Legally Wasted by Tommy Strelka Read Free Book Online Page A

want to have a trial on every single one of
these guys? That will surely take up most of the docket this
morning. Your cases will get backed up.”
    Wendy stared at him and squinted. Her legs
continued to rock back and forth. “Every single one of these guys
here?” she repeated. “You’ve only got six guys here, Larkin.”
    “You’re damn right that I’ve got six,”
grumbled Larkin. His fingers gripped the meaty portions of his
thighs as he closed his eyes. He tried to think of anything else
other than Wendy’s swinging legs or his want for water. He hated
Wendy for her tough attitude, envied her competence, and wanted so
badly to see what she looked like with nothing on but those
boots.
    “Yeah,” said Wendy, “I’m fairly certain that
I have far more cases than you do today, Mr. Monroe.” She smacked
the heel of her hand against the intimidating pile of file folders
stacked neatly to her right. “I’ll pursue each one of them as I see
fit. However, right now, I will offer you thirty days in jail for
each guilty plea.”
    “Bullshit,” said Larkin. “Some of these guys
just got jobs,” he said. He could not remember exactly who that
might have been, but he was fairly sure that someone must
have landed a job. “Child support payments will surely proceed
again in some of these cases with wage deduction orders. If you
throw them in jail, poof!” said Larkin with a clap of his hands,
“that money will be gone.”
    “Your clients should have realized where this
was heading when they stopped paying their support,” said Wendy.
“Of course, some never started paying.” She drummed her fingernails
on the cheap wooden desk. “You realize, Mr. Monroe, that it would
be unethical not to present this settlement offer to your clients,
all six of them?”
    “What’s that?” asked Larkin.
    “The state bar provides that it is your
ethical obligation to present my offer of settlement to each of
your clients. You do not have the authority to deny them the
opportunity to settle for so low. This is a serious ethical
consideration for you.”
    “Settle for so low?” Larkin’s growing anger
momentarily overshadowed his need for water. “You are not a
prosecutor here, Ms. McAdams. These are civil matters to be heard
by the judge. Do you even have the authority to offer such a
deal?”
    Wendy did not skip a beat. “Whether I possess
that authority or not, if I were you, I would not want to waive any
duty that may be perceived as required conduct for an otherwise
ethical attorney. You of all people should be aware of what may be
construed as unethical.”
    “Why, you . . . you . . .” Larkin stammered.
The vein that traversed the center of his forehead bulged as he
glared at Wendy with balled fists. He wanted to shout, to bellow a
litany of obscenities. But despite his rage, he knew that if he did
go on the offensive, he would be playing right into Wendy’s trap.
He would appear as an unhinged maniac, someone who probably should
not be carrying a law license, and that was just what Wendy had
implied. He cursed quietly under his breath. A drop of sweat fell
off of his nose and landed in his briefcase. “All six defendants,”
he muttered.
    Wendy laughed. “I just don’t know what the
deal is,” she stated to the clerk. She reopened Deveraux’s file and
held up one of his notes. In bold strokes of permanent ink at the
top of the page, Deveraux had written a giant number six, circled
it, underlined the digit, and placed two exclamation points next to
it. Wendy rotated the paper as if showing it to a group of third
graders kneeling on the carpet. “Six,” she said. “I just don’t get
it.” The clerk shook her head and shrugged her shoulder.
    Larkin pointed at the clock hung above the
main entrance. “We’re going to begin any second. It can’t possibly
be my ethical duty to advise clients not to take a terrible offer
that’s extended after the time the hearing was already supposed