u/dumbattorney

I currently have a case where my client was garnished, but no governmental body has any accounting record (required by statute) of my client's wage garnishment. I, naturally, drafted my opening statement as:

"Your honor, this is a case about accountability. "

The judge is a rural, more traditional and conservative judge. I think it's hilarious, but I am mildly concerned that the judge won't necessarily like it.

Do any of y'all keep puns or wordplay in your statements, or do y'all cut those out upon revision?

Just a brief perspective and note of caution regarding reviewing the invoices. It is common to research arguments that you believe your opponent is going to allege against you. I've absolutely logged "Researched XYZ" not because I was trying to advise my client about how my client violated Law XYZ but because I believed opposing counsel would allege my client violated Law XYZ. As attorneys, it is our job to zealously and competently* represent our client, and that means anticipating possible arguments against our client.

That being said, the attention to detail by folks in this subreddit reviewing the invoices is remarkable. I've enjoyed looking at the breakdown by posters and commenters. It is also entirely possible that an attorney billed "researched XYZ" because the client may have violated Law XYZ. I simply want to offer my perspective as someone who lives in six-minute increments for folks to consider when analyzing the... Whatever that is billing thing was that was provided.

Cheers!

*Please note this is the standard, not the reality.

I want the judge to know I'm authentically stupid. This is all me, bb.

I work in legal aid. I've met some attorneys, one PD and another couple of legal aid eviction defense attorneys, who keep an extra blazer or two on hand for clients to borrow just in case.

I don't believe it would be against my org's ethic guidelines to lend a blazer just for a court hearing, but I was wondering if anyone else does/did this and has any insight to whether it is helpful?

I'm also just wondering logistically about having something for everyone to borrow, which could lead to transferring contagions or lice. Yikes.