A day in the life...

6:00 am

Get out of bed and go downstairs for 30 minutes of pilates before breakfast.

6:30 am

Little one makes her way downstairs saying "Eat! Eat!" I head into the kitchen and whip up breakfast for the little one.

7:00 am

Wife comes downstairs to exercise and watch the little one while she finishes her breakfast. I head upstairs to get ready for work.

7:40 am

In the car and headed to municipal court. My client is a truck driver from Florida who got pulled over while driving through. He has a commercial driver's license so it's either a dismissal or we're going to trial.

8:20 am

After another attorney tells me they are training prosecutors this week and that I should expect to be in court until 11:00, I approach one of the baby prosecutors and pitch my case. Okay, I told her the officer wasn't there and asked her to dismiss the case so I could run to the county courthouse. I'll be damned if she didn't do it.

8:30 am

I approach the judge and ask him to pull up my client's case. He does and announces that it is dismissed. I tell my client to sit and wait for the paperwork and I make my way out the door. I don't think I've ever been in and out of the municipal courthouse in 30 minutes before.

9:00 am

I walk into a misdemeanor courtroom on the 11th floor of the Harris County Criminal (In)justice Center and say hello to my client who was accused of possessing marijuana (a Class B misdemeanor). I proceed to fill out the attorney of record form and hand it to the court's clerk.

9:10 am

I talk to one of the prosecutors about reducing my client's charge to Class C possession of drug paraphenalia (the equivalent of a traffic ticket). He tells me I have to talk to the chief who is running late. He also tells me the judge wasn't there and we would have to wait on one of the other judges to take pleas.

9:20 am

The chief prosecutor shows up. I pitch my case for a reduction and he says "okay." I talk to my client who is thrilled and we go into one of the witness rooms to go over the plea papers. It turns out that one of the smartest things my client did was consent to the officer's search request and tell him there was a pipe in the glovebox. The officer never did look anywhere else and may (or may not) have missed some other choice goodies.

10:00 am

Waiting for a judge. Any judge.

10:05 am

I run downstairs to reset a case and return to find... no judge. So I decide to run over to the civil courthouse to file an unopposed motion for continuance in a contract dispute. When I get back, of Glory of Glories, there is a judge sitting on the bench.

10:30 am

I leave the criminal courthouse and hike back to my car for the trip down to Galveston to hammer out a deal on a felony child abandonment case. My client couldn't afford to post a bond and had been sitting in jail for eight weeks.

Last Friday I filed a handwritten request for an examining trial because none of the prosecutors wanted to discuss a preindictment case with me. Yesterday, after setting the case for an examining trial this coming Wednesday, I got a call from a prosecutor who wanted to discuss the case. I talked her down to attempted child abandonment (a misdemeanor) for time served and she agreed. In order to get the case pled out Monday morning I would have to head down to the island today to get my client's okay.

11:45 am

I meet with my client at the Galveston County Jail and she is ecstatic about the offer. She says "yes." I tell her she'll be getting out on Monday.

12:00 pm

Back to the Galveston County Courthouse to talk to the prosecutor and view a preindictment file in a new case. Prosecutor is out to lunch and the receptionist said since I didn't fax my request over in time I could not review the case file today. Whatever.

12:15 pm

Back to the jail to talk to my new client -- should be interesting since I can't look at the file. Client is no help because he just doesn't know why he was arrested. Hmmm.

12:30 pm

Leaving the island and heading to Mickey D's in LaMarque for a quick bite and a glance at the Houston Press.

1:00 pm

In the car and headed north on the Gulf Freeway toward the office. The drive is over an hour thanks to one accident, a closed lane and a stalled 18-wheeler.

2:30 pm

In the kitchen at the office pouring an ice cold glass of sun tea. Life is good.

I wish I could bottle up this past week and keep it handy for one of those weeks when nothing goes right. It's been a good week - it was a good day - and that's not something that happens all the time.