City Hall, Attorney Conference Room: Fill & Download for Free

During the summer of 2010, I was working as a summer associate at a top-tier New York City law firm. The managing partner of the office, a few other attorneys, and I were clustered in a conference room watching the United States vs. Algeria World Cup match. Basically, the U.S. needed to win to advance past the group stages. The game dragged on with no goals, but some close calls. Finally, with about 15 minutes to go, the managing partner, an avid soccer fan, says that he has to go interview a potential new associate. He turns to me and tells me to come into his office and pass him a note if anything happens in the game.Those of you who are soccer fans know what happened: Landon Donovan slammed in a rebound for a game-winning goal a minute into injury time right at the game's end, winning it for the U.S. and sending us through to the knockout rounds of the World Cup. I promptly write "Algeria 0, U.S. 1 (Donovan 90+1) FT" on a legal pad, walk down the hall to the managing partner's office and knock on his door. I hear the managing partner shout for me to come in, I open the door and walk in.Inside was the partner and a clearly-nervous guy about my age, sweating through what must have been a rough interview in his suit and tie. I walk right up to the partner's desk, pass him the legal pad, and then start moving to exit the room, while the candidate continues giving a fumbling answer to whatever question he'd been answering when I walked in.When I'm about halfway to the door, as this candidate continues to drone on, I guess the managing partner snatched a look at the legal pad. I hear him jump out of his chair, and turn around in time to see him punch the air and shout "YES!" in a voice that I'm sure carried several city blocks. The interview candidate looks shocked. The partner realizes that he just dramatically over-reacted in the middle of a job interview, looks at me, looks at the candidate, back to me, back to the candidate, and then, hoping to save face, shouts to the candidate, in an equally loud voice, "AWESOME ANSWER! You're hired!"And that's how Landon Donovan got a lawyer in New York a new job.

Not sure Dumb or just Crazy? Growing up in a small town there seemed to be some really defective officers, and granted we were teens and usually up to no good, But it seemed these guys were not the sharpest tools in the shed. But there was ONE guy who seemed fair, reasonable and a decent human. But I learned that small towns seemed to attract officers who were not as competent and wouldnt pass background or psych evals that a bigger city might do.After returning from overseas I often had to go to another small town at least once a month for business,, Had a few encounters there with similar types,, a few memorable encounters including a lady officer who harassed me frequently late at night, ( I worked swing shift and would drop off paperwork and payments in a office in that town on my way home) So I heard from my girlfriend that she finally got fired. Someone had turned the tables on her during one of her traffic stops, taken her weapon and dropped in the mail slot at the police station and hand cuffed her to the rear bumper of her patrol vehicle. (Was not me) But it explained WHY she ran away from me one night. I had gotten annoyed with her antics so instead of following me, I turned the tables and came up and started doing the same to her, I was dumbfounded when she took off and sped away. I chased her briefly, But gave up. Small towns! Whatcha gonna do??So, fast forward many years and a small town near Corvallis Oregon. I was operating a Motorcycle shop and got a call from a customer who was also a big city Police officer. He was off duty but broke down at a Vintage bike event. I was planning to attend anyway, But was speeding to get there early, Square him away and then enjoy the show.Officer Over Friendly had other ideas. So, first some details. We had just purchased a small farm, and had a short term lease, prior to that a farm I had been leasing for 12 years. We were just getting settled, but had in the space of a year moved 2x. We had been gifted a Pickup from a relative, Same last name as my girlfriend/fiance. SOMEWHERE along the way, My license had expired. I was NOT aware. (How often do you check yours?)So, IMPORTANT detail. Because of ID theft, DMV documents will NOT be fwd’ed to new addresses. So typically you get a notice in the mail your Drivers license is up for renewal months prior. But we didnt get it. Its Postal policy in my state as well as DMV.So, I WAS speeding! Not excessively and had a rabbit and going with the flow generally. In the real world the flow of traffic is common sense, Also,, speeder is the leader, Find a rabbit speeder and pace them a half mile back or so. Im not a TOTAL Idiot!I had peeled off I-5 interstate and was headed westbound on Hwy 34 near Tangent Oregon headed to Benton county fairgrounds. I get lit up. damn!Pull over and follow the drill. I know many LE and related to LE as well as worked with many in prev employment. I RESPECT most LE. I know its a tough job. So I follow a routine to comply and make the office comfortable with the traffic stop. The Attitude test is important to whether you get MANY Tickets or maybe a warning.However the attitude test works both ways. So this officer for the podunk town of Tangent is acting WEIRD,, very strange vibe. Best way to describe is OVERLY friendly and patronizing. Like he is trying to be so annoying he can provoke a reaction.I kept my cool, but it got weirder and weirder. Long story, BUT he just lectures me on every topic under the sun at length. Ho hum,,,, okay, Can we move things along? So my license is a problem. He explains the DMV, He explains the Post office (All of which is WRONG) He explains driving codes and ORS statutes..So, He also seems to think I might have stolen the truck. Next he wants to TOW the truck. He DOES call my fiance, and confirms details but still wants to tow it.Now, In any NORMAL jurisdiction you would be advised to renew your license ASAP and given a warning. If you failed the attitude test,,You might get a ticket which you can resolve with proof of renewal. NOBODY tows your vehicle!So, I nearly had to Phone a friend and I did explain it would not go well if he proceeded down that path. I could tell he was enjoying this and was trying to provoke a confrontation. I was very measured in my response,,, I didnt escalate but I did explain the facts. So since that didnt work he slowed things down even more and became even MORE annoying.I finally just asked him are you new at this??? Are you TRYING to create a problem for yourself? So cue the annoying behavior just gets even weirder and more patronizing.So then he screws up and says not only was he going to tow the vehicle, But he would give me a ride to the fairgrounds (Outside of his jurisdiction) So it surprised him when I said SURE! Good luck on that tow.. I will be making calls but let’s get my stuff in your patrol car and get going! (He didn't expect that and started waffling)So at that moment, A good friend of mine was trying to find the event and was lost,, Spotted me and Officer Overly Friendly so pulled up behind the cruiser. Got out and walked up and patiently waited about 10 feet behind the officer.WTH?? I saw it, The officer did not. Major fail for situational awareness. I asked again if he was new at this. So I finally said “Hi Eddy! Whats up?” Eddy asked what the problem was.Scared the shit out of the officer. Eddy is a big man. BIG…Officer had no idea Eddy had been standing behind him for at least 4 minutes,, maybe more. MAJOR FAIL!So he panics and is not sure what to do.. starts barking at Eddy,, This goes on a while. Finally I get a speeding ticket and he explains the court system appeals, etc,, drones on and on. Eddy starts fuming, I start making fun of the guy and I finally say to Eddy.,. Look, I’m gonna get in the truck, lose this clown, and park over there. Wanna give me a ride to the fairgrounds? We can come back for the truck. I don't ask, I just announce that's whats happening. Eddy does this growling and this scares the officer. So he gives in and finally gives me my papers.FAILURE TO CONTROL THE SCENE.So, that's what we did. I tell the police officers I know at the event, They cant believe it. They make some comments about this guy’s competency and one tells me he will give me a ride to my truck and run interference if we run into the officer again. After the event, we do that, And I drive home.So something stinks about the ticket. I call the Court house. Which is a farmhouse, there really is no town. It exists on a map, but not a real town by any definition. I find out the address on the ticket for my hearing is wrong,. I also learn there is NO COURT scheduled the day on the ticket. I ask for a hearing and prepare photos of the speed signs, a map of the area and the speeding ticket is well above what I was doing. 80+ in a 45. The speed necks down from 55 to 45 so there was an issue on signage…There I HAD been doing 65 with the flow of traffic. The 80+ puts me in a different category for tickets so I want to fight that.So I show up to court if you can call it that. Its odd that the officer is not there. Usually that's an auto dismissal. The “Judge” was actually a pro-tem lawyer, and he debates some of my points including the hearing dates I brought up.Legally,., The ticket is invalid because its factually incorrect. I know this, I had printed off documentation to illustrate this. Finally I see the officer’s original and ask to see it. The officer had CROSSED OUT the wrong date after the fact and wrote in another date for the scheduled hearing dates. Mine is unaltered and a carbon copy.It was pretty clear my diagrams, witness and other defenses would not have held up, even though I was right. But the alteration of the ticket was a serious problem. Even the alleged Judge knows this. (Kangaroo court) So I start talking about the state bar, Attorney general’s office and dept of public safety as well as dept of govt ethics. (Ive already got contact names and numbers)The alleged judge looks pained but decides this was in the best interest of all parties to dismiss the ticket. When he announced this, the city clerk,, (An aging Mrs Cleaver) Darts into the room and starts fussing,, Clearly that's not a typical outcome of their random revenue collection system of the thriving metropolis of Tangent Oregon.I am victorious! Eddy can’t believe it!So, the follow up to this story, (Happened around 2003–2004,,I still have the ticket in my desk) Is a number of small towns had been doing revenue collection using speed traps, and harassment ticketing, Ironically many for out of state or people who were not local. The cities of Coburg and Plains were the worst offenders. Some laws were passed to address this and it greatly curtailed this practice. It still happens, but not like the organized shakedowns that had been going on.Here is a wiki page on that amazing little town (Grass seed capital of the world, so exciting you can visit to watch the grass grow!)See: Tangent, Oregon - Wikipedia“ Tangent is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,164 at the 2010 census.Tangent was the site of a railway station on the Southern Pacific line south of Albany. Its name referred to a straight stretch of the line with no curves for more than 20 miles (32 km).The federal government established a post office in Tangent on September 17, 1872.No mention on the city’s web page of Officer Overly Friendly, so he must have been let go.See: History | City of Tangent((But its interesting the heir of the city center and eventually the cities operations was a cat who inherited the estate of the city founder.))“ City Hall was first located on Highway 99W at the Community Center Building. When Mr. Bass died, he gave his estate to Kitty Kat, with the provisions that the when Kitty Kat died, the estate would be given to the City. For a time, Kitty Kat and the City shared quarters at the Estate. In 1998, the City moved back to the Community Center. However, the Community Center was deteriorating. It soon became apparent that a decision needed to be made as to whether the Community Center should be retained or a new Center built. To upgrade the Center to current building codes was too costly, so a new design for a Community Center was completed. Kitty Kat had passed away, and so the City Council decided to move City Hall back to the Estate. Within weeks after the move, a wind storm came through the City and a tree fell on the roof of the Center. It was decided to demolish the Center and it is now a park with picnic areas and a tennis court.At the Bass Estate, the living and dining room areas are being used as the Council room. The side room off the kitchen is used for an office and reception area. Upstairs is the City Coordinator Office, conference room, and archive room, as well as a second bathroom. Kitty Kat has been buried on site and has a plaque to remind us of her life.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(Bass Estate is a farm house, Context is everything!)

Not a speed trap but a “No Truck Zone” which isn’t posted. Back during the Oil boom in 20012 in Tioga N.D. Officers were pulling trucks over and writing citations for being off of the truck route when ever a truck came off of the hiwy into town. When the officer handed me my ticket he said,”Tell the judge you’re from out of town and he will reduce the fine down to $280.00.” My reply was “Hell every truck driver was from out of town. You must be making lots of money here.” Well My Momma didn’t raise no fool, so I came back in my car and drove through town with my camera and took pictures of all of the streets leading into town from the hiwy. I had the pictures blown up to nice glossy 8X10 and took those pictures to court with me. There were about thirty other truck drivers waiting to appear before the judge. Court was held in a conference room at City Hall with the Judge, City Attorney, Court Reporter, Chief of Police was the bailiff and three Secrataries. I sat waiting fo my turn to speak before the judge and watched several other truck drivers plead “No Contest,” and get fined their $280.00. When it was my turn to speak I plead NOT GUILTY and when ask why I thought I wasn’t guilty I explained that there were no signs marking the truck route and that I was from out of town and not aware of any ordinances that I couldn’t park or drive where I was. I handed the pictures to the judge. The Chief of Ploice stated that every tuck driver should know the laws. I simply stated that I was from Georgia and ask “How was a boy from georgia supposed to know the laws in Tioga ND.?” The judge whispered a few quick questions of the City Attorney and then told me that the court agreed with me and that the ourt found me not guilty. Now when I got up to leave the Chief of ploice got up and stood blocking the doorway. I stood looking up at him and waited for him to move. After about 30 seconds of him glaring down (i’m 6′ tall and he was a head taller than me) at me and me staring right back at him I cleared my throat and turned to the judge who then told the Chief of Police to let me go. I got in my car and never looked back.