Thursday, March 31, 2005
Having My Day In Court
So this morning I did my first "motion" for a court order in front of a real judge all by myself. Meaning, my supervising lawyer wasn't there... but there were tons of other lawyers there, trying not to laugh.
It was scheduled to start at 10 am, and at 9:30 I was still not sure if I was even allowed to appear before the judge -- the rules on what Articling Students can do is pretty strict and generally if a real judge is involved, you can forget it. And the lady at the family court counter scared me even more by saying that for all motions, you have to be "gowned". (In Canada, lawyers wear black gowns, special shirts and vests when they appear in front of judges)
Well, I don't have a gown BECAUSE I AM NOT ACTUALLY A LAWYER YET! So I was panicking and I called my boss at 9:30 am. He told me to relax and go ask the actual court clerk when they opened the court room doors. So I did. And unfortunately for me, she said "of course you can do a motion" because the type of motion I was doing is a "procedural motion". Meaning it's not that serious.
Anyhoo... so the court clerk told me that I would be second. I said "What? I don't want to be second, I want to be last". She gave me a funny look - and I explained... "I want to watch the other lawyers do it... and besides, they will leave after they are finished so they won't see me screw up." There were two lawyers in the room at the time and they started laughing at me. One of them said... "oh no, we will wait and watch you afterwards". The clerk said... "well... there are only two, so you are second." Luckily for me, two more lawyers showed up, so I ended up being fourth. (and last)
So the Judge came in and I honestly thought I would throw up. I tried concentrating on what the other lawyers were saying but I heard the Judge say "where's your notice of motion?" I thought... "I don't know where my notice of motion is!" OH MY GOD. He is going to yell at me.
Suddenly it was my turn. By now, the earlier lawyers had left the courtroom, but, wait a minute, there were about 8 more now waiting for me to get done. I moved forward to the table and said a weak "Good morning." (I think I forgot to say Your Honour).
I started saying my little presentation about why our client (an ex-wife) should be given her divorce because basically her ex-husband had disappeared for some months...etc. blah blah. And he interrupted me. He very nicely said "Do you think you could speak up?" So I started over, speaking a bit louder. He left me finish my schpiel and then said....
"There is a section in the Divorce Act that I must consider while making my decision... do you know what section that would be?" My ears started buzzing, my face was even hotter and redder than it had been, and I stammered... "No, I'm so sorry, I don't know." Then he launched into a story of how many years ago when he was articling he had been reamed out by a judge because he hadn't known the law. He looked at me very kindly and said..."don't worry, I won't do that to you my dear".
Then he did something hilarious. He looked at the other lawyers in the courtroom and said, "what about the rest of you? Does anyone else know the provision I am thinking of?" I felt like I was back at law school. One keener said, "I think it is section 8". The Judge said "No, that's not it. Anyone else?" An older lawyer, who had his family law book in his hand, said "I believe that it is section 11 (b)." "Right!" said the Judge.
The judge took a few minutes to read the materials and occasionally asked me some questions. The sweetest part was when he asked me whether the woman we were representing had another relationship on the go. "Does she want to marry someone else?" So I said, "I believe so your honour". And he smiled knowingly, and said, "I will agree to grant your order".
I was shocked. It seemed to be over and I had gotten what I had requested. It was pretty amazing. And overwhelming. I think I will frame my first order. And have a beer.
It was scheduled to start at 10 am, and at 9:30 I was still not sure if I was even allowed to appear before the judge -- the rules on what Articling Students can do is pretty strict and generally if a real judge is involved, you can forget it. And the lady at the family court counter scared me even more by saying that for all motions, you have to be "gowned". (In Canada, lawyers wear black gowns, special shirts and vests when they appear in front of judges)
Well, I don't have a gown BECAUSE I AM NOT ACTUALLY A LAWYER YET! So I was panicking and I called my boss at 9:30 am. He told me to relax and go ask the actual court clerk when they opened the court room doors. So I did. And unfortunately for me, she said "of course you can do a motion" because the type of motion I was doing is a "procedural motion". Meaning it's not that serious.
Anyhoo... so the court clerk told me that I would be second. I said "What? I don't want to be second, I want to be last". She gave me a funny look - and I explained... "I want to watch the other lawyers do it... and besides, they will leave after they are finished so they won't see me screw up." There were two lawyers in the room at the time and they started laughing at me. One of them said... "oh no, we will wait and watch you afterwards". The clerk said... "well... there are only two, so you are second." Luckily for me, two more lawyers showed up, so I ended up being fourth. (and last)
So the Judge came in and I honestly thought I would throw up. I tried concentrating on what the other lawyers were saying but I heard the Judge say "where's your notice of motion?" I thought... "I don't know where my notice of motion is!" OH MY GOD. He is going to yell at me.
Suddenly it was my turn. By now, the earlier lawyers had left the courtroom, but, wait a minute, there were about 8 more now waiting for me to get done. I moved forward to the table and said a weak "Good morning." (I think I forgot to say Your Honour).
I started saying my little presentation about why our client (an ex-wife) should be given her divorce because basically her ex-husband had disappeared for some months...etc. blah blah. And he interrupted me. He very nicely said "Do you think you could speak up?" So I started over, speaking a bit louder. He left me finish my schpiel and then said....
"There is a section in the Divorce Act that I must consider while making my decision... do you know what section that would be?" My ears started buzzing, my face was even hotter and redder than it had been, and I stammered... "No, I'm so sorry, I don't know." Then he launched into a story of how many years ago when he was articling he had been reamed out by a judge because he hadn't known the law. He looked at me very kindly and said..."don't worry, I won't do that to you my dear".
Then he did something hilarious. He looked at the other lawyers in the courtroom and said, "what about the rest of you? Does anyone else know the provision I am thinking of?" I felt like I was back at law school. One keener said, "I think it is section 8". The Judge said "No, that's not it. Anyone else?" An older lawyer, who had his family law book in his hand, said "I believe that it is section 11 (b)." "Right!" said the Judge.
The judge took a few minutes to read the materials and occasionally asked me some questions. The sweetest part was when he asked me whether the woman we were representing had another relationship on the go. "Does she want to marry someone else?" So I said, "I believe so your honour". And he smiled knowingly, and said, "I will agree to grant your order".
I was shocked. It seemed to be over and I had gotten what I had requested. It was pretty amazing. And overwhelming. I think I will frame my first order. And have a beer.
