A Proud Moment
Recalling one of the proudest moments of my career. I’d been practicing law for about five months. My client, who had been badly “hometowned” in court in Palestine, Texas, in the Piney Woods, had moved from there to Houston with her child. I moved to transfer the case to Houston while there was a motion to enforce pending against her in Palestine, so transfer would have deprived the hometown judge of authority to enforce the decree. The ex-husband’s lawyer hadn’t bothered to respond to my motion to support. The whole of his argument to the court was, “Mr. Bennett is a slick big-city lawyer who uses the rules to his advantage.”
I loved it.
The motion was denied, of course—welcome to the Piney Woods, slick big-city lawyer—but the mandamus was a slam-dunk.
About The Author
The extraordinary writ is a tool too few trial lawyers avail for themselves and their clients. It’s also a lot of fun.