Oh That Had To Hurt!

My phone rang. The Court wondered where my boss was. I told them he had another hearing in another court and possibly running late, but I'll go see if he has the file for the hearing they were calling about. If the hearing wasn't on his calendar then I would prep the file myself and be up there in a few minutes. My boss has a problem getting hearings on his calendar, especially with this court. I knew the judge wasn't going to like this.

I found the folder in our file room. That's not a good sign. I prepped it in a few minutes and ran upstairs. While the judge wasn't happy to see me, the judge wasn't angry towards me. I consider that a win. For a complete lack of familiarity with the file and the parties I thought the hearing was going okay. There was one issue that came up and I explained to the judge what my theory was based on the facts presented. Someone, somewhere much further up the chain of command changed a procedure and it was causing lots of problems. While the new procedure seemed like a good idea, the way it was being implemented was causing lots of problems. Again the judge wasn't happy, but the judge's anger wasn't directed at me.

One party brought up a second issue. I was trying to explain that shouldn't be an issue, but I would be more than happy to double check a few things before the next hearing. At that point my boss showed up.

That was his first mistake. He tried to help the situation. That was his second mistake. The phrase involving too many cooks in the kitchen came to mind. We weren't even talking about an issue at that point, but some other side issue that I thought should have been dealt with between the parties after the hearing. The judge was waiting for everyone to resolve their issues before proceeding. At that point I asked if I should stay or go. Smart question on my part. I left to handle another one of my boss's hearings with the file he brought.

Granted, what should have been a simple hearing proved to be problematic. At least I wasn't with my boss and the judge anymore. I figure the judge eviscerated my boss in under 5 seconds after I left.