Christmas is a funny time for divorce attorneys, at least in my area. New business all but dries up from about Thanksgiving until after the new year. Being the cynic that I am I tell people that everyone is waiting to see what they get for Christmas to see if the marriage is worth saving. Others think people stay together for the kids during the holidays. I bet I am closer to being right than anyone really wants to admit.
Existing clients on the other hand can drive you insane if you let them. Do i have to buy HIM/HER gifts? No. Why can't I just keep the children all of Christmas day? Because the Judge said so. What if I don't let him/her see the kids? You go to jail for contempt- i.e. until the Judge isn't pissed at you anymore.
Then there is Boxing day (no no one is actually boxing [I hope] but that is the name for the 26th of December. It comes from the U.K. - in Melbourne Australia it is a huge day for watching Cricket limited overs) Anyway it is the day everyone unhappy with Christmas visits call. he didn't pick the kids up, she didn't let them take their gifts.
But this one takes the cake. 803am he calls and after much confusion and a few snide comments from him about his baby mommas sexual preferences, I get to the heart of it. He missed his Christmas Eve visit.
Did you call her? A few time and texted her too.
Did you go to her house? No.
Why not? I don't know where she lives.
When did she move? I don't know that she has.
Did you go to 4 candy lane, happy town to see if she was there? No, why would I?
That is her address. Remember all of those questions she had to answers under oath - well that is the address she has told the court and us she lives at. Oh, I didn't read that stuff.
Did you call her parents? No.
Did you ask the Sheriffs office to help you find your daughter? No.
What did you do? I called her a few times
Ok, I will write a letter to her attorney complaining about it and file a motion for contempt.
And so it goes.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Just when it looked like things were dying down.
I woke up to read this little story, Sex complaint filed on Judge , in the paper. The day is off to a great start that is for sure.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Lawyer pleads guilty
Previous I posted a story about the arrests and now here is at least one rat turning on the others. I am afriad about where this will take this states judical system. We just had a lenghty trial about bribery of a Supreme Court Judge and other lesser judges down south. It is my fear that the State is about to lern that in some parts of this State justice was indeed for sale.
Miss. attorney pleads guilty to bribery
Cooperating with authorities in case involving Richard Scruggs
Associated PressThursday, December 6, 2007
JACKSON, Miss. -- An attorney has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe a judge and is assisting federal prosecutors in a case involving one of the nation's wealthiest trial lawyers, according to court documents.
Timothy Balducci entered the plea late Tuesday after initially pleading not guilty to offering a bribe to Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey earlier this year.
U.S. Atty. Jim Greenlee, in a plea agreement document filed with the federal court in Oxford, said Balducci had already cooperated with the government in its investigation of Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and would be doing more to help the government's case.
According to court records, Balducci was accused of delivering $40,000 to a judge at the behest of Scruggs for a favorable ruling in a civil case.
The case involved a dispute between Scruggs and other lawyers over $26.5 million in fees from a mass settlement of lawsuits that homeowners filed against State Farm Insurance Cos. after Hurricane Katrina.
Scruggs, whose brother-in-law is Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., reportedly earned about $848 million for his part in brokering a multibillion-dollar settlement with tobacco companies in the mid-1990s.
Scruggs and his co-defendants appeared in court a week ago and pleaded not guilty to six charges, including conspiracy and mail fraud. A trial date has been set for Jan. 22.
One of Scruggs' attorneys, Billy Quin, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that there's no way of knowing what Balducci was promised in exchange for his cooperation. And, Quin said, the government has not turned over alleged tape recordings that prosecutors claim link the defendants to the scheme.
The defendants "are absolutely innocent," Quin said. "Tim Balducci was operating own his own and of his own accord."
Scruggs' son and law partner, Zach Scruggs, former Mississippi Auditor Steve Patterson and attorney Sidney Backstrom also were indicted in the case. Patterson, who is not an attorney, worked for Balducci's law firm in New Albany, Miss.
Balducci sent a letter to the Mississippi Bar Association Sunday "expressing his intention to resign from the practice of law," said Adam Kilgore, the Mississippi bar's general counsel.
Miss. attorney pleads guilty to bribery
Cooperating with authorities in case involving Richard Scruggs
Associated PressThursday, December 6, 2007
JACKSON, Miss. -- An attorney has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe a judge and is assisting federal prosecutors in a case involving one of the nation's wealthiest trial lawyers, according to court documents.
Timothy Balducci entered the plea late Tuesday after initially pleading not guilty to offering a bribe to Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey earlier this year.
U.S. Atty. Jim Greenlee, in a plea agreement document filed with the federal court in Oxford, said Balducci had already cooperated with the government in its investigation of Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and would be doing more to help the government's case.
According to court records, Balducci was accused of delivering $40,000 to a judge at the behest of Scruggs for a favorable ruling in a civil case.
The case involved a dispute between Scruggs and other lawyers over $26.5 million in fees from a mass settlement of lawsuits that homeowners filed against State Farm Insurance Cos. after Hurricane Katrina.
Scruggs, whose brother-in-law is Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., reportedly earned about $848 million for his part in brokering a multibillion-dollar settlement with tobacco companies in the mid-1990s.
Scruggs and his co-defendants appeared in court a week ago and pleaded not guilty to six charges, including conspiracy and mail fraud. A trial date has been set for Jan. 22.
One of Scruggs' attorneys, Billy Quin, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that there's no way of knowing what Balducci was promised in exchange for his cooperation. And, Quin said, the government has not turned over alleged tape recordings that prosecutors claim link the defendants to the scheme.
The defendants "are absolutely innocent," Quin said. "Tim Balducci was operating own his own and of his own accord."
Scruggs' son and law partner, Zach Scruggs, former Mississippi Auditor Steve Patterson and attorney Sidney Backstrom also were indicted in the case. Patterson, who is not an attorney, worked for Balducci's law firm in New Albany, Miss.
Balducci sent a letter to the Mississippi Bar Association Sunday "expressing his intention to resign from the practice of law," said Adam Kilgore, the Mississippi bar's general counsel.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)