Late yesterday afternoon we learned that this morning at 10 a.m. in Manhattan an adversary planned to ask the court for a temporary restraining order against our client. So this morning I got up at 3:30 a.m. to catch the 5:00 a.m. train to make it down to Centre Street by 10. On the train, I read the new York times on my blackberry and learned all about which restaurants NOT to go to in the Hamptons. Apparently the service there in restaurants is worse than it is in DC. I also read about how to cook okra so its not so slimy, and how USAir is giving up on Pittsburgh. Other than that, I looked out the window because the scenes outside were cataclysmic. Because of the very bad storms on the East Coast last night, every body of water up the East Coast was flooded. The Anacostia, the Severn, the Susequehanna, the Delaware, the Schuykill, (not the Hudson, however) etc. The water running over the banks was a nasty brown color with branches and other large things floating in it. Lots of roads we passed were washed out, I some cars with water up to their windows, etc. It was so early that no-one was out and about yet. It was a deserted landscape, just a grey sky that lightened imperceptibly to dull lead colored sky, trees and earth so sodden they were unnaturally dark, and man-made structures that were almost invisible behind all the water, unnaturally dark trees and earth, and the lead-colored sky. It was a totally cheerless trip. Now that I think of it, it was very like being in London. We got to Penn Station at 7:30 a.m. to learn that most of commuter trains in NYC were having serious trouble due to flooded tunnels, etc.
In any event, we get down to court and there's no adversary. The clerks in the Commercial Division have never heard of the man, no action has been filed, and no TRO application has been made. We go around to all the possible parts of the New York Supreme Court to see if he filed elsewhere, etc. Nothing. We call him up. No answer. We ask him to please call us back to let us know his intention. We sit around for a while, going on a scenic tour of the beautifully refurbished courthouse, favorite corners/views for Law & Order scenes, etc. Then we get on the subway and go back up to C&B/NY. Shortly after we get home, the adversary calls and says "where were you?" all chipper like. He claims he was there at 10:30 (he wasn't, we were) and that because we didn't show up the judge moved the hearing to tomorrow (the judge never saw him, we know that for a fact), and that he left a note at the 'front desk" for them to tell me all about this (not true, there is no "front desk" and there certainly weren't no note -- anyway, the guy who knows everything down there is Pablo and we are SO IN with Pablo that he wouldn't withhold info like that from us). I ask him if he could please fax us a copy of whatever he filed. He refuses. I ask him if he could please tell us who his client is and who brought the action. He refuses. I finally ask if he could please tell us which of our client's various entities he sued. He refused, rambled on about some Jewish holiday that consumed him yesterday (the famous Tuesday, July 27th Jewish Holiday, I guess) and how he just moved offices so what could I possibly expect from him, and then he hung up on me. So basically he's hauling us into court and refusing to give us the slightest clue about who else will be in court and why we will all be there. And all the lying and yelling made me feel dirty. I could never be a NY lawyer. At least in DC we pretend to be nice.
So I missed my return train home and sat in an empty office on our NY firm and typed furiously into my computer until my face felt like concrete. We are filing a flurry of things with the Commercial Division and the federal court to really slam this jerk (nicely, of course). I also wrote an ice cold letter to the jerk pointing out that his discourteous treatment of us is sanctionable and we're going to go after him for costs, etc. It sorta made me feel better but not really. Our client called periodically to express dismay, frustration, rage, disbelief, resignation, hysteria, and finally acceptance. It was basically a really terrible afternoon.
So now I'm in the St. Regis (some consolation) catching up on all the other work I was supposed to be doing today before the jerk entered the scene (which is substantial, mind you), after dropping $60 at Duane Reade to buy basic necessities (there are substantially more "basic necessities" when you have to appear in court the next day because you can't really show up dishevelled and spotty looking). I will wash my socks in the sink and "refresh" my suit with steam from the shower and basically live in a St. Regis bathrobe until I have to leave for court again tomorrow.
He better show up tomorrow.
posted by Anonymous @ 9:07 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home