MILKSOP Chapter 44

The Problem
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The ever changing business model caused Archie to spend more time in keeping up with the competition than working at law.

He was in the foyer one day reading some mail that had arrived when a slightly disheveled man approached and said, “Are you Archie?”

Archie answered and said, “Yes, how can I help you?”

The man said, “My name is Judge Mason, and I live deep in the hill country. I'm not a papered Judge, but people come to me when they have a dispute and I try to settle it with out someone getting cut up.  

 

We folks up there seldom get to town, for we live mostly live off'en the land.

The drug and alcohol people are giving us this problem and, it is partly a misunderstanding on their part.  I want you to help us straighten it out.”

Archie said, “I will be glad to help you if I can, but first you must give me all the details that led up to the problem.”

The Judge said, “This started back almost two hundred years ago.  We hill folks were the first to settle here in this part of Texas and it was and still is today our habit to make what you might call a festive drink.

As it turned out, people started calling it boot leg whiskey.  Then the government declared it illegal making everybody in the hill country a criminal because about everybody out there brews it.

There is a market for boot leg and there are some who make it to sell instead of just for personal consumption, and this brings me to the problem I have.

Several of the bootleggers got together and hired a truck to bring their squeezing to town, and as it turned out the man who owned the truck helped his-self to some of the product.

The problem is one or more of the bootleggers had unknowingly run some poisoned boot and the truck driver was unlucky enough to drink some of the poison whiskey.

Before he went to the hospital he sent word for his nephew, Junior to come and get the truck where he had left it.  

 

Junior was to first come to the hospital and get his keys and take the truck back home and make the bootleggers unload their whiskey and dump it or whatever they wanted.

Since the only phone was at the general store it was a day later before Junior got the message and another day for him to get there.  His uncle was still in a coma when Junior got to the hospital and so he just took the keys and left.”

Archie had been listening attentively but stopped him and asked if Junior knew what was in the truck.

Judge Mason said, “I think he did have an idea because his uncle told him to take it back to the bootleggers.  

 

Meanwhile the Feds had staked the truck out and was waiting for someone to come and pick it up.  When Junior arrived to take the truck he was arrested and taken to jail.”

By this time Archie had a pretty good idea what was going on and what he had to do.

He told the Judge that something like this would cost quite a bit to defend.

Judge Mason said, “I was hoping you would take this for nothing, Pro bono like.”

Several thoughts went through Archie's head all at once.  He concluded he would need help from one of his criminal defense lawyers, and he didn't know how the other partners would respond to no fee case.

He told Judge Mason to come back in the afternoon and he would give him his answer.

Archie talked this all over as he knew it with his partners.  

 

One of the defense lawyers spoke up and said, “I will talk to the Judge when he comes back, and if it is just like he said it was - - I will help you. 

 

As far as the fee we can waive that in this particular case as long as they know we won't do this for everybody.”  

 

Archie said, “Good, he will be here before long.”

To be Continued  

MILKSOP Chapter 43

Justice is Blindfolded
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Because of the type of law his new partners had practiced in the past, Archie found himself with a criminal defense department.

He himself had never participated in the defense of an accused so this was a new experience for him.

He had a lot of questions for his partners about the procedure in preparation for the trial, and he was told it starts long before they ever get into court.

The main defense attorney said, “It isn't about guilt or innocence but what you can get the jury to believe.  

There are a thousand ways to approach this depending on the severity of the crime.  

One of the main weapons is to deflect the guilt onto someone or something else but the main thing is to adjudicate the matter in favor of your client.

To you the client is always innocent regardless of the evidence against him, and there are always extenuating circumstances.  

It is up to the attorney to discover what they are and present them to the jury.  

 

It doesn't matter if it is true or not for what we are dealing with is law not justice.  The law allows you to go to the edge of perjury but not beyond it.

Another issue is how to handle the objections of the prosecuting attorney. Always be ready to answer any and all objections.

There is something distasteful about defending people who are guilty, but in order for the system of law to work there must be someone on the side of the accused and besides, there is a lot of money to be made by doing that.  

The better you are in defending these perpetrators of evil, the more you make.”

Archie satisfied himself by not being directly involved in that phase of their services. 

 

He thought, “What a contradiction to believe in living righteously and putting your moral values aside to try to lessen the responsibility for doing wrong, even murder I suppose.”

He thought, “The Defense attorney must believe that it is all for the greater good and ultimately someone must do this.”

Archie was actually practicing very little law, because he was tied up in meetings with the city fathers and business people trying to establish his firm as one of the major players in the Huston area.

This was proving to be a difficult task. Some of the firms had been there for a hundred years and the main people had been involved with each other since grade school through college.

So far most of there Mergers and Acquisition deals had been small; stuff that the major firms didn't want to fool with.  

It was common practice for the larger deals to be deferred to New York or Chicago and for the locals to be a minor player.

 
After racking his brain for a few months without too much success he asked Marcy what she thought about this problem.

Marcy had worked in the New York office for several years and had seen how they worked there and had observed their success.

She didn't answer right away, and he thought maybe she wasn't paying attention to him and was thinking about some real estate deal she was working on.  

After a while she said, “You can't take them on head on. You have to be a little more subtle than that.  

First thing I would advise is to hire someone who knows his way around in the business world of Huston, and have him keep his ear to the ground and find out when anyone is entertaining the idea of merging with another company.  

Perhaps someone who is alienated from the major players here.  You need someone who has a grudge against them, and would like to get even with them in some small measure.

Then you must approach the prospects and ask them if they would consider using a firm with New York experience to handle the deal for them.  Then give them a list of successful deals you have worked on."

As they talked on into the late hours he began to see what he had been doing wrong, and developed a new plan going forward.   

To be Continued

 

MILKSOP Chapter 42

Marcy's New Apartment Building
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Things were moving along very well with Archie and the new venture.

It was up to him to do most of the work finalizing the deal with his old firm, and renting half of the building out, because his new partners were busy with cases they were working on.

Actually it made things a lot easier not having to consult the partners about every little thing.  This way he only had to tell them what he had done.

He hired several of the secretaries that had worked for the old firm.  Some had already found new jobs and Marcy wanted one of her favorites to work for her.  

As it turned out Marcy took one of the offices in the new building for her real-estate office.  She had earned her real estate license and her office was open for business.

Her apartment house had thirty units but ten were vacant.  She inspected each one and after her tour, she decided to up grade the ten.

Finding some contractors who would work with her, and expedite the remodels speedily was a bonus.  It was necessary to get them rented quickly and at a higher rate of rent.

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As they were finishing the upgrades, some of the tenants already renting there wanted to move into the newly finished units.  After some hesitation she let them have them at the new higher rent which they gladly paid.

But now she still had ten empty units, but decided to renew those units also.

 

The same thing happened again; the remaining tenants wanted to move in to the newly finished units so she agreed to let them, once again at the higher rent.

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While this wasn't something she had figured on, but she redid the last ten units, and put a nice fence around the building with an electric gate.

After renting the last ten apartments she received some offers to buy her building at more than twice what she had paid for it, but she decided to keep it for an income.

          

Even with the cost of all the upgrades her apartments had a positive cash flow.  Marcy had no desire to show and sell real estate, so she hired three agents to work for her and bring in some money to pay the local expense.

Most of her time was spent looking for distressed properties that she could fix up to sell and make a profit.

Beautiful Secretary
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When Archie was setting up his office, Marcy said she would pick out his secretary, 

He was surprised at her choice.  He figured she would pick out some homely reticent older woman.  

The girl she chose was very pretty and a sharp dresser who knew how to attract a man.

He sheepishly asked her about her choice and she said, “This girl is beautiful and can do the work.  

 

When someone comes in to your office they will immediately be stimulated, and that is the first step to doing business.

I've talked to her at length and she knows how to handle herself without turning the prospective client away.  In fact every time they have an appointment they will look forward to seeing her again.

Even though they can't have her... it is like window shopping, you enjoy looking at what you can't have.”

Archie said, “If I remember the last time my wife picked out a secretary for me, I ended up marrying her.” 

Marcy said, “Yes that is true but you were married to a girl, and now you are married to a woman, so don't worry.”

Archie thought, “Wow, she has that right.  She is sure some woman.”

He sat there grinning like someone who had just got the pick of the litter and smiled as he thought, “I must not be too bad after all for she chose me out of those she could have had.”

To be Continued
 

MILKSOP Chapter 41

Buying and Selling
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Archie was much encouraged by the response of the attorneys he had selected.  They first wanted to proceed at least as far as possible with no cost except in time.

With everything in place Archie had another meeting with those who had signed on and he said, “Now it is time to spend some money. We need an office building that will serve our purpose for years to come.  It will have to be big enough for all our expansion in the future.”

Archie received a phone call from his former boss, Lester and he said they were closing their office here in Huston and the building would be up for sale.”

Archie told Lester, “In this market it will be hard to find a buyer and there is the apartment building.”  Lester asked, “What do you think it would be worth in today's market?”

Archie said, “About sixty percent of what you paid for it.  I can't see anyone setting up a law firm in a building that is large so it would have to be renovated to meet some other need and that will be expensive.”

Archie said, “I live here now and    I will take it off your hands along with the apartment building.  You are not set up to be in the rental business and the building is half empty.  When the former employees move out it will be almost empty then you will have to renovate the apartments before they can be rented again.”

Contract
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Lester said, “Send me your offer and I will look it over.  The board has dropped this whole mess in my lap and I'm tired of it.” 

 

He continued, “There are still one or two that blame you for what happened, but the rest of them know it was because we tried to micromanage the work there that caused the problem.  

The one thing they agree on was the problem started by sending all those jerk attorneys down there to work.”

“You were completely undermined and it was bound to fail. We lost a lot of money but we will make it up on the next deal and so it is no biggie.”  

Archie said, “Then at sixty percent we have a deal, right?”

Lester replied, “Right.”

The next day Archie and the group of attorneys went down to inspect the building and they were awed by what they were getting for the price.  It was completely furnished, and ready to have the power back on.

One of the attorneys spoke up, “My only objection is that it is four times as big as we need.”  Archie corrected him by saying, “As big as we need now, but not in the future.”

Archie said, “I will take the apartment building, so all you will be involved in will be the office building.”  

It took all the money the group had and all they could borrow to put the deal together, but it was finally theirs.

They separated the building in half.  Half for their immediate needs and the other half they rented space to two real estate companies and several individual attorneys.  

 

By the time they finished the whole half was rented and it more than covered their expenses.

All the while this was going on in the background Marcy had been eyeing the apartment building and had already decided that was going to be her project. 

 

She had her own money she had saved from years working in the past so once she found out the particulars on the deal she told Archie of her plans.

At first he had some reservations but was too busy putting the deal together with his new partners to worry about the apartment.

He told her the deal was hers but she would have to get what financing she needed on her own. She said, “Fine, that's the way I want for I'm going to be a real estate Mogul.

 
Archie laughed at that and said I think you will become just that.  

To be Continued

WHITE ELEPHANT repost

This Musing post is extra so that it might be entered at my wife's blog party "Tell Me a Story"  My continued fictional story will follow soon!  Hope YOU are following by e-mail !!

White Elephant
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When I was a kid I remember reading the story about a practice where if you wanted to destroy an enemy you would give him a white elephant.

 

The reasoning was, he wouldn’t be allowed by law to get rid of it, and the cost of keeping it would turn him into a pauper and an outcast.

 
The term “White Elephant” derives from the sacred white elephants kept by Southeast Asian monarchs in Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. To possess a white elephant was regarded (and is still regarded in Thailand and Burma) as a sign that the monarch reigned with justice and power, and that the kingdom was blessed with peace and prosperity.

A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly the cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth. (Wikipedia)

I have had several free dogs (puppies) given to me and the first thing I faced was the one hundred dollar puppy package.  Included were shots, worming pills, checkups and checking its weight. 

As time went on the normal care and maintenance, plus food rounded out to be about two thousand dollars. Surgery and snake bites treatments were on top of that.

The reason these free pups were not in the white elephant category was I had elected to take them.

Today in America we are on the receiving end of the white elephant treatment.  In the last several years we have received white elephants such as:  the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

The trillion bailout of financial institutions, free money for automobiles, and homes, millions, to the Palestinian Muslims, a government health care program, a finance reform bill to be paid for by working men and women.  

Looming on the future is a back breaker cap and trade bill, and a lack of an energy program and so on.

The main point to remember is the white elephant is designed to look good and to destroy the recipient of it.

I will soon will be singing “Busted.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrOOihyxPlo&feature=related

This post is shared at: Tell Me a Story

http://letmetelluastory.blogspot.com/     

Also shared with Michelle’s Hear it on Sunday

 

MILKSOP Chapter 40





Giving Up
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Archie was somewhat distressed by what he had been told by the attorneys.  

He reprimanded, but he feared that what they were saying was true; that he couldn't fire them or make them quit bothering the girls in the office.

Then one day Marcy came into his office and told him about one of the attorneys propositioning her right at her desk; and she was beside herself.

Archie asked Marcy a couple of questions, and then barged into the attorney's office and said,

“So you want a date with my wife, Marcy hey?  Well you have a date with me in five minutes in the parking lot. You and I are going to settle this right now.”

The attorneys turned white for he had never seen Archie angry before.  He had always been accommodating and mild mannered.

Archie said, “I'm going out to the lot now so come on out and let's get it on.”

Archie waited for fifteen minutes and the guy was a no show so he went back in and asked where he was.  

One of the girls said. “He slipped out the back way and took a taxi and left.”

Archie was upset and mad the rest of the day but Marcy was very happy for some reason.

The attorney didn't return the rest of the week, and then Archie received a phone call from Lester, one of the partners, he asked, “What is going on?”

Archie asked, “What makes you ask?”  

 

Lester said, “The attorney showed up in New York and told a wild story about you, and the way things were being run.”  Lester said, “I won't go into details but it sounded pretty wild and the board is thinking of replacing you.”



Archie said, “They won't need to do that, for as we speak I'm writing out my letter of resignation with two weeks notice.”  

 

He went on to say, “I am laying off all of the female staff as of today and giving them three months severance pay.  They should be able to find new employment by then.  

One more thing, I'm giving them six months free rent in the apartments where they live.

Then there is the big bonus I'm giving myself. It is a very big bonus for I deserve it and I have the power to do that and there isn't anything anyone can do about it.”

Archie went over everything that he had trouble with and said, “What these guys you hired want is a brothel not a law office, and they can vote on that at the next board meeting.”

Lester said, “I'm sorrow it didn't work out, I tried to get the partners to do things different but the vote was always ten to one against me.”

For the next two weeks Archie only spent a couple of hours a day at the office, as he was moving his stuff to his garage.  Marcy had cleaned out her desk and was through with her job.

On Archie's last day, Lester showed up and took the keys from Archie and that was the end of his responsibilities.   

That night, Archie, Marcy and Lester went to dinner and enjoyed a good evening without talking about the failed business.

The next day Archie began to put in place a plan he had been working on every since he could see that it was just a matter of time before he would no longer be associated with the Huston office.

He went over everything with Marcy to get her opinion about the new operation he would be setting up, and she was all for it.

After rehearsing it over several times he thought it was refined enough for a presentation to a small group of attorneys he had become acquainted with.

He set up a meeting with them and went over all of the details.

They were shocked at how complex his vision was but were intrigued by it at the same time.

Archie had laid out before them a six month program that would lead to establishing the largest lawyer group in Huston.      

To be Continued     

 

MILKSOP Chapter 39



Back from the Honeymoon
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When Archie and Marcy came to work after the honeymoon there were a lot of smirks and knowing looks.

For Marcy there were suggestive questions and giggles which she enjoyed as much as the staff girls did.  

 

Finally she told them that they had their fun, and now it was time to get serious about getting ready to move.

Archie had to clear his case load and pack up certain files to take with him. Then there was his library, and many volumes the firm wanted him to have for references.

A New Office

In two weeks the whole staff was going to Huston to secure living quarters, and as it turned out the firm purchased a ten unit apartment building that was more than adequate for everyone; except for Archie and Marcy.

They found a house that would do for now.  It was large enough for entertaining and private enough for newlyweds.  After getting everyone set in their new digs they had two days to discover Huston.

While it was plenty big, the atmosphere was different from New York which everyone found to be nice.

 

At the end of the week everyone returned to New York except Archie and one of his aides.

Archie had several meetings with the local officials and completed the signing off on their new office building the firm had purchased. 

His aide supervised the setting up of the office with furniture, phones and most importantly the office recreation room.  Archie wanted it to be a place where everyone could relax for a while during the day before having to go back to the grind.  

It had a small kitchen, a game area and a place to lie down in the first aid room.  As it turned out it was far better than what was in the New York office, and he hoped he didn't get too much flak about it.

On Archie's last formal day in New York, he was summoned to the main conference room to meet with some of the partners.  

 

They told him that they had selected a group of ten lawyers to be the first of many they hoped to hire.

This is NOT What They Said !!
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Archie was surprised at this shift in plans, for he had expected to be the one who picked the new firm's staff.  

This changed his position and authority, because now these men would look to the New York firm for their standing instead of to Archie.

It greatly undermined his position at the office.  This was supposed to be a stand alone company separate form the parent company but now it turned out to be an office down the street kind of thing.

Archie expected to be able to check out all of those he would work with and now the partners assured him they had already vetted the new hirees.



What he thought was going to be a firm under his control was instead going to be an office where each attorney would be directed from New York. 

 

Apparently he was supposed to just watch over the operation and report back to New York as to how their plan was working.

He further was to provide each attorney with everything they needed in the way of under staff, the secretaries and clerks.

It came down to the fact that he was little more than a manager who was there to supply them with whatever it took for them to be a success, and if things went wrong to accept the blame for it.

This wasn't what Archie had in mind when he accepted the offer.

As things stood he had no idea what the attorneys were doing unless they decided to tell him.  After about three weeks a problem arose that Archie felt he had to deal with.

Trouble in the Office
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Marcy had repeatedly told Archie that some of the attorneys were constantly hitting on the girls in the office.  They were threatening to fire them if they didn't give in to their demands.  

 

A couple of the girls had already quit and others were going to leave if this didn't stop.

Archie had figured out that some of the attorneys were womanizers and spoke to them about it, threatening to fire them if they didn't stop it.  

 

They laughed at him and said; you can't fire anyone for you didn't hire us.

They went on to say if you don't straighten up we will fire you!   

To be Continued