Live & Learn

I can hardly believe that it has taken me so long to learn what everyone else seems to know already about lawyers and our legal system.
I've heard lawyer jokes; I've laughed at lawyer jokes.
But I've only just come to realize that we (I) (we-the-people) are really the butt of all the jokes. And from here, nothing looks funny.

I still thought that our courts were here to settle disputes in a fair and equitable manner.
Silly me.

It is a conspiracy of lawyers banded together against the rest of us. There is a lawyer on both sides and a lawyer in the middle, and they play various games to see which one can come out on top in any given situation. My experience shows me that equity is not the issue.

(And in case you've missed this point: it is usually lawyers, speaking legalese, who put the 'laws' in the books in the first place for the sole purpose of enhancing the drama and making their roles in the game more fun and MUCH more lucrative.)

Their decisions are not even about the laws, per se, but about the interpretation of the law. And heaven help you if your lawyer is not on top of her game that day.

And there is no one to advise you ---- except a lawyer.
There is no form that says, "in this civil matter you will need to prove a & b & c & d."
I tried asking clerks in the courthouse: "What do I need to prove? - I'm sorry; we are not allowed to give legal advise."
I tried asking my lawyer: "In what ways and on which points could we lose this case? Well, I just don't see any way; it is all so clear...!"
Do I even have to have a lawyer? "Since they hired one to handle the appeal (of the case I already won once), then you really should have one, too."

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All I can say is that this is just one too many disappointments for right now.
I'm way too out-of-balance on this. It's a small matter, really. It shouldn't have me up two hours after I went to bed, crying over this stupid, petty, damned invoice from a less-than- talented lawyer who was distracted from her job by her own life's troubles.

It's just about carpet. And the tenants' dogs who ruined it.
And it didn't occur to my lawyer or to me that we would need to prove the value of the ruined carpet. We proved everything else...
The tenants admitted the damage. There were witnesses to that.
I asked for only 1/2 the value of the new carpet, because the ruined carpet wasn't new. That seemed reasonable to me, to my lawyer.
The judge (I use that term to mean a man who used to be a lawyer & who is now a politician) believed they did it, too, because he awarded $ for the treatment to seal the sub-floor, and $ for the removal of the ruined carpet.
But, because I couldn't put a $ value on the ruined carpet, he decided it was worth 0 $. ZERO.
Not 50% - not 30% - not 20%...zero.
Amazing.

So, I paid roughly $3500 for new carpet in my house.
I won a judgement for $1300: half the carpet, the KILZ, and the removal, minus the deposit.
-Appeal-
I paid $1000 to retain a lawyer.
(I won't go into the drama about her 'retiring' 6 weeks before court date.)
I have a new invoice for $1096.
Wow, by the time this is all done, my carpet will be worth more than $5500.
Amazing.

And you want to know what I know for certain?
If I had $2000-3000 more dollars, I'm certain that I could buy a different verdict. It is simply not about what's right - not about justice. It is all about how the game is played.

Why am I so surprised?
Why am I taking it so personally?!

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Well, thank goodness (?) for blogger and journals and the wee small hours.
I've blown off some steam. I'll be able to sleep...sooner or later...