My Attorney's Birthday
August 3rd- It would have been a fairly normal day at work but for two things, 1) the custody case I've been working on all summer was on for a conference in Manhattan Family Court and 2) it was the birthday of the attorney I work with. I arrived in Court at 10 AM since we were supposed to be on for 10 o' clock, time certain. As usual we were kept waiting since the judge wasn't around yet. The Law Guardian still hasn't quite come around, nor has opposing counsel obviously, but i think we have brought all the agencies involved over to our side and I'm still very optimistic. My optimism is sustained in spite of the judge's apparent hatred for the attorney I work with. Every time she spoke, The Honorable Judge Gloria Sosa-Lintner would roll her eyes and wave her hand dismissively with the uttmost disrespect. Of course since she is the judge she can do as she likes and no one can really correct her. She went off again today about how she doesn't know or care what the law is in the matter, she will make up her own mind so that she can sleep at night whether or not she is overuled. She went off on a tirade about not being a rubber stamp and never taking short cuts and related this to her name; she is not Judge Sosa or Judge Lintner she said, but Judge Sosa-Lintner and she expects people to get it right (no one had gotten it wrong and this was never an issue). The ego on this woman is incredible. She gave us a couple more gems over the course of the conference. One was (and I wrote these down verbatim as she produced them), "I don't think family court is a place for dreams" (the tempting retort was, sure, it's only a place for nightmares...) and "My crystal ball is kind of foggy today." Her remarks were accomanied by the requisite eye rolling and dismissive hand gestures. I'm not sure who she thinks she's putting this show on for, it seems like her audience consists of just the law guardian. The rest of the attorney's are groaning behind her back. To make a long story short, this lady is not increasing my respect for the bench any.
Because it was her birthday, the attorney I work with took off work after court while I returned to the office in Brooklyn to do some research. On the way I picked up a card and got everyone in the office to sign it (the little things make all the difference). I gave her the card after work at a little get together in Rockefeller Park. No one else from the office ended up coming so I was definitely the youngest one at the party by about 30 years. We were in the park for a concert by Ronnie Spector and the Ronnets (a group that was popular long before I was born). Still, I enjoyed the sunset over the hudson and we danced and cavorted and all that. There was a nice breeze coming off the water so it wasn't too hot. After the concert we went to a restaurant/bar down by the harbor and my elders proceeded to prove they couldn't hold more than a drink or two. I had a quesadilla which was exhorbitantly priced. Took a cab home around midnight.
