Picking an Attorney- The Final Word

[Old Fezziwig]

It’s not unique to attorneys. It can happen to anyone. A friend of mine was actually pretty rich- his family had sold the land that was used to make Texas Stadium, former home fields of the Dallas Cowboys. Then one day, he went to the ATM and found he didn’t have enough money to pay for a tank of gas.

His accountant had used a holiday weekend to embezzle millions of dollars from dozens of clients- including him- and fled the country. That accountant’s record had been spotless up until that point.

My dad worked as an insurance adjuster before retiring (mostly auto insurance), and he used to tell me that locks were for honest people. (To be clear, the point he was making was that they don't really keep your things safe from people who really want to steal them, not that he was stealing things.) For some people, access to other people's things and opportunity to take them is just way too much to handle.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My dad worked as an insurance adjuster before retiring (mostly auto insurance), and he used to tell me that locks were for honest people. (To be clear, the point he was making was that they don't really keep your things safe from people who really want to steal them, not that he was stealing things.) For some people, access to other people's things and opportunity to take them is just way too much to handle.

Yeah.

Back in the 1990s, I locked myself out of my car and had to call a locksmith. My car had the newest “antitheft” locks on it, and I told the locksmith about that.

He was in my car in 90 seconds.

Flabbergasted at the ineffectiveness of my “antitheft” locks, I asked him what the point of them was. He told me that they were actually very good- most people would have taken several minutes to get into my car, as opposed to 15-30 seconds for the previous generation of locks, and time is the enemy of the car thief. Most wouldn’t even try breaking into my car because it would increase their risk of getting caught. They’d see them and just move along to another target.

But a pro like him? If there was something in my car he REALLY wanted- or the car itself- 90 seconds of work might be worth the risk.

 

[payn]

My dog once locked himself in the car....while it was running.

 

[Scribe]

His accountant had used a holiday weekend to embezzle millions of dollars from dozens of clients- including him- and fled the country. That accountant’s record had been spotless up until that point.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My dog once locked himself in the car....while it was running.

Happens more than you think!

 

[Ryujin]

Happens more than you think!

I saw it a couple of times when I worked in an airport parking lot, back in high school/college.

That's also where I learned that if you want a good tip then you need to make it look tough to get into someone's car, not do it in 30 seconds.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

@Dannyalcatraz

Story I thought I'd share with you.

Bonus definer: Blackletter (also written as "Black letter" or "Black-letter") law is a term attorneys use to refer to legal rules (from cases or other sources like legislation) that is generally free from doubt. So it is "blackletter law" that a contract is formed by offer and acceptance with adequate consideration.

I had a handful of professors in law school that truly changed the way that I think about life and the law. One of my all-time favorites had previously worked at Cravath before doing the clerkship/academic route.

Anyway, he told the class this-

"Look, if you do the bare minimum in this class, then you'll never learn the blackletter law. If you do everything you need to, you'll learn the blackletter law, and you can pass the bar, and you can be a decent attorney. But if you want to be a great attorney, the type that they pay the big bucks to, then you do more than is required, and you don't just learn the blackletter law, you learn how to argue against it. Because anyone can win a case with blackletter law, but only a great attorney can win a case when they have to argue that it doesn't apply."

 

[J.Quondam]

My dog once locked himself in the car....while it was running.

I once locked myself out of my car while it was running... on a first date in college with a girl I'd long had a crush on. On another first date a couple years later, I high-centered the car on a concrete parking bumper because i put the car into drive instead of reverse.
That car had a bad habit of misbehaving on first dates.

 

[Maxperson]

But then you’ll see someone with a long, storied career just absolutely nuke their future while simultaneously tarnishing every aspect of their reputation.

Two that come to mind immediately.

LA federal judge says Tom Girardi feigning mental illness

The 84-year-old Girardi — estranged husband of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne — is facing multiple counts of wire fraud, with a sentence of up to 20 years on each c…

www.dailynews.com

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/05/politics/michael-avenatti-prison-sentence-client-embezzlement/index.html

 

[Maxperson]

Yeah.

Back in the 1990s, I locked myself out of my car and had to call a locksmith. My car had the newest “antitheft” locks on it, and I told the locksmith about that.

He was in my car in 90 seconds.

Flabbergasted at the ineffectiveness of my “antitheft” locks, I asked him what the point of them was. He told me that they were actually very good- most people would have taken several minutes to get into my car, as opposed to 15-30 seconds for the previous generation of locks, and time is the enemy of the car thief. Most wouldn’t even try breaking into my car because it would increase their risk of getting caught. They’d see them and just move along to another target.

But a pro like him? If there was something in my car he REALLY wanted- or the car itself- 90 seconds of work might be worth the risk.

I no longer remember which kind of car this was, but I was talking to a friend several years ago and he was like X car of Y year is really easy to break into. You can reach under the rubber at the top of the window and bend it out far enough to just reach in and unlock it. I shrugged and started talking about something else because that sort of information isn't the sort I use. Literally two days later I walked into a 7-11 and as I was leaving a woman had locked her keys in her car..............the exact same model and year. It took me all of 5 seconds to come to her rescue and unlock her car for her. I'd never before and never since then had need of that knowledge.