case dismissed!

I won my first case Thursday. Okay, so it wasn't a jury trial and it wasn't really "my" case, but still, I talked to the judge and the district attorney, and they decided to drop all charges against our client. It was the same case I had tried to get dismissed a couple weeks ago. It had been continued for two weeks, and this time I was able to talk to one of the more senior (and reasonable) DA's about it. Long story short, we win! Our client's record is clean, we get our money, the DA's can go prosecute cases that actually have merit, etc. The only downside is that I spent a good chunk of the last few weeks preparing an appeal which will now never be heard. Oh well- good practice for next time, I suppose.

Needless to say I was pretty excited leaving the courthouse. In fact, I was so excited that I drove off with our client's file sitting on the roof of my car. Halfway back to the office I realized what I'd done and turned around. Sure, the case had been dismissed, but the file was still packed with legal documents containing confidential information. Back at court, no sign of the file. The clerk's office hadn't seen it. With little hope, I started walking up the road only to notice two employees from the medical center next door out in the middle of Lacey Boulevard with arms full of papers. Ten minutes later all papers had been retrieved, even the ones two blocks up the street in the Waffle House parking lot.

What can I say, Christmas came early for me this year.