CHAPTER 9
I spent my morning at motion calendar fighting over silliness. Motion calendar hearings are supposed to last only five minutes, but they never do. Most of the time, attorneys use them to argue about who should produce what documents and who's being an unreasonable jerk, but uncontested divorces are also heard then and also, occasionally, an adoption, which makes everyone smile. I liked to think of the courthouse as a microcosm of the outside world: when a child is born, paternity may need to be established, or that child may be adopted. Other major events, like an arrest, an injury, a dispute, a marriage, or a divorce, are likely to be resolved there as well. Ultimately, when a person dies, a probate case is filed and perhaps a wrongful death action if someone is to blame for th
