Santa Claus will get her for that. Everyone else deserves my calm.

    What I also see is that I was eating a spinach omlette and there is a nice piece of spinach nestled in my mouth. I am not above posting photos where there is spinach in my mouth. Make of that what you will, oh attorney for the other side.

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  3. Oh, Nina. I divorced myself. I did the whole thing myself. I saw an attorney. Got an hour's worth of a top one's time. Showed her what my Ex-2-B and I had hammered out. She said her retainer was $5000, but that she couldn't do better than I what I had written down. So I did it ALL myself. Typed every word on every paper at my Ex's office. No lawyers for us. Every horror and pain came directly from someone who loved me. I don't know what you're going through, but I so FEEL it. Love and peace and love.

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  4. Sympathies on the dissolution of your marriage. Good luck on your new life.

    Until this post, I wasn't sure what it was you have been going through when you described your condition.

    So to that opposing attorney, Nina has not been playing for sympathy here.

    plx

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  5. Nina - I'm just catching up on my reading here, and so sorry to hear about this rather unpleasant turn. Hope it improves soon, and you can focus your energies on more productive activities, like reminding me that not all food comes out of a can.

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