ambivalent comment

Thank you for this post. I don't even have a job yet, but after interning and doing clinic cases I have seen the same tension between what you know you *could* do vs. what experienced attorneys tell you you *should* (or should not) do. What springs to mind for me is the one contempt hearing I had. Going into it, my supervisor said, “nobody ever wins these; the judge always finds probable cause.” He didn't in any way suggest I shouldn't make the best argument I could make, but he “knew” we would lose. Lo and behold, the judge did *not* find probable cause. So yeah, most of our arguments are losers, but what about that one time that they work? I understand asking to stay a bench warrant might be different, but you know, this is one of those things that is so infrequently done that I didn't even know you *could* do it until I read this post. I will almost certainly try it the next time a client fails to appear!