im almost positive lawyers and judges have a deal going on... - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

madness410 · 05-03-2008, 04:46 PM

hey guys
i posted yesterday about my experience in court and some replies said that lawyers and judges have something going under the table...and i was thinking this cant be true, or can it...

today i was recalling the other cases in court and there was a kid there who hit a school bus while it was stopped with kids getting off on accident. the kids mother stepped in and was talking to the judge politely and the judge said: call a lawyer and come back in a week.

im sure this lady is going to have to pay out the

for lawyer fees, when she should know every american citizen who is protected under the constitution has the right to appear before a judge without a lawyer and act in their own defense. i wonder if the municipalities get a percent of the lawyer fees because this lady is going to shell out ALOT.

anybody know if the judge said this for a reason? or does anyone besides me think there is something going on between judges and attorneys...

qwikz28 · 05-03-2008, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madness410

hey guys
i posted yesterday about my experience in court and some replies said that lawyers and judges have something going under the table...and i was thinking this cant be true, or can it...

today i was recalling the other cases in court and there was a kid there who hit a school bus while it was stopped with kids getting off on accident. the kids mother stepped in and was talking to the judge politely and the judge said: call a lawyer and come back in a week.

im sure this lady is going to have to pay out the

for lawyer fees, when she should know every american citizen who is protected under the constitution has the right to appear before a judge without a lawyer and act in their own defense. i wonder if the municipalities get a percent of the lawyer fees because this lady is going to shell out ALOT.

anybody know if the judge said this for a reason? or does anyone besides me think there is something going on between judges and attorneys...

those appointed lawyers generally 1) suck and 2) are generally reserved for those who can't afford it. the judge was really doing that lady a favor, a lawyer will help her understand her rights and will probably plead her case better than she can. its for her own protection, litigation is no joke

chrisfrom nj · 05-03-2008, 08:13 PM

lawyers and the judge are all crooks

procamaroz28 · 05-03-2008, 09:02 PM

thats tru a lawyer would take 400 for what any one can do jus by takin to prosecutor
btw why didnt u file discovery like i first told u? u could of got all dropped

qwikz28 · 05-03-2008, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisfrom nj

lawyers and the judge are all crooks

law school here i come!

79T/A · 05-03-2008, 09:22 PM

Quote:

im sure this lady is going to have to pay out the for lawyer fees, when she should know every american citizen who is protected under the constitution has the right to appear before a judge without a lawyer and act in their own defense.

Everyone does indeed have the RIGHT to defend themselves, but very few really have the ABILITY. You can read all the books on Constitutional law you can find and you still might not be capable of defending yourself. As stated above, the judge was doing the woman a favor by telling her to get her son representation. I've seen lots of folks try to defend themselves in court by pleading not guilty and then going up against the prosecutor and police officer in municipal court and then going down in flames.

As far as the judges and lawyers being in cahoots, well, remember: Judges ARE lawyers. They know each other, they play golf together and all that. But judges are NOT ALLOWED to recommend lawyers. That's not to say that if one of their comrades appears before them they won't be treated a little better than the guy who tries to represent themselves.

It's not always the best system, but it beats what other countries have going on. Best way to appreciate it is not to get caught up in it in the first place.

madness410 · 05-03-2008, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by procamaroz28

thats tru a lawyer would take 400 for what any one can do jus by takin to prosecutor
btw why didnt u file discovery like i first told u? u could of got all dropped

sorry bout that man i got caught up in so many other things

nj96z28 · 05-03-2008, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 79T/A

Everyone does indeed have the RIGHT to defend themselves, but very few really have the ABILITY. You can read all the books on Constitutional law you can find and you still might not be capable of defending yourself. As stated above, the judge was doing the woman a favor by telling her to get her son representation. I've seen lots of folks try to defend themselves in court by pleading not guilty and then going up against the prosecutor and police officer in municipal court and then going down in flames.

As far as the judges and lawyers being in cahoots, well, remember: Judges ARE lawyers. They know each other, they play golf together and all that. But judges are NOT ALLOWED to recommend lawyers. That's not to say that if one of their comrades appears before them they won't be treated a little better than the guy who tries to represent themselves.

It's not always the best system, but it beats what other countries have going on. Best way to appreciate it is not to get caught up in it in the first place.

I can vouch for that my lawyer got me out of a situation where I lost my temper and some things happened with not much more than a slap on the wrist and the seizure of 2 fake display swords......I was looking at doing time and i paid $75 safe neighborhood -took 5 alcholol counseling meetings and walked away

jims69camaro · 05-04-2008, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madness410

sorry bout that man i got caught up in so many other things

i have to ask, what was this all about?

to answer your question, in some courts there is favortitism going on. when the judge seems happy to see one of his friends getting paid to represent someone who normally would have done it themselves and gotten the shaft, well... i've seen and heard of other things happening in courts with cases involving divorce, but that is a highly lucrative field to be in, so there is bound to be some greasing of palms.

another lucrative field is personal injury. i doubt seriously that there isn't some shady dealings there, but that is another story altogether.

in municipal court, there really isn't that much money changing hands - not like in other fields - so wouldn't think there is anything other than comeradery going on. remember, like it was said, judges used to be lawyers - that's how they got the job in the first place. some politician appoints the judges; in most cases it's not a voted-in type of situation. so the judge is already a schmoozer, someone got schmoozed and he got his job. why would it be so out of line for him to know and address like he knows other lawyers? they all used to swim in the same ocean.

i don't think there is any percentage, or kickback, scheme happening between lawyers and judges. i mean, the system is corrupt, but i don't think it goes that far - not at the municipal level, anyway.

79T/A · 05-04-2008, 11:10 AM

Quote:

judges used to be lawyers

Well said as usual, Jim. Everything you said is spot-on. Just one correction: Judges ARE lawyers. Municipal court stipends are a nice bonus and the prestige is cool, but for most, that's not their full-time job. I know a municipal court judge who is in entertainment law (Represents artists) and another who is in real estate (Did the closing on my house). So naturally, they do know each other and treat each other favorably. If they happen to have represented a defendant appearing before them, they must recuse themselves and the case gets heard before another judge, whether in another jurisdiction or while they are on vacation and another judge is sitting in.

More useless lawyer info for y'all.

sweetbmxrider · 05-04-2008, 11:14 AM

dude if you hit a bus.....what can you say in your defense? they usually say get a lawyer in those tougher situations because they don't wanna hear some rando being like i'm sorry can you slap my wrist and ill walk away? a lawyer will be like your honor can we amend this to staute 48:345-21 and bang bang there done.

madness410 · 05-04-2008, 05:30 PM

Quote:

i have to ask, what was this all about?

well i didnt file for a discovery because i was too busy crapping my pants basically over how much i would have to shell out for a lawyer and fines etc. so i was told to file a discovery and completely forgot about it...meanwhile my teachers were practically raping me with projects, assignments, finals, quizes, etc...bad time to get a speeding ticket i guess

jims69camaro · 05-05-2008, 05:39 AM

so you were going to ask what evidence they had against you and you forgot to do it?

where's that gavel? hitting you in the forehead? yeah, thought so. well, if you could have done something and gotten off with a wrist slap and you didn't do it, i gues syou have no one to blame but yourself. hindsight is always 20/20, but looking back it's still a bit fuzzy. remember this, if nothing else, and have your ***** together next time.