I worked through the latter part of last week to get a couple of motions prepared for this Monday. The day started with a trip to Saint Timothy’s Catholic Church to get my copies done. The person who was supposed to do the copying for me, Diane, went on a 2-week vacation. Although the lady who was left taking care of the office knew of our arrangement, she was not as receptive to my needs as Diane. She was alone at the busy office and was multi-tasking. Because of how busy she was, she asked if I could return the next day. If I didn’t explain to her the urgency of my situation, she would not have done the copies for me.
Finally, with copies at hand, I hopped on the 83 Bus to Santa Ana and found my way to the Superior Court. Normally, the clerks downstairs are able to call the courtroom to reserve a court date. I needed two court dates. First, for an “Ex-Parte Motion for Decalrative Relief”. Second, for a “Motion for Sanctions and Disqualify Counsel”. Apparently, there were some changes that were made and a prior approval from the Courtroom Clerk was needed. So, I was sent upstairs to get the reservations for the hearing. Unfortunate, because of the way the windows were designed the File Clerk did not see that I was wearing shorts. Unaware of the “No Shorts in the Courtroom” Rule, I rushed upstairs without even thinking. I only had shorts, a t-shirt and my Merrell Hiking Boots on because of the heat. Plus, I really hadn’t planned on going in a courtroom.
Judge Banks was in a middle of a hearing when I walked in. I knew that a nod from the Bailiff is always a good idea when approaching the bench. So, I stood a few seconds by the doorway and motioned the Bailiff permission to approach him. He said, yes but I could tell that he was perturbed. The moment I got to within earshot, he said “you can’t enter a courtroom with shorts on”. After explaining to him what I was trying to do, he told me to just have the Clerk downstairs call upstairs for the reservations.
Time was running out for me. “Ex-Parte Motions” have a deadline of 3PM so the moving party can have the matter heard the next day. By the time I got downstairs it was already 3:08PM. I got the same lady who helped me earlier and so I explained my situation. In a stern voice, she said “Well, you’ll have to call the courtroom yourself”. That was when, I said “Miss, this is not the first time that I have ever done this – let’s get your Manager over here”. A few minutes elapsed until the Manager showed up with my hearing dates and times. But before she handed the documents to me, she said – “this will be the last time that I will do this ok?”.
To sum up the story, I will face my favorite opposition counsel – Attorney Angell – on the 13th of August for the “Ex-Parte Motion for Declarative Relief” and once again on the 12th of September for the “Motion for Sanctions and Motion to Disqualify Counsel”.
The lesson is: You have got to just keep rolling with the punches and never ever give up. Be a damn scrapper if you want to get anything in life.
Let’s see how this here thing rolls …
