Law for Dummies 1

The Lawyer's Wife

A little over a year since my first and la(te)st post... bad... really bad, actually. BUT better later then never, right? Besides, I make my own deadlines here! :p

Before I start rambling, let me give you a brief background. I have been (happily) married to a lawyer for almost 14 years (whew! FOURTEEN???!!!). Well, technically he only became a lawyer in 2005. But since he was with the Judiciary even before law school, the only diff to me was when people can officially label him with the A-t-t-y title.

So what if I'm married to a lawyer?

See, we were married a year before he took up law. So when he entered law school, he was practically the only married guy in his class. Plus he hung out mostly with his single female classmates (some NBSB, the rest dating guys in the same class). On nights out, he would usually tag me along with this group... wonderful people, really... BUT you can just imagine how hard it was for me to "get" their jokes when they start using terms such as "moot and academic" or "arraignment" and, even worse, when they start speaking Latin like "persona non-grata" or "habeas corpus". And so from then on, I started asking about things I've heard and tried to absorb it in my own terms.

DISCLAIMER: being married to a lawyer doesn't make me an expert on the subject. On the other hand, I think I can better translate it in layman's terms since I did not learn it in classrooms but in Starbucks, Gerry's Grill, or in the car during long drives. Again, I am no expert. I have only the purest intention of sharing useful information by trying to explain a thing or two in this field according to how I understood it. 

But before I write about my interpretation of "malum prohibitum", let me start by correcting common misconceptions of lawyers. 

Lawyers are liars. Hubby and I had a conversation about this once, I think before he entered law school. In that intellectual intercourse, he cited one of the most debated cases of all time.

Half-empty or half-full?

Most of us who have seen any movie or TV series that involved a court scene (or has tuned-in to the dramatic reality show Impeachments) are already familiar with the two sides to the coin they call Prosecution and Defense. 

MOVIE/TV SHOW RECOS: Ally McBeal, The Practice, A Time to Kill, The Client... and the greatest movie on lawyers to date: Legally Blonde 1 and 2. Elle Woods is the bestest-dressed lawyer ever!!!

Sorry, I got carried away. Going back... :)

Prosecution Lawyer: Half-Empty.
Defense Lawyer: Half-full.

So, is either one lying? You be the judge. :)  



Lawyers don't go to heaven. Ouch! Now that is harsh generalization. I think this came from the notion that they are bad because they defend bad people. Like any other vocation, I firmly believe there are angels and saints in this field too.

From the glass example, I've derived that the primary purpose of a lawyer is to present each case from his client's side. His job is to protect his client's rights and interests by maximizing all available resources and using Glass Laws as reference to support the claim that the glass is indeed half-full. It is not the lawyer's job to make the conclusion of fullness or emptiness, it's the judge's.

FAQ: What if the client is truly rotten to the core and committed every accusation thrown at him but still wants to plead he's innocent? One must always take everything with a grain of salt. After all, as with any other profession, one can always choose not to accept a job if it disturbs his conscience.

Sooo... Can lawyers go to heaven too? We are not the judge of that, only He is.