Maine Lawyer Michael Harman, 48, has been charged with criminal mischief after he pulled a Homer Simpson and decided to drive off in his truck after the police put a Denver boot on one of the wheels.
Harman caused damage to both his 2000 GMC pickup and the device.
In the first episode of the ninth season of the Simpsons, Homer’s nightmare in New York includes his incidence on driving through New York with a Denver boot — tearing up the road and eventually his car. Unlike Harman, he was eventually able to use a jackhammer from a road crew to get the boot off — to the cheers of onlookers.
Harman fared less well than Homer however. Harman, who had unpaid tickets, promptly pulled out a check book and paid for the tickets.
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Legal Maxim my ass.
This legal maxim was made up by lawyers to scare up business for themselves. They made up a rule meant to instill unreasonable fear into people who already are under a lot of stress, and are grasping for any simple rule to make it better.
My experience is quite different, 95% of all attorneys I have had represent me did not do as good a job as I would have done given their resources – plus it cost me an armanaleg to get that representation. 20% made my situation worse.
The quality control and finished work product of my own briefs and research far exceeds anything that a hired attorney will produce.
The only situation I can imagine receiving an equivilent work product would be if [1] the attorney was very good and [2] I had enough money to hire him as his only client for that case.
Regular attorneys usually are juggling several cases at a time, are often making unconscious value judgments on their clients and cases, don’t really care about the outcome of the case except to get it resolved as fast as possible for the most money. The work ethic is rather low, and pride in their product is a luxury they won’t afford.
They are construction workers, not artists.
The only times I was glad to have an attorney was not for the quality of representation (vs going pro se), but for the tedious and time consuming work that it involved that I just didn’t have to attend to.
When I represent myself, I am my only client and I have the highest priority for the case than anyone else would.
Of course it is important to have an understanding of the law you are arguing, and also important to get a handle on the subject court’s rules of procedure.
Wow….I would like him to represent me in traffic court.
With great ideas like this, who knows what kind of traffic trouble he could get me out of, should I ever get into any, that is!!
Former Federal LEO 1, May 9, 2009 at 9:31 am
“You know the old saying — the attorney who represents himself has got a fool for a client.”
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Another Maxim: “An Attorney that has an Attorney for a Client has a FOOL for an Attorney.”
Is this guy a DUI specialist, as he seems to have no qualms about impaired driving. Or maybe he is a full service criminal attorney, I can see his TV commercial:
“I am Michael Harman, and if I can’t get you off, I will break you out.”
One of the quotes I live by having a history of felonious parking and political activism is from Bob Dylan:
“Don’t follow leaders, watch your parking meters.”
Well, one thing for sure, this *is* the type of lawyer that will most likely be his own defense counsel in court.
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“You know the old saying — the attorney who represents himself has got a fool for a client.”
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By the way, for you attorneys here, is the above quoted maxim a fact? No need to plead the 5th….just askin’
QoS,
Lest we forget that an attorney with an IQ of 50 we call your Honor.
So an attorney receives so many traffic citations that his truck is eventually booted, and then he drives off with the boot attached thereby causing damage to his truck as well as bringing a criminal charge – all costing him even more time and money?! What an idiot. His clients must be very proud.
Is there not some shit we learned about Due Process and the 4th Amendment. Where is the Notice from the Court, the Judgment yada yada.
I had this happen. It ain’t fun. My wife was not amused either when she got stopped for speeding and they gave her a ride paid for my the city. I was so kind I greeter her at the station. We had a good laugh about it or maybe I did. Not sure, it was awful quite for a long while after.
Three solutions:
Don’t get the tickets;
If you do get the tickets pay for them; and if you don’t like the above 2.
Make friends in Code Enforcement they can make many things disappear. The option I utilize the most.