Shaky

I received another five resumes today. I have narrowed my choices down to two people. I will choose between them tomorrow. Of the five I received today, I don't remember two of them. One of the others was an attorney who has yet to take the Bar Exam. Another has an MBA. The third has worked at a very prestigious strip club for the past two years. All very suitable candidates. Such a shame to have already made up my mind.

I used to think that being overqualified was a ridiculous reason not to hire someone. Now? I understand. The lawyer and the MBA would stay with me for exactly as much time as it took them to find a better job (actually, isn't that the exact amount of time anyone stays at any job?). More specifically, it will be fairly easy for these people to find better jobs. It is a rough market here. This job pays eight dollars an hour. I have received resumes from probably ten or more college grads. Of my two finalists, one is a college grad with a 3.7 GPA. Hell, that is better than I did.

Today I had court with Shaky. Sometimes I get cases appointed by the court. Every time Shaky goes to court, I get appointed to represent him. I had Zelda (my current secretary -- she will be joined by the new one in a day or two) check last week to see how many different times I have represented Shaky through the years. The answer, it would seem, is 22 times. Wow. That's a lot of representin'. He is a homeless guy who hangs out and panhandles. When he gets particularly drunk, he yells at the people who don't give him money. Then the police come and ask him to stop panhandling. Sometimes he yells at them, too. When he does, he gets arrested. It is always for one or more of the following: panhandling, resisting arrest, possession of drugs or drug paraphernalia. My job as his lawyer is to get his case heard in front of Judge Cribble. Judge Cribble likes him for some reason.

And that is a big part of what being an effective criminal defense attorney is about: know your judges. Judge Cribble may hate Hispanics, but he loves veterans. And he loves Shaky. So for misdemeanor cases, I evaluate the case and determine which judge would be the most appropriate to hear it.

So Shaky got continued today. Hopefully, the spinner will come up on Judge Cribble for his next court date. Judge Cribble will accept his plea give him an active sentence for the amount of time he has sat in jail. That means Shaky walks out the door that day. Other judges will look at Shaky's record and give him the maximum sentence.