No. 3 on the road

Today was long. I went extra-early to Charleston, the state capital, for a session of the Supreme Court. Friend Dacey tells me that they webcast the arguments now - I didn't know that. I met a colleague down there, Pam, a woman who was a divorce client 15 years ago and who says that that experience in part prompted her to go to law school. Although, I don't know if it was from some inspiration or the thought that "Hell, I can do this shit better than Roger." And I'm afraid to ask. Anyway, we sat on benches in the back of the Courtroom, which is one really big-ass marble room with marble columns out the wazoo and a bench the size of the biggest bar in Vegas. And we sat, and we sat. This was her first appearance there and probably about my 50th, so we talked about the fine points of arguing an appeal. (Much of my knowledge was gained from making mistakes along the way.) We didn't get on in the morning hearing, so loafed around the Court for the hour and a half break. Then the afternoon session started, and it was STILL HOURS before our cases were called. By then the Court was bored, tired and grumpy, so it was a damn short presentation. I had been psyching myself up for the attack I expected from one of the justices, a old circuit judge/gunslinger (that's not a disparaging term in my world) with a very pro-prosecution bent, but he was out. That took some of the wind out of my sails, although the "swing" justice - the guy whose vote I have to have - was on the bench. I made my points and told them I was going to respond to questions but otherwise I'd sit down, shut up, and let this long day close. I stopped at the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, where I park my car, which is 1/2 a block from the Capitol. I was on that board years ago, and that's sort of a remaining perk. We stopped in Elkview on the way back for a cup of tea to unwind, and Pam and I had a nice visit.

Don't know why I'm blogging about a fairly ordinary day. Today, perhaps, I'm just a fairly ordinary fellow.

Mizpah.

R