I had a hearing in a different county on Friday. Their procedures are a little different from the county I normally practice in. I had to call in on Thursday to find out what court room and judge it was in front of. To my delight, or maybe dread and terror, I find that my hearing is in front of a pro tem judge. A pro tem judge who was a judge for a long time and then retired. Retired from the F'ing Supreme Court of Oregon. Not actually a judge but a Justice. Shit.

This wasn't any plain old justice either. This happened to be the one who wrote four or five of the major opinions on the area of law that was being argued that day. You could see the stress pulse in my veins as they throbbed on my fore head. Shit.

So, instead of sleeping that night I read, and reread and then read them ten more times for good measure, every opinion he wrote on the subject. I was so prepared for court that I could recite his opinions verbatim. I could probably belch the distinctions between Roshto and Cottingim. Maybe I was a little over prepared, over anxious, and over stressed. Shit.

And what happened? The mutha fucking opposing party fired their lawyer and no showed. I got a freaking default. Christ. Double Christ. Shit.

I guess at least I won and now I know the case law. I guess the Justice got to watch me sit and sweat like a mule in heat for half an hour while I tried to figure out what the hell was going and was super impressed and will recommend business my way. Whatever. Shit.