More little victories

This afternoon, I went with client to municipal court in Barnesville. As we waited for the solicitor to call us to talk, I tried to get my client ready for the possibility of pleading and paying a fine. After all, it was his word against that of the police officer. His response was that he had no money. After this conversation, he opened his empty wallet several times as if to demonstrate his lack of funds.

And so we sat, and waited and sat and waited and sat and waited. About an hour and a half later the solicitor finally came out and called his case. He got up and came out into the hallway and followed the solicitor to her office. I followed behind. As we entered the lair of the solicitor, I introduced myself to the solicitor.

She opened his file and asked what we wanted to do. I asked her what the normal fines were for these types of charges. She said, "$170.00."

Without discussing this further, she turned to my client.

"You were caught near Gordon; are you a student there?"

His eyes were on the floor, "No'm."

"How far did you get in school?"

Eyes still to the floor, "Ninth grade."

"Could you get your GED?"

He looks up, "Yes'm. I'd just have to take the test."

"Could you do that by the end of May?"

He looks down again, "I think so. It would just mean paying $95 and taking the test. I would have to get some help with language skills."

"Is that possible?"

"Yes'm."

With that, she looked up at me, "Alright, I'll continue this case until May 21st. He'll have thirty hours of community service and he has to get his GED by then. If he does that, I'll dismiss the charge."

He looks up at the solicitor in a mix of wonder and appreciation, "Ok."

I echo his consent.

My client shakes her hands and leaves. I sit down in the vacated chair.

"Can I speak with you about another case?

She closes her file, "Sure."

"I have got another client, who lives in Florida, who recently pled guilty to a dui. But he was unrepresented. I had just represented him in a divorce case, but he didn't think to call me. He sat in jail for about four days, until he was brought before you and entered a plea in order to be able to go home. But he really wants to work something out where he can keep his driver's license."

"I think I remember him."

"Yeah, well, I wanted to see if I could reopen the case and work something out where he can keep his driver's license."

She looked at me with kindness and willingness, "Look, just file a Motion to Reopen and I won't oppose it and then we can work something out."

I jumped from the chair, "Fantastic. Thank you very much for your help. I'll call him and get it filed before the thirty days has elapsed. Thank you so much."

"No problem."

So, now the pleadings have been prepared, my client notified. He is excited, to say the least. Now he wants to double my fee. That's cool too. All in all, a pain sitting in the pews in the Barnesville Municipal Court, but truly worthwhile. Even my local client was excited about getting the charge dismissed and getting his GED all in one fell swoop. Little victories, indeed. Just a giant oak growing from a little acorn. I hope.