What a day it was at the Stanley Mosk the other day. My good friend Peter Lauzon from the offices of Phillips, Lerner, Lauzon and Amazing Grace was in court with one of his many celebrity clients and was ready for battle.
A few feet down the hall was Cary Goldstein in all of his glory, nice gray suit and getting ready to take on “Pancake Boy” (this is a private joke amongst friends).
After doing what I had to do in the course of my making a living, I met with another power house divorce attorney, Lisa Helfend Meyer…do you know someone made a comment recently that Ms. Meyer is often featured in our website…and then?
I spent some time in the courtroom of Trent Lewis, he was a little dry this morning, well it is Monday and folks how do they do it? “They” being the judges who have to hear this day in and day out, the lies, the deceit, is it not just disgusting how we treat people we once loved and cared about? Not a question in my mind this is not easy even for those who often sit in judgment of those dancing around the ring of fire, DIVORCE.
One of the most interesting moments was in the courtroom of Judge Donna Fields Goldstein. I like to sit over by Fernando, the clerk, as there is a desk I can lean on in the event I fall asleep. I was not going to fall asleep today, that was for sure. Judge Goldstein was tearing into a former husband who had violated a restraining order by hiring a P.I. to follow and photograph his ex. Well, that was in complete violation of the judge’s restraining order! Yes, hubby hires a P.I for three hours and in those three hours catches Mommsy stopping for a 32 ozzzzer and sitting in her car taking a nice big sip….all caught on film. This was great, I have spent 3 weeks and I have friends who have spent months trying to get a money shot like that and never get close. 3 hours Mr. P.I. gets his shot…the judge explains in detail that this is a violation of her orders…and states, I don’t know what to do about you, as the hubster squirmed in his seat…he sells real estate and I have to tell you, after listening to him I wanted to go and get an adult beverage. Well, in the end the judge does realize that Mommsy has a drinking issue and orders her to AA…we will see. I predict that with the help of AA and not having the house salesman around she will make a full recovery.
Next up was a guy who was at his wit’s end, Judge Goldstein was making her orders for support for his former wife. OMG this guy was first moving his foot and then faster, wiping his brow and becoming more and more animated. His former wife is collecting unemployment and as long as she is on unemployment he has to pay her $700+, and if she is not he has to pay her $1500, well he makes around $5300 a month and does not look to me to be living the high life. He begins to tremble and breaks into a tearful rampage, grabs his papers and storms out of the court room screaming “how am I ever going to do this?” and other vocal outbursts, the man is devastated and in his mind ruined…it was one of the saddest periods I had seen in any courtroom in years, it was powerful to see what love can do. His former wife’s attorney not to miss a beat to kick the guy right in the nuts perks up and asks for “fees”…have any of these people ever read the teachings of the Dalai Lama?
Note: Judge Goldsteins bailiff was on this guy from the very beginning, this young deputy sheriff read this guy and was watching and standing very close as he was preparing to erupt…this is one smart deputy and I have to believe that Judge Goldsteins safety is in good hands with this deputy sheriff…will get his name later for an update.