Thursday, November 28, 2019

Gratitude Adjustment


Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Americans!  I’m writing this from the Seattle area, where I’ve gone with Cthulhu (my sweetheart, not the Great Old One) to spend Turkey Day with their family.  I’m currently digesting the mid-afternoon meal in a cornbread-induced bliss, so I figured flowing some creative juices would help my digestive juices.  Although a lot of things have developed at work recently, I don’t feel like writing about them in detail.  Instead, as cheesy as it may seem, I thought I’d write in the spirit of today and reflect on what I’m thankful for.
First things first, I’m thankful for where I’ve gotten in life.  A year ago, I was a high-strung law student unsure where life would take him.  Today, I’m a full-fledged lawyer with a car, a business, and a bright future in a nice small town.  All of this is possible thanks to a number of factors.  Obviously, I’m fortunate to be born in circumstances affluent enough to allow me to pursue a career in law.  Given that recent law school graduates aren’t always in high demand, I feel blessed to have located and locked down an open position; even more fortuitously, I was able to then find housing (not an easy feat in Tillamook) and a car shortly afterwards, making it all possible.  I’ve been extremely fortunate to have these opportunities, and I hope to make the most of them to help the less fortunate.
As part of my circumstances, I’m grateful to live in my home country, the United States of America.  I know that may seem unnecessarily patriotic to many and that many people will be tempted to point out the many, many problems with this country.  Rest assured, I am familiar with these problems (as someone involved in indigent defense, I am painfully intimate with these problems on a regular basis).  However, with all her blemishes, I love America.  Speaking as the descendant of economic refugees and fugitives from pogroms, I appreciate how this country has been good for my family and allowed me to be born, to live, and to prosper in my current state.  While I am no fan of objectivism or completely unregulated capitalism, I am grateful that this country has a free enough market to allow me to open and operate my own law practice and profit accordingly.  Furthermore, as one who staunchly believes in the rule of law, I am eternally grateful to live in a country where freedom and speech/press/religion and fairness under the law (due process and equal protection 4eva, fellow constitutional law scholars!) are enshrined in the reigning constitution (even if they aren’t always applied perfectly at times).  I know I don’t always sound like a patriot in day-to-day life: I don’t wave or display flags regularly, I’m sometimes critical of America’s history and institutions, and I frequently voice my concerns on where this country is going.  However, I think my actions speak louder than words: I believe so strongly in American notions of legal fairness, I’ve dedicated my life and career to helping the indigent through legal counsel in the grand tradition of Jon Adams and Gideon v. Wainwright.  As illusory as it seems to many, my family and I have succeeded at living the American dream.  I know that this country hasn’t always been fair to everyone (believe me, I see proof of that at my job all the time), but I hope that I can bring fairness to my clients and make the ideals of fairness more of a reality.
In looking back on how I got to my current position, I am extremely grateful to the friends and allies I have gathered and consulted with on my journey so far.  Throughout the toils, trials (literal and figurative), and tribulations I’ve faced throughout adolescence, college, my gap year, law school, bar preparation, and job-hunting, there have been plenty of friends and acquaintances who have been in my corner.  These include, but are not limited to: my loving parents (hi, Mom and Dad—I know you’re probably reading this!) and relatives, my high school friends from Hawaii, my fellow eccentric clowns from Willamette Improv Club, my London drinking buddies, my Salem drinking buddies, my Dungeons & Dragons buddies, Cthulhu and their family, my fellow budgeteers from the Hawaii Senate Ways and Means Committee, my fellow academasochistic law students (particularly my study partners, Moot Court partners, and superiors/subordinates on Willamette Law Review), the champions of justice at the Federal Public Defender of Oregon and Public Defender of Marion County, and my new comrades in the Tillamook legal community.  No matter the obstacle or ordeal, these associates came through for me in some way or another.  If any of them are reading this, know that I am grateful for your assistance and will happily return the favor—all you need to do is ask.
As I look forward in my career, I am furthermore grateful to the numerous mentors who are there for me.  Between high school teachers, college professors, bosses, law school professors, coworkers, and attorney mentors, I’ve had plenty of people willing to show me the way in the past.  Today, I’ve got my predecessor, my colleagues at the Tillamook County Defense Consortium, my current attorney mentors, and even Tillamook County prosecutors all offering to show me the ropes around the Oregon legal scene as a newbie lawyer.  No matter what challenges the coming months bring, I have no shortage of people to turn to when the going gets tough; for that, I am very, very glad.
Finally, I’m thankful all the little and/or stupid things in life that make my life a little more pleasant: pasta, TV Tropes, dried fruit, farmers’ markets, naps, quirky webcomics, Star Wars, French fries, nerd conventions, Spotify, online shopping, sushi, Ace Attorney, cheese, wholesome Internet memes, donuts, Honest Trailers, soft pretzels, classic rock radio stations, sourdough bread, online quizzes, salt, Cinema Snob reviews, tea, ASMR videos, chocolate, late-night talk shows, Pokémon, Death Battle, s****y coffee, video games, highly pleasurable things I can’t write about on this family-friendly blog (hi again, Mom and Dad!), ice cream, tie-dye t-shirts, the feeling of power I get from wearing my Oregon State Bar lapel pin, comic books, the excitement that comes from mastering a new recipe, superhero movies, and this blog.
I hope everyone is having a great day, be it in the U.S. or abroad.  Stay safe on Black Friday, everyone!

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Felonious, Much?


Hey-o!  I’ve just wrapped up one whale of a day that saw an unconventional rite of passage; as of now, I am now qualified to take the lead defense on minor felony cases!  For those of you who aren’t Oregon lawyers involved in court-appointed defense, “minor felonies” refer to any Class C felonies that aren’t sex crimes.  For those of you who aren’t Oregon lawyers, “Class C felonies” are crimes that carry a maximum sentence of 5 years incarceration and a $125,000 fine (ORS §§ 161.605 & 161.625; don’t say I don’t cite my sources).  These include third-degree robbery (robbery alone and without a weapon; ORS § 164.395), second-degree burglary (entering a non-dwelling house with intent to commit a crime; ORS § 164.215), or first-degree theft (stealing over $1,000 worth of property, a firearm or explosive, a companion animal, livestock, anything during a riot, anything through secured transaction, or substances used for making meth; ORS § 164.055).  Normally, this kind of certification takes at least nine months of practicing misdemeanor cases, but my time as a court-certified law student who tried jury cases got to be applied to this requirement.  All that was left was for me to co-chair one felony case with a certified lawyer, and the certification would be mine.

Shown above is the courthouse where it all went down.  If you’re thinking to yourself, “that doesn’t look much like a courthouse,” congratulations, your common sense is tingling!  You see, the usual Tillamook County Circuit Court is currently closed due to potential health concerns (long story, don’t worry; no one got hurt or anything), so court needed to be held at a different venue.  In this case, the venue was the mess hall of a former naval airbase.  It’s not exactly a grand hall of justice (and the makeshift courtroom reminded me more of my high school auditorium), but you make do with what you can when you’re in a small farming community.  All things being said, the local judiciary did a great job of sprucing the place up, and it will be a satisfactory court until the circuit court is back in circulation.
The trial itself was novel enough; I’ve sat through and participated in plenty of misdemeanor cases, but this was the first felony trial I followed from start to finish, let alone participated in.  For starters, the jury pool was 3 times larger than anything I had done voir dire with before (this makes sense, since felony trials in Oregon have twice as many jurors empanelled as misdemeanor trials).  The case, from voir dire to conclusion, was quite fascinating (I won’t go into details because the details are highly technical, but I will say this: the trial was shorter than anticipated, there was some brilliant lawyering on display, and the trial ended favorably for the defense).  With the trial complete, my rite of passage was too; hello, minor felony certification!  Afterwards, I helped co-chair an arraignment.  This was also…interesting (I won’t share any details because of privacy concerns, but let’s just say it was the kind of case/client I hope to not deal with in my immediate future).  With court out for the day, I went home with some hope and pride in my heart (and some errands on my agenda—everyday life doesn’t stop for career milestones, unfortunately).
The lunch hour brought some intrigue, as well.  When I was walking to the Benmobile from the mess hall, an elderly couple approached me and asked if this building was where they had to pay their taxes.  I gave them my best answer (“Maybe?”) and advised them to ask inside.  They then asked if I was an attorney.  When I answered affirmatively, they suddenly seemed to get uncomfortable and hastily walked away.  Apparently, attorneys are kryptonite for elderly taxpayers.  Dare I call this…a power of attorney? *rimshot*
*deafening silence*
Please drive home safely.
Anyhoo, because I was getting tired in court, I set out to get some coffee to tide me over (lawyers didn’t get free coffee, but jurors did—lucky ducks).  Some driving around and exploring brought me to a nice little café that also functioned as a greenhouse, nursery, and gift shop (because Oregon).  You never know what you’re going to find just looking around for a cup of joe (I should know; I once discovered a whole small coastal town while once looking for some coffee/tea).  It’s funny how every day can bring an adventure (albeit a small one) by just wandering around like a seasoned surveyor/idiot.
Pure Oregon, baby.
The day was short, but it sure was eventful.  I’m now minor felony-certified, which means I have much more potential for assigned cases…and therefore more potential for challenging work.  When I start receiving cases next month, I’ll be getting crimes a bit more serious than what I’ve handled in the past (mostly disorderly conduct and trespassing).  I’ll do everything I can to live up to the challenge and make sure that my clients get the kind of excellent legal representation I’ve seen from my fellow consortium members.  I’ve got big shoes to fill, but I’m ready to grow!

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

The Office


Hi, guys!  I’m still alive…somehow.  I meant to write a new entry sooner, but the last week or so has been a real whirlwind.  Starting a law office really is something else!
In my last entry, I wrote about how I’d be starting my new job on November 1.  That was the plan…but plans rarely work as anticipated.  As it turns out, my predecessor (who was going to help me move in) had court in another county that day (because lawyer) which came up suddenly.  As such, we had to reschedule the grand opening day for the next week.  To relax and refresh, I spent most of the weekend playing Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.  Fun historical tidbit: according to legend, some pirate crews held mock trials as a hobby and would roleplay as lawyers (they figured they’d be caught one day and wanted to give a good show in court before being incarcerated or executed—hey, practice makes perfect).  This makes my virtual roleplaying as a pirate before starting a legal career weirdly appropriate…
Anyway, after refreshing and relaxing over the weekend, it was time to finally begin.  On Monday, I met with my predecessor after some court hearings (because lawyer), and she handed off the keys to the office with careful instructions about what each one did (along with some useful advice about the functions of the office).  I loaded up a box of my things into the Benmobile and drove over to my new office (the first of many commutes).  I then spent the morning unpacking my things and figuring out exactly how to arrange my new office space.  When I finally got it to my satisfaction, I sat back and took a deep breath.
 
My glorious new office, once organized to my liking.  Fill that small glass plate with fun-sized 3 Musketeers, and you pretty much have what my office looks like as of now.
With this monumental step complete, I then felt a monumental sense of dreadful stress.  Here I was, in my own office, with myself for a boss, without any idea of what to do next.  There were over a dozen tasks that needed to be handled to get my new office off the ground, and I had a frustrating lack of guidance on how to handle it.  To help get on track, I called Cthulhu to vent and strategize.  Cthulhu kept me sane (“Cthulhu kept me sane”—there’s a phrase you’ll only read in this blog) and helped get me organized with some to-do lists.  As such, with my eyes on the big picture and professionalism in my heart, I spent the rest of the week getting my s*** together.  I organized myself as a limited liability company, set up a working relationship with an accountant, got myself a personal website, got myself a work e-mail address, got myself a work phone number, got myself some 3 Musketeers (OK, that one was as much personal as it was business-related), bought legal calendaring software, and checked in with the Oregon State Bar for guidance regarding other new small business issues.  It was a lot of work, but it fortunately isn’t work I’ll have to do again.  Success!
By the end of the week, I was feeling a lot better about my new office and career decisions.  Feeling pretty great about life, I decided that I could use some rest with a friendly face.  As such, I took the customary 2–3 hour drive down to Salem on Friday and spent the (long) weekend with Cthulhu.  When not eating at my favorite restaurants or hugging Cthulhu, I spent the weekend playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, preparing paperwork for opening a business account, picking up Luigi’s Mansion 3, and brainstorming what the heck I would include in my next blog post (one of these things was work-related—can you guess which one?).  My batteries recharged (especially my phone battery, which I needed for 2–3 hours of GPS usage), I departed on Monday and returned to Tillamook.  This time, I was coming back to something I didn’t have before—my new business.
And so, the mighty legal juggernaut known as Benjamin D. Fischberg, Attorney at Law LLC has entered the Tillamook scene and is here to stay.  I still have some organizational things to work out (such as business cards and banking), but my career is on the up.  While I won’t receive any cases until December, that should give me plenty of time to practice running a practice and continue adapting to life here in terrific Tillamook.

Fischberg Flashback 35: I Like to Move It, Move It

Note: this was originally published to Ben Around the Block on June 2, 2025.  I have made minor changes.   Well, it took a while to get t...