David v. Goliath
The average citizen who had a grievance against the government typically
was using a slingshot against an adversary with far greater financial
resources and armaments. It was not a level playing field.
My name is Allan Henshaw, and I have lived in Eagleton, Colorado, for
twenty years. I was admitted to practice law in Colorado twenty-five
years ago and worked for a large law firm in Denver prior to moving to
the relative serenity of Eagleton. Seven years ago, the governor of
Colorado appointed me to the position of district judge for the
northeastern quadrant of the state. After five years in that position, I
resigned and resumed my previous law practice. I got more pleasure out
of advocating for clients than I did from listening to their issues and
making decisions that would affect their lives.
As a lawyer in a relatively small community such as Eagleton, my
practice encompassed almost every type of law imaginable, from the
simplest drafting of a will to representing clients in criminal cases
and everything in between. Whenever a case was beyond the scope of my
expertise, I referred it to other counsel in one of the larger
metropolitan areas in Colorado. Over the years some of my cases did not
sound like anything a city lawyer would know anything about—boundary
disputes, encroaching fences, diversion of water for crops, and so on.
Most of my practice, however, dealt with business matters, criminal and
personal injury cases, and a smattering of divorce litigation. My tenure
as a district judge significantly helped my subsequent return to my law
practice, as potential clients figured I knew everything about the law.
Nothing could have been further from reality, but it did result in so
many new clients that I had to hire two young lawyers to assist me. The
pace in a small town was more relaxed than in the metropolitan areas,
and the commuting time took very little out of my day.
Tom Newman, a local farmer, had been a client for many years, and I
handled a number of different matters for him, including a personal
injury case when his wife was in a car accident, reviewing the title for
some additional farmland he purchased, and representing his teenage son
when he got arrested for possession of marijuana. Tom was in his
midfifties and slightly built, with a ruddy complexion from spending so
much time outdoors as a farmer. There was usually a toothpick dangling
from his mouth that bounced up and down as he spoke and he always had a
pliers attached to his belt. He was mild mannered and generally seemed
to be truthful, which was more than I could say for many of my clients
over the years.
About two months after another local farmer, George Schmidt, was
injured, Tom came to see me to talk about George. He discussed his
business arrangement with George and told me what he knew about an
accident several months earlier that had severely injured George when
his pickup rolled over on a county road. I had, of course, heard about
the incident but did not pay too much attention to it, as it was not
unusual to hear about people getting injured while driving their cars.
Tom related to me the opinions being floated at the coffee shop about
the cause of George’s injuries and asked me if I would talk to him and
discuss his options with him…if there were any. I agreed, and Tom said
he would have George call me.
I had previously represented several clients who brought lawsuits
against the county for various reasons, and I could only imagine the
comments the county commissioners had made about me. Not every attorney
in a small town would take cases that might cause controversy with the
governing fathers, but that was not a concern of mine. Representing a
client embroiled in litigation against a governmental agency was often a
one-sided affair, as the resources of the government would no doubt
exceed those of the client in most cases.
A few days later, George made an appointment with my assistant to meet
with me. I had not met him before, although his name was familiar to me.
I was somewhat surprised when I first saw him in my waiting room. His
head appeared to be turned to the right instead of looking straight
ahead. He was using a cane and had a pronounced limp. His voice was
muted, and his right eye seemed to be tearing. The expression on his
face was one of despair, and I sensed immediately that he had a long way
to go before recovering from the injuries he had sustained. First
impressions were important to me, and I knew this man had some serious
problems.
“Good morning, George. It’s nice to meet you, and thanks for coming
to see me.”
George’s response was not immediate, as though he had to think about
it. Tom had told me he had also suffered a concussion when his pickup
rolled over. “Thank you, Judge. Tom told me what a good lawyer you
are, although I’m not sure I need one.”
“Please dispense with the judge title. I prefer to be called Allan. My
judgeship is a thing of the past, and I prefer not to dwell on it.”
“OK, that’s great. I’m just a homegrown farm boy and we don’t do
formalities much on the farm. Tom told me he explained my situation to
you. You probably heard plenty about it in town. The newspapers and TV
stations all covered it. It’s somewhat embarrassing to have your life
put out in the open like that. I prefer the quiet and simple life where
nobody bothers me and I don’t have to deal too much with people.”
“Small towns tend to look for newsworthy events other than loose dogs
and DUIs. Your case was publicized rather heavily because you have lived
here your whole life and people respect you for who you are. No doubt
the police scanner was full of information about the accident when it
happened, and you know where it goes from there. Now what can I do for
you?”
“Tom and some of the guys at the Coffee House seem to think that I may
be able to get back some of my medical costs and some other money from
someone, but I really don’t see how anyone else is at fault for my
injuries. I don’t remember anything about the accident. I only know
what I have read in the newspaper and what the sheriff told me. I do
remember driving south on County Road Sixty-Four before the accident,
but the next thing I remember is asking a nurse where I was. She told me
I was in the hospital in Greenway. Darned if I know how all of this
could have happened without me knowing anything about it.”
I hesitated for a moment, trying to visualize in my mind what could have
happened and then projecting how a case like this would proceed when
George didn’t have the slightest idea what had happened. “George,
from what I have read and heard, there was some significant road damage
close to where your pickup went off the road and rolled over. The first
thought that comes to my mind is whether you were paying attention to
the road or whether your attention was diverted elsewhere.”
“As I said, I don’t remember what happened, so I can’t tell you
what I was doing.”
My mind immediately went into cynical mode, which came from years of
dealing with clients, some of whom either didn’t tell me the truth or
shaded everything to make it look as if the other guy was always at
fault. Was he telling me the truth, or was he covering up the facts
because he knew he was not paying attention at the time of the accident?
“Well, there is another possibility to be considered. I haven’t seen
the condition of the road, but if it was in poor condition and the
county knew about it, they had the responsibility to repair it. Further,
if the repairs could not be done quickly, they should have put a warning
sign along the road so drivers could take extra caution when approaching
the damaged road.”
“I don’t remember seeing any signs along the road, but I hadn’t
been on that road for over a year, and I really can’t tell you what
signs I saw before my pickup crashed.”
“George, it’s hard for me to give you any advice at this time
because I don’t know all the facts. If it’s all right with you, let
me do some investigation into what happened, and then we can talk again
after I have a better handle on the facts. I won’t charge you any fee
for my initial investigation, and I hope to be able to meet with you
again in a few weeks to let you know what I found out. Does that sound
agreeable to you?”
“Sure. I’ve always heard that lawyers cost a lot. It’s kindly of
you to look into this without charging me first.”
“OK. Let’s leave it at that, and I will call you when I’m ready to
meet with you again. Take care of yourself, and make sure you follow up
with your doctors as necessary. If you have any questions or concerns
before I get back to you, just give me a call.”
Continues...
Excerpted from "Unexpected: A Tale of Deception" by Peter Alpert. Copyright © 2016 by Peter Alpert. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.