Trial by Fire

WHEW!!  I’ve finished my first two weeks of active legal practice.  As of now, I’m relaxing in my room, mentally preparing for another busy week.  The last two weeks or so has been a crazy whirlwind of new experiences, but I’ll try to recollect what I can.

First of all, Thanksgiving at Cthulhu’s (which was the other potential title for the last entry) was pretty swell.  There was lots of yummy food, glass blowing on Black Friday, some binge-watching of The Mandalorian and Castlevania, some playing of Pokémon Shield, and a general feeling of calm as I desperately tried to not think about my impending doom.  As with all good things, my break came to an end, and so, after a stopover in Salem, Oregon and the customary 2–3-day trip to the coast, I was back in Tillamook ready for whatever legal gauntlet was to be thrown in my path.

I expected a lot of work, yes.  But what I didn’t count on was how fast everything is and how often I’d have something exciting happen!  Honestly, every day brought something that I could have spun into a blog post (were it not for time constraints and the Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct).  I’ve ended up spending relatively little time in my office; most of my days seem to revolve around me going to court or the county jail (I’ll probably elaborate on both kinds of experiences in future blog posts).  Still, one thing has been a pleasant surprise: regardless of how difficult the work is, I find it extremely rewarding!  Every day last week, I was out late visiting clients at the jail (an experience type that probably warrants its own blog entry) and was exhausted upon my arrival home.  But in spite of my fatigue, I’ve never felt so alive!  In the past two weeks, I’ve gotten several people out of jail, reunited a mother with her kids, helped some clients navigate through the bail system, facilitated medical evaluation, and acted as the primary contact with the outside world for some of my detained clients.  I’m only one man doing so much, but I feel very proud of the work I’m doing and look forward to fighting the good fight as my career goes on.

Because I’m a very busy man, I may not be able to updated this blog as frequently as I’d like.  Still, I’ll be sure to write about any exciting adventures that come up in the near future.  I’ll finish this entry with a new segment I might continue in the future:

GREAT MOMENTS IN TILLAMOOK JURISPRUDENCE

*insert sophisticated music of your choice here*

[The transcript you are about to read is a slightly dramatized version of an actual interaction I had in court.  All names but mine are withheld to professional/ethical reasons]

Episode I: The Awkward Afternoon Arraignment

Benjamin D. Fischberg, Attorney at Law: Your Honor, based on my client being charged with only a misdemeanor, I would like to move for a conditional pretrial release.

Judge: Very well, what is defense proposing?

Fischberg (to client, who is in court via video conference from the county jail): Sir, do you have stable housing you could stay at if you were released from jail?

Client: Yeah, I can stay in the area around the courthouse.

F (taken aback by response): So, you have an apartment or something…?

C: Nah, I’ll just be sleeping in the nearby park.

F (mentally facepalming):…that is our proposal, Your Honor.

J: Noted.  What is the State’s position?

Prosecutor: Your Honor, the defendant is homeless, is well-known to our office, has several robbery convictions, and has not shown up to court in the past.  Also, the misdemeanor he is charged with in question is violating a restraining order…

[Video chat to jail crashes, possibly out of embarrassment on defense counsel’s behalf.  Arraignment has to be finished an hour later, with the client physically being brought to court.]

[Client does not get a conditional release.]

[Defense counsel Fischberg dusts himself off, assures himself that there was no harm in trying, and goes about his day.]