![\"Mom](\"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/withParents1.jpg\")
<\/a>Mom & Dad were not lawyers. Mom always said, “You’re shaped into who you will be by the time you’re 5.”<\/p><\/div>\n
The legal problem for me was that the contract (written only in English) said Fabio was buying the car \u201cas is.\u201d Fabio told me that within a week of buying the car, he brought it back because it wasn\u2019t running right. They tried to fix it he said, but he had to bring it in again. Finally, on the 30th<\/sup> day, still unsatisfied, he brought it back a third time, parked it, left the keys in it, and told them they can keep it. Several months later the Sheriff showed up at Fabio\u2019s door with a Summons saying he owes Hansen Motors $2,000, the full purchase price in the contract. Lawyers call this an \u201cacceleration clause,\u201d the full amount comes due if you don\u2019t keep up with your monthly payments. After getting the Summons, he came and saw me.<\/p>\n First I tried to settle the case, but the lawyer for Hansen Motors tells me (a) they don\u2019t have a Spanish-speaking sales guy, and (b) they never got the car back! After he saw my responsive pleadings, he used the \u201cimpleader rule\u201d to add Hansen\u2019s insurance company to the case (in case the jury found that the car had been returned and then stolen off their lot).<\/p>\n Finally the Day for my First Jury Trial! All the lawyers (me, Hansen Motor\u2019s, and the insurance company\u2019s) are there in the Courtroom waiting for the Judge to finish up another matter. The Judge finishes and calls us all back into his office (called \u201cchambers\u201d). There were no lawyers in my family, I didn\u2019t know any judges (other than the one who had convicted me ten years earlier), and law school had not prepared me for dealing with a vulgar judge. Once we were all in his chambers, even before he took his robe off and sat down, the Judge says gruffly \u201cWhat the FUCK is this case all about?!\u201d Though shocked at this kind of language coming from a judge, I was quick to be the first one to respond. While I\u2019m explaining the facts, the Hansen Motor\u2019s lawyer tries to regain the upper hand, jabs his finger at me and says, \u201cNow look young man . . .\u201d But I\u2019m quick and interrupt him to say \u201cDon\u2019t you \u2018young man\u2019 me, this is lawyer-to-lawyer!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYah! You tell him!\u201d the Judge says, liking the swagger that comes with my tale of righteousness. And then the Judge went to bat for me. \u201cLook,\u201d he says, \u201chere\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do. Dominguez pays 1\/3rd<\/sup>. The Insurance Company pays 1\/3rd<\/sup>. And Hansen eats 1\/3rd<\/sup>.\u201d We all have the sense that the Judge will be really tough on any party who doesn\u2019t go along with the proposal, so I tell Fabio I think it is the best we can do even though it means him forking out $667 for nothing.<\/p>\n Tomorrow: Justice?<\/p>\n No virus found in this message. Ten years after my high school court appearance, I had my first chance to fight for justice as a lawyer in the courtroom. Fabio Dominguez didn\u2019t read or speak English. I was a \u201cCertified Student Attorney\u201d still in law school … Continue reading
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\nVersion: 2013.0.3462 \/ Virus Database: 3658\/6909 – Release Date: 12\/10\/13<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"