Divorce lawyer Dustin S. McCrary, who is the founder of the Law Office of Dustin S. McCrary, has seen a fair share of battles over child custody, alimony and spousal support, property distribution, and domestic violence, and according to him, the legal professional is extremely draining.
"When you choose to be a lawyer, you are choosing a path that often requires putting in long hours to study and prepare for each case," he wrote. "Clients can be demanding [and] your assignments can start off as fairly low stakes and shift into stressful high-stakes scenarios overnight." After all, it can be difficult to disconnect yourself from the lives of your clients.
So when Reddit user Brainstew__ asked lawyers to describe the most memorable cases they have ever worked on, the discussion was quickly fiilled shocking, bizarre, and sometimes downright unbelievable stories from the courtroom and beyond.
#1
One of my close friends is an environmental lawyer primarily defending individual landowners in corporate cases where discharge or pollution has occurred, or where water rights are in contention.
A couple years back, there was a case where a well-known manufacturer of latex paints was found to be poisoning a local wetland (a big f*****g deal in my state) with runoff, and the state authority in charge of wetlands preservation took them to court. In a grandstanding effort to demonstrate to the judge that the chemical being discharged near the water could not possibly be toxic to the wildlife, a rep for the company brought a powdered form of the chemical in and mixed it with a glass of water there and then, intending to drink it dramatically in front of the court.
The glass (actually plastic, but still) *melted right there on the table*.
The case was settled out of court the same day.
Image credits: SweaterZach
#2
I’m not a lawyer but I worked in a foreclosure mediation/diversion court as a counselor.
Usually it was people with bad luck, unemployment or addiction that lead them there. Heavy stuff but became run of the mill.
One guy I will never f*****g forget. He comes in and at first it looks like a standard unemployment deal. There are programs with mortgage companies to deal with. He was a dock worker, made pretty good money, but hadn’t worked for 6 months and was about to lose the house. I ask for his story and he tells me it all started 20 years ago. His older son was in the army in Korea at a base on deployment and his younger son was at a high school party in their town. Apparently he gets into it with another kid over a girl, and the kid grabs a barbecue fork and stabs the son in the neck. His youngest bleeds out before an ambulance arrives. The older son is devastated because he wasn’t there to protect his brother.
The father and mother end up divorcing over the grief. But older son returns, makes a life. Has a couple young kids and it all seems good. But six months prior he just walks into his garage and shoots himself in the head. Leaves a note that he can’t live with not having been there for his baby brother even after all these years.
So my client goes into a depressive state, stops working, stops paying bills. Just can’t deal with the grief and destruction of his family that that one event emanated. What pulled him out of almost killing himself was that the guy who killed the younger son came up for parole. He went and spoke against him getting out and then realized he had to live for his grandkids.
I still think about that dude regularly, grief is so f*****g powerful it pulsates out and destroys if you don’t have the right support.
Image credits: BureaucraticHotboi
#3
I used to work as a legal secretary for a personal injury lawyer. He told me about a case where his client had radiation burns from an x-ray machine. In the avalanche of documents he received from the defendant during discovery, he found an internal memo. The memo described a serious problem with the machines and continued: "This is an issue we can't ignore... unfortunately, it's not in the budget".
When the case went to trial, he told the jury, "Show them they need to put this in the budget next time." The jury complied, handing down one of the largest verdicts California had ever seen.
Image credits: AmbitiousSquirrel4
#4
I'm not a lawyer, but I work closely with a lot of lawyers and see the same stuff they do.
There was a case where a lady had been a victim of human trafficking and was kidnapped in her home country and sold into a prostitution ring in the U.S. She escaped, applied for asylum, told the FBI and whatnot everything she knew about her kidnappers and the others who bought her (putting her life in major danger), and was told that's all it would take to get her asylum and permanent residency taken care of.
F*****s still tried to deport her. Don't worry. She won her case, but only because one of the top attorneys in New York (if you know of a lot of attorneys in NYC, you've probably heard about this one) took the case on pro bono. It was wild to me how hard ICE fought to get her sent back and how intense that case got.
Image credits: anon
#5
There were cases in the UK during the Falklands war in the 80s where the government claimed bullet wounds and lost limbs due to minefields were "incidental" injuries and not related to the fighting.
Like people just randomly generate holes in their chests and limbs fly off during birthday parties etc.
The government's own records showed they were "buying time" in order that the claimants would hopefully die of their injuries and the cases could be shut down.
Image credits: WimbleWimble
#6
I will answer for my lawyer friend because he used the words, “This is the most f****d up case I’ve ever worked.” Basically, my friend is a prosecutor with the DA’s office and was assigned a child sexual abuse/torture case. The defendant was the child’s step-father.
The abuse happened from the time the child was 9 to 14. She’s 17 now and testified to all the things her step-father did over those 5 years.
The “f****d up” part came when the defense attorney tried to blame the girl for “allowing” everything to happen to her and of course, since the girl is now a very attractive teenager, used the “she was just too sexy and biologically, the step-father couldn’t control himself” defense.
My friend was watching the jury while the defense was cross examining the girl, and saw so many head nods as though the jury agreed with the idea that a kid in 5th-8th grade allowed herself to be constantly r*ped and tortured.
Thankfully, the jury did decide to convict the step-father but it took a lot of work, partly from myself as the girl’s therapist and expert witness on child abuse and delayed outcries, for the jury to convict.
I think both my friend and I lost a little bit faith in humanity that day. Both after hearing the defense and seeing certain jury members agree with the idea that a child consented to any kind of abuse.
Now the girl and I are having to continue therapy. While she’s done an incredible job working through the abuse, she’s now exhibiting trauma symptoms from testifying in court.
Image credits: omglookawhale
#7
I normally defend construction defect and personal injury matters, nothing too crazy. Early in my career we got a case involving a husband and wife who ran a foster home and one kid was alleging the husband had molested them. I was assigned to defend only the wife under their homeowners insurance policy. The allegations against the husband were bad, but the wife had no idea what was going on. Here was this poor woman, who was also a former foster child, trying to give back and help other foster children in the system, and now she finds out her husband is a child molester. It was heartbreaking and we just wanted to get her out of the case. Then we get more documents and learn this isn't the first child to make allegations. The dad had been doing this s**t for years and she knew it. Maybe she was involved, maybe she just ignored it, either way the whole thing turned f*****g gross. I instantly wanted nothing to do with it. A few weeks later, my boss (the coolest guy ever) comes in and says he gave the case back to the insurance carrier, thank god. That was the only case I've ever felt morally opposed to handling.
EDIT: I should also clarify that once a lawyer takes on a case it's not that easy to just say "actually I changed my mind". I don't know what my boss did to get rid of that case but I'm glad he was equally grossed out.
Image credits: oldjack
#8
Legal assistant here. Worked on a case where a male nurse sexually assaulted bedridden patients at a low income nursing home. F*****g horrifying. One of the women had a hip fracture. Worse part is that they complained to staff and no one listened to them for the longest time because they were old and didn’t have a lot of family. We represented the women and were suing the nursing home, and in our research uncovered tons of other lawsuits across the country alleging all sorts of negligence at other nursing homes runs by the parent company (called SavaSeniorCare, if anyone wants to know where to never send their older relatives!).
Image credits: CoffeeSpoons33
#9
It was a family law matter. I was a newly-minted attorney who couldn’t find work in the early 2010s and took anything that came to me. It was a custody battle. I represented the mom. The dad lived with his father (grandfather) who had been convicted TWICE of r*ping other grandchildren. Easy case, right? No. Because Mom absolutely forbade me from bringing the grandfather’s convictions before the judge. Said he made 'some mistakes,' and while she wanted full custody, of course, she felt bad that grandfather’s 'past mistakes' might be used against him in the future, forever. I brought it up to the judge anyway. She fired me on the spot, during oral arguments. She ended up suing me. It was a mess. Would do it again.
Image credits: Achleys
#10
My mum's ex-boyfriend had to defend a triple-murder with kidnapping. Two of the victims were a mother and her three-year-old son. Defendant had some kind of psychosis, I'm not sure what. He attempted to carjack a fourth victim who was able to overpower him, leading to his arrest.
Said ex-boyfriend switched to prosecution after that.
Image credits: Porrick
#11
Back in the day I investigated and later in my career prosecuted lots of arsons so I worked a lot of fire cases. One time the crews roll up on a garage fire. They are met by the home’s resident holding a blood-soaked towel to his crotch. The medics get him stable and transported. He later tells us the voice told him to eat a whole box of saltine crackers without drinking any water and he was like ok, and did that. Then the voice told him to eat the newspaper and he was like check. Then the voice said to cut off his testicles with a can opener and he was like yep. Then the voice said set the van on fire in the garage and he was like you got it. He did all those things in that order, and there were the scene photos of the testicles right there on the garage floor.
We got him into mental health court and he did pretty well.
Image credits: anon
#12
TL;DR: lady wanted to show me her vagina, it just happened to not be attached to her body.
I already told one shocking story in this thread, but I got another that is a different kind of shocking.
I was pretty new to the practice and was meeting with a lot of clients. The firm I worked for had a lot of walk-ins and I was processing the potential clients.
I called in the next person and a mid-30s women walked in carrying a red and white cooler. She pops in down on my desk and the spends about 5 mins trying to sit down in the chair. My first thought was "must be some kind of personal injury."
First words out of her mouth after she sits, "I need to sue my doctor because my vagina just fell out."
My eyes immediately lock onto the cooler.
"Is...that?"
"Yes. I brought in with my just in case you needed to see it. Do you want to see it?" She begins to open the cooler.
Not gonna lie..I was curious but I stopped her and convinced her that a hospital was her best option at the moment.
Turns out she had vaginal reconstruction and the mesh came out in one big blob. Now, this is not my area of expertise. I am a corporate attorney. So I sent her to someone with more expensive.
Edit: meant experience not expensive but both are true so I'll let it stand.
Image credits: Tokra_Kree
#13
I was dating a nice woman back in 2016. In our first conversation, I asked her what she did for a living. She was a paralegal for a malpractice firm at the time. I asked her if there were any interesting cases happening. She said "Yes, one we are going to lose."
I was interested... I asked what happened.
She told me "Well, we are defending a doctor who made a mistake. One of his patients was suffering from an eye condition that required a unique recovery. After surgery, the patient had to lie face down for the entirety of their day to prevent further eye damage. It had something to do with eye pressure and a gas buildup near the back of the eye. As it turns out, the patient wanted to fly on a plane and would intend to keep their eyes down through the whole flight. The doctor we're defending didn't tell the patient that they couldn't fly during the recovery."
The next part definitely sucked. When the patient took off on the plane, everything was OK. During descent, which people with ear problems can attest, the rapid change in pressure f****d up this patients condition. They went completely blind in both eyes due to the descent of the plane.
Predictably, the doctor did lose the case. It was a definitely an interesting first conversation to have with someone.
Image credits: ManThatIsF**ked
#14
Slayer statute, interpleader case in federal court. Client murdered her husband to collect insurance proceeds. Found out that she promised to pay 2 dudes to bind his hands and feet with duct tape, execute him, and burn him in an alley, for $20k each, to be payed out of the insurance funds.
She lost.
Image credits: roymunsonshand
#15
It was a labor case, in which in the middle of the hearing, the judge (60-year-old male) started to flirt with my client (23-year-old female) in a direct, straightforward way. It was SO shocking that was one of the only cases I got speechless in a trial. Those hearings are closed here in Brazil, so no jury, no recording — nothing.
Image credits: alekdefuneham
#16
Not a lawyer but my Aunt was.
She was the state prosecutor for a case where a guy had gotten into an argument with another guy at a recreational baseball game.
After the game was over one guy left and went home. The other guy stayed at the baseball field with his son.
About like 30min to an hour later they are still at the baseball field and the other guy is back. He has a baseball bat and walks straight towards the dad at the pitching mound and starts hitting him over the head with the bat until hes unrecognizable. Kid frozen in terror while this guy murders his dad. He then walk over to the kid and does the same thing to him.
My Aunt was amazing at her job and got the guy sentenced to life in prison.
She lost her battle to cancer a few months ago. I loved listening to her stories. She was the best Aunt a guy could ask for.
Image credits: ScubaNoname643
#17
NAL, but personally involved in this horrific case. The travesty of justice was a contributing factor to me dropping out of pre-law in college.
Adding a spoiler tag because this is pretty bad. If there is a trigger warning, assume it applies.
>!In the late 80's, my uncle was convicted of violently raping over 30 children, myself and my youngest sister being two of the victims. During the case, my mother screamed multiple times that we were liars (especially when I testified) and trying to ruin his life. It got to the point where the judge asked her to quiet down or leave the courtroom.!<
>!The youngest victim was 3. The eldest in their 20's. A majority of the victims on record were dead from suicide or imprisoned for d**g use. Two boy scout troops were found to have all been victimized.!<
>!During the trial, he also admitted to having sex with animals (dogs, cows, sheep). The church (LDS) was VERY involved in his defense, as he was an elder of the church. We lured him away from the path of God, and he couldn't tell right from wrong.!<
>!He was sentenced to six **months** in a mental hospital. He got out in three, after "finding religion". Even though he was an elder of the church.!<
>!His hoarder apartment had to be cleaned out by me, aka one of his victims. His bank accounts were non-existent, despite me supplying evidence they were opened under false names. My mother repeatedly told police I was lying, despite her brother's own confession in court.!<
>!She ended up cleaning out my bank accounts (after already draining them bit by bit over the years) and giving him and the church the money because I "ruined his life". And she welcomed him back into her home where he continued to abuse my sister until she moved out. !<
Since I know there will be some questions. Yes, I am in therapy at this time. Yes, the judge was from the same church. I'll try my best to answer any others that come up.
Image credits: Patches765
#18
I told this story on r/lawyers a little while ago, but I'll tell it again here.
I'm an immigration lawyer. I do mostly VAWA and asylum, but I handle other stuff on occasion.
I had a prospective client come in a few weeks ago. He's interested in pursuing a relatively straightforward application. He tells me that he might have a criminal history that could affect his immigration. It's only one arrest though, he says. It happened in 19XX. And it's not serious.
"OK," I say. It happens. Nobody's perfect, and a single arrest is generally not a deal-breaker.
So, as I'm talking with him, I decide to Google his pretty unique name. A news article comes up, from his country, in his language. It's dated the same year he said... 19XX. Hm.
I ask him: "what kind of crime did you say it was?"
"Oh," he says, "I think it was d**g related." I figure, alright, marijuana arrest or something: nothing we can't overcome.
I click through to the article. The photo on the article sure looks like a lot like the prospective client. Turns out, prospective client's arrest was not for marijuana at all. It was for cocaine. And not a little cocaine. This guy was caught attempting to smuggle XX *pallets* of cocaine. I must have looked a little bug-eyed, because the guy gave me a sort of sheepish look and a shrug.
Hm.
I tell the prospective client, maybe we should start by filing a few FOIA requests (Freedom of Information Act Requests) to see what comes up, and we'll go from there. He agrees, and that's that.
I'll double check my suspicions against the government record, and let the client know what can, or cannot, be done.
Suffice it to say, getting caught smuggling multiple pallets of cocaine is not a small-time arrest. But, you never know what is or isn't true, and you should always do your due diligence.
Image credits: Moonsight
#19
So…I see a lot of messed up injuries in my line of work (personal injury.) like permanent metal in people, scars, mental trauma. Videos of car accidents, broken bones, you know, messed up stuff.
But what gets me the most is health insurance companies. Basically, let’s say you have Kaiser, you get hurt they pay the bill. Unfortunately, if you get hurt by another person and recover funds from them, then your health insurance company (or workers comp) is entitled to be paid back from the money you get. Oh and the government gets first dibs too if you have Medicare or state funded health insurance. However bad you think the system is working, trust me, it’s worse.
Image credits: PizzaNoPants
#20
Legal Videographer here...
Grand Parent Custody case where the dad got photographed molesting the 8yo daughter under the Christmas tree. Kid goes for a medical exam and the doc reports extensive injuries usually associated with sex abuse. Then checks a box to indicate the injuries were not related to abuse. Police say nothing they can do about it because of the checked box. The mom 'commits suicide' "because the dad didn't want to sleep with both at the same time" according to him... and the person holding the gun when she shot herself gets a misdemeanor iirc. Police lose two polygraph tests and a couple r*pe kits. Grandparents lose custody case... oh his dad was a magistrate in the same county... and the dad gets full custody.
Unfortunately that day when I got home r/eyebleach had a series of infant and toddler photos instead of kittens and puppies.
Image credits: zekthedeadcow
#21
I'm an attorney, but the case that stuck with me most was one I sat in on during undergrad. I was a criminal justice major and frequently had to go watch trials for class assignments. I was in the military at the time, so I had to cram these hours in randomly — if we had a light day, or I could take a long lunch, I would go to the closest courthouse and check what was available. One day, I went down to the federal courthouse in Baltimore and checked the list: one criminal case, nothing else going. I head upstairs and quietly walk in. Despite that, clearly, everyone checks me out, which is odd — usually, no one pays attention to the gallery. At the first break, a guy comes over and asks me who I am and why I’m there; he's Office of Special Investigations (OSI) with the Air Force, so I show him my ID and explain I have to watch criminal trials. He gives me a weird look but doesn’t push. As I’m sitting there, I slowly realize I SHOULD NOT BE HERE. An Air Force couple has a son, and gets divorced. She takes her son with her to her duty station in Japan and remarries a civilian employee there. Dad is deployed, then moves station, and keeps bugging her about when he can see the son; at some point, she just stops responding. A few months later, after Dad has filed a report with her command, requesting they make her communicate with him, Dad gets a call from an OSI agent who he knows, asking him for his son's full name and date of birth. Dad gives it to him, and the agent says, 'Look. I didn’t tell you this, but you need to call OSI on her base.' Mom had gone to the field, and her 8-year-old son had been bugging the stepdad while he was gaming. Stepdad got pissed off and beat the kid with the first thing to hand — a piece of banister from the stair he was working in. Mom came back from the field two days later and found the son unconscious, still on the floor. Because the stepdad's last home of record was in Maryland, he was tried in federal court in Baltimore. I sat through the ER doc who treated the son, who talked about seeing the internal crush injuries, and the coroner who talked about how hard you would have to hit an 8-year-old on the front to cause bruising on his back. I also sat through the dad talking about finding out his son was gone. After that day, I always went to misdemeanor court for my hours.
#22
I'm an interpreter not an attorney, but I had a school case to interpret regarding bullying. The school decided to have a court case decision made in house. It was 12 kids and their parents on a stage in the cafeteria. The school officials were there and a school advocate who acted as judge. Apparently the seniors would trap the freshmen in a designated bathroom after lunch and jump them. Four seniors and eight freshman who were beat up individually, there were supposed to be nine but one was in the hospital. They showed surveillance of how the seniors picked the freshmen to beat up and there were 2 teachers aware of this, in one of the videos one of the teachers helped the seniors by pointing out who the freshmen were. This was a hazing technique that was going on in this school for years but this case was to make an example of those involved. The teachers involved were only mentioned when the bullys admitted receiving assistance in pointing out who to beat up, the teachers never got in trouble. Only one bully was expelled and all the freshmen were suspended. It was unjust and sad. This case went on for 3 days and each case lasted 3 to 5 hours after school.
Image credits: SwtPvega5_
#23
IANAL but periphery of a divorce; anesthesiologist and his wife; dude has tons of money and a huge secondary stash of gold and other non currency assets that he doesn’t disclose; keeps lowballing wife and she keeps arguing for the proper financial disclosure - he laughs as she has to keep paying for her attorney to file to get access to the assets that he won’t disclose and they can’t prove -
He kept lowballing her and refusing to settle all while he continues to make huge money and she struggles - he dgaf - he wanted to win and make her suffer and drag it out
Divorce initiated because of his infidelity.
Image credits: DeepBlueSomethings
#24
My sister is a criminal defense lawyer. She told me about a case where this guy had committed murder and after a week couldn't take the guilt and handed himself in.
Only when he got to the police station and confessed, they asked him where he killed this woman. He told them and they said it was out of their jurisdiction and to go to another police station to confess because it was closer to where the crime happened.
So he left and went the next day instead. Noone looked for him or asked or anything. It went completely unreported.
He did hand himself into the police station and they began to start proceedings for a case against him.
They wanted to include on the report the fact he had been turned away from the police station and still handed himself in to show some sort of character but the judge and police said they wouldn't allow it because it makes them look bad. They said they wouldn't let the jury even hear about it. My sisters team was frustrated and horrified.
This was in Ireland.
#25
Not a lawyer, but I got a summer gig once sorting -/alphabetizing case files at a law firm and throwing out the files that were more than 7 years old. This necessitated going through them occasionally to find the closure dates.
The saddest one I picked up was a 17 year old boy who got sent to jail for having sex with a 14 year old girl.
Not that I think it’s okay for a 17 year old to have sex with a 14 year old; that’s realllly pushing it to put it mildly.
What made me sad was the way that the prosecutors procured a confession. It was one of those “if you write a nice apology letter to her parents, maybe we can make this all go away” manipulated written confessions. It was this heartfelt letter that was all
“I’m so sorry I put your family through this hardship, I wasn’t thinking, it was irresponsible, etc”. — and it just had this soulless sticky note on it that just said “CONFESSED” in all caps.
I read lots of interesting case files, but that one was a gut punch. The kid did some time for that one.
Image credits: coleosis1414
#26
I did an alleged arson case for an insurance company once. The insured had to provide a list of all items he had lost including over 1,000 book titles. Every book was the biography of a serial killer — we figured it was probably every book ever written about a serial killer. Insured gave off serious dark and mysterious vibes. Who knows the truth?
Image credits: lostatsea12a
#27
I was just an articling student at the time but we got a phone call that I still makes me laugh each time I think about it.
A woman calls in asking for advice on immigration law. I tell her I can't give advice but I can take details and book a meeting. She wants to know about claiming refugee status. I ask her where she is a refuge from. She then tells me that she doesn't want to claim refuge status, her sister does.
So I ask her where her sister is from, she tells me from Hong Kong. (This was almost a decade ago btw) So I ask her why she is fleeing Honk Kong. She tells me that her sister isn't fleeing Hong Kong, she is visiting on a 6 month visa.
So I ask why she want to help her sister get refuge status. She says she doesn't, she wants her sister to leave. Now, at this point I'm thoroughly confused. So I get her to elaborate.
Turns out, her sister is visiting and, to quote her, "She is ruining the family!" Her sister has threatened to stay on after her visa expires and this lady want to know whether she can actually do that. The short answer, no legal advice required is that she can't just stay, she has to go through immigration. So she asks what to do about her. I tell her, if she doesn't leave when her visa expires, call the cops. She says thanks and hangs up. I dissolve into fits of giggles.
Image credits: kitskill
#28
I used to be an Employment Lawyer and I defended someone at a Tribunal who would pick on meeker women in the office and flirt with them and over time would give them shoulder rubs. More time would pass and eventually this guy’s hands would get lower and lower, until he was full on groping the girls breasts in the office.
Tough part was, he did it in such a sneaky way that all the other employees saw the shoulder rubs so suspected that they were an item so evidence didn’t fall in the poor girl’s favour. He won the case and told me afterwards “I can’t believe you got me off” - basically admitting it. I quit law after that. Lost the stomach for it.
#29
Not a Lawyer but a law student. For my contractual law class is had to learn a verdict from The dutch supreme court which was pretty awfull. The situation was as follows:
A mom was cooking dinner, from where she was standing she could see her child playing outside. Suddenly a taxivan drives in the street and hits the child a quite a high speed. This sends the child of flying trough The air. When she hits the ground she has a lot of momentum so she slides over the street. The mother, obviously in shock, runs up to the child. When the mother grabs her child het hand vanishes in The back of the Head of the child. So the mother stands there with her hand in The scull/brain of the run over child.
This was the first time ever in dutch law that emiotional damages where accepted.
#30
Not a lawyer, but we got sued and had to pay out money for absolutely no reason besides "cheaper to pay then off than actually defend yourself".
So let me give you the facts. We bought a property in 2014. It had tenants in it. Remember 2014, it is important.
So one of the tenants had an issue that made her unit partially uninhabitable in 2011. The property management takes a while to get it fixed, but they resolve the issue in 2011.
Fast forward to 2016. The tenant is now suing the previous owners AND US. We hadn't even heard of this property when it happened or even when the situation was resolved!
But we were added to the case. Eventually we had an arbiter talking between all 3 parties. The tenant was asking us for 20k but we brought it down to 10k. Our attornies recommended we settle, and so we did.
Now you're probably asking why we even paid. We bore no responsibility, right? You'd be right, but it would have cost us at least 10k to pay our attornies to defend us in court and even then there is no guarantee a jury would rule in our favor. It was best to pay her off and call it a day.
Her attorney on the other hand was one that worked off the proceeds of his case. He cost nothing unless he won...t~~hen he would take like 75% of whatever they won~~ apparently the attorney would take ~30% and the other fees would take another ~45% leaving the tenant with ~25%. Many people abuse the system with these tiny cases because it isn't even worth defending against.
On a final note, we also stipulated the tenant had to vacate the property within 5 months (we only did this because her pregnant adult daughter was about 7 months pregnant). Come the end of the 5 months, she asked if she could continue her tenancy.
Really, after you sue us for no reason but to earn a quick buck? Hell no.
And f**k the attorney who took her case.
Image credits: Hailene2092
#31
I didn't work on it but I was in the courtroom at the time with other cases. Working with the DA during my first year in law school. Being presided by the biggest prick judge I've ever encountered in my life. It's not shocking like everyone else but I think it's pretty bad...
This couple broke up and the woman got a restraining order on this guy. Month or 2 later this guy goes out with his friends to some bar. Later in the night the ex girlfriend shows up at the same bar.
The guy goes up to her and says, "I know you have a restraining order against me, are you comfortable with me here or should I leave? I won't bother you either way." She says she doesn't want him around so he leaves right away.
Dude got put away 3 years for that. You aren't supposed to be within 100 feet or have any contact with the person who filed. So the fact this guy said that one sentence to her got him put away 3 years. Even though he was there first and trying to be courteous by asking and then leaving right away.
This was very beginning of my law career and already not a good sign lol. I hate being a lawyer so much. I learned coding if anyone's hiring.
Image credits: HomerFlinstone
#32
Not a lawyer but a paralegal! We had a client who claimed to be the daughter of a man, but his other daughter claimed that wasn’t true. The mans estate went to probate court and they both had rival petitions going to be the administrator…(which in California you get money for along with your share of the estate) She was a nut and my boss regretted taking her on everytime we had to deal with her and after her trying to exhume the body, breaking into his house to “gather evidence” and sending us on a wild goose chase to family members in Arkansas who would vouch for her, claiming the decedent always said our client was his daughter.…..Cut to month later, we get a call from our client: the police are outside her house, she’s barricaded in and has a gun to her husband. She won’t come out, she keeps calling our office to talk the her attorney (who is not in that day) and I’m talking to her tell her and watching the police on the news at the same time. She ended up stabbing her husband, not killing him but leaving him a vegetable and she went to jail. Never found out if she was the real daughter or not.
Image credits: pinotprobs
#33
Client paid a multi-million dollar settlement with a hand-written personal check. He was pissed and refused to do a wire transfer like a normal person. I think the other side had to scramble to find a bank to deposit the check. Banking regulations limit how much money a bank can hold on deposit. You just can’t take a check that large to any local bank. The check eventually cleared, so I guess they figured it out. Good times…. That case will be on my resume for sure.
Image credits: ChloeBaie
#34
A mother sold the family farm out from under the son who was supposed to inherit it. Someone shot her (nonfatally). There were so many suspects that almost every lawyer in the county was assigned to defend one of them. Forensics eventually narrowed it down to two suspects, but each so adamantly pointed at the other as the shooter that it was going to be hard to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt of either one's guilt. They both pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and served two years.
[Love Kills](https://dailybulldog.com/features/love-kills-tv-episode-based-on-2003-farmington-crime-story/)
Edited to add two more related links:
[https://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20030908/News/309089999](https://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20030908/News/309089999)
https://observer.com/2008/11/knee-deep/.
Image credits: Alleline
