Day 2 of Venting

okay where did I leave you yesterday. Ah yes ! I had just gotten served papers to appear in court in Alabama, and I need to find a lawyer who practiced in the state, so I get on the internet and find Alabama legal services. I get the name of a (supposedly) reputable lawyer(Name withheld, you will understand later). I give this lawyer a call,and he is more then happy to take my case, as soon as I send him tem times the amount of what it cost her to get a state lawyer, or $750.00(I can envision the cops knocking on my door, if I miss my court date, and hauling my poor A-- to jail)'
A couple of days before I have to be in Alabama, I rent a car and drive to Alabama.(I haven't even to court yet and I am down almost $1000.00) The day before the court date me and my high priced lawyer meet with my ex and her cheap lawyer.The meeting is amiable enough, and we sort of agreed that she needed more money so she could start a college fund for our son.
Then we got into something called Arrears(I am sure some of you out there know what that is.) Her lawyer states that based on what she has told him the reasonable amount of arrears is $6000.00. At this point I get dizzy, light headed, and almost fall out of my chair. I try to gather my emotions and continue with the meeting. My ex-wife in all of her new found wisdom states that she has no interest in arrears only the amount that will be settled on for a monthly payment. Her lawyer (the state paid bottom feeder!) gets up and leaves the room. He knows the rules and doesn't want to hear that she is not interested in arrears. I tell my high priced lawyer to make a note of her statement,and I watch as he jots something on his legal pad. Every lawyer has a legal pad, but in my case I am not sure why he needed one or what he was jotting down.
Now it's court day. My lawyer tells me to wear my worst clothes and leave all jewelery in the motel room I had to rent.(More out of pocket expense!) I figure this guy is really good to think of that and he will fight for me in court.Alabama has a new mathamatical system for figuering what is a fair settlement in divorce cases.(It's 12 years since that court case, and I haven't figured it out yet) Something about the total of her wages, and my wages,but my part is higher because the man has the potential of making more money.( Wasn't there something about ERA that went on for years?)
Anyway I sit in the court room waiting for my turn to address the judge. I guess i've watched to much television in my life, this was unlike any court I have ever seen. It was all fine when the bailiff said all rise, and we all stood as the judge came into the court room chewing on a cigar.(Dizzy, and lightheaded again-This is getting to be a habit) I think there were about 30 cases on his docket for this day,all were about the same thing. How much money was the ex-wife entitled to for the next number of years until the child, or children reached legal age, which in Alabama is eighteen.
We have a son togeather, and he is 12 at the time of this case. Now you have to remember that is a small town in rural Alabama.(Close your eyes and try to imagine what this looked like!) As the judge started his cases for the day I noticed something that appeared out of place, next to where the judge sat, there were two large burly cops. They were carrying what looked like a sawed off broom handle with a lot of what appeared to be handcuffs. It didn't take long for me to find out what was going on . The first defendent(funny, all of the men were defendents, and all the women were plaintiffs!) walked up and faced the judge, he was not represented by an attorney. I came to assume that most of these men had been in this judges court before. The judge asked him a couple of questions, and then waved to his burly cops. They walked up behind the man and put him in cuffs, and took him away. This went on for quite awhile, some gave the judge an excuse,but most didn't. No excuse, handcuffs. Excuse you had to come back to court on another day.
Think by now you can figure what kind of court I was in. I'll say adieu for now and pick this up tomarrow. Stay with me it keeps getting better, and better.