Cabot and Associates, Wednesday

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

Today, Alex was tapping out notes on her laptop to ready herself for tonight's class. She still wasn't sure how to fit ten amendments into seven weeks, but then, some could be compressed together more easily than others.

The Law Office of Cabot and Associates was open.

(obviously, this goes chronologically way before class, it's just been posted way after because I spaced, that is why)

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[bitten_notshy]

Shortly before lunchtime, Alex's phone rang. Jack had all but decided to spend the summer in Fandom -- the remaining question was employment. It wasn't a matter of financially needing a job, so much as of how bored and lost he'd be without one.

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Alex quickly tapped out a few words so she wouldn't lose her train of thought before pushing the laptop away and picking up the phone.

"Cabot and Associates, Alex speaking."

Okay, she liked to answer her phone all importantly. So?

[bitten_notshy]

"Ms. Cabot," Jack said, utterly unsurprised by the way she answered the phone. Why would she be unprofessional? "This is Jack Priest. I was calling to see how things are in the office these days."

It sounded better than 'please give me a job.'

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"Jack," Alex said, her voice warming. "It's going well, actually. I've picked up a new intern, and I might be pulling in a major project from my old boss."

More research, but Alex happened to like legal research.

"How have you been?"

[bitten_notshy]

Major project sounded promising.

"Also good," Jack said. "My classes went well, I'm done with all but my final papers, and I'm thinking about spending the summer on the island before everyone I know is graduated and gone. Besides, I seem to be out there every few weeks anyhow."

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"We'd be happy to have you," Alex said, generously. "If you don't mind the Viking fishing village. Did you hear that the island's gone on vacation again?"

Some day, this would all stop being weird. That thought scared her.

[bitten_notshy]

"In the land of the Vikings," Jack added. "Emma mentioned. And it sounds like this one is sticking for a bit."

He added, "And I'd be happy to help. What's the project about?"

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"I don't even want to know," Alex said, sighing a bit. The entire island could time-travel. To the land of Vikings. This could not possibly be her life.

She shook her head, turning her attention to the project, as she understood it.

"My successor is taking on a judge," she explained. "He's apparently got a pretty clear history of bias, mostly class-related. But it's damn near impossible to prove judicial misconduct in something this subjective. So we're poring through his old case records -- all the rulings he ever made from the bench -- and looking for outliers. We're also looking for equivalent cases from other judges, to establish a baseline, and we're digging in to the case law to see how much of an uphill battle we have to climb."

If Casey Novak really thought she could knock a sitting judge off the bench, she had to be incredibly passionate, slightly insane, or both. Alex had to admit, she approved.

[bitten_notshy]

"Legal research," Jack said, sounding more than a bit thrilled by the idea. "It'll be a lot to dig through, but you know I never mind hard work. I'd be honored to help -- especially if we find he is letting the rich off the hook."

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

"It's going to be long, and dreary," she agreed, cheerfully. It was. It was also fun, if you were insane enough to enjoy legal research. "And, not to prejudice your results, but from what little I've seen? I think ADA Novak's right. It's not exactly the rich, although money is a part of it. But a middle-class, suburban soccer mom is never guilty of child abuse, no matter what evidence is against her, while a broke single mom beats her kid until proven otherwise."

[bitten_notshy]

"Charming," Jack said dryly. "If we're wrong, it would be good to clear his name. If we're right, he shouldn't be on the bench -- at least not without some kind of therapy or oversight to correct his prejudices. Would next week be an all right time for me to start?"

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"At the very least," Alex conceded, "if he knows we're coming after him on this, he might watch his step more carefully in the future. And any egregious cases, we can look into getting overturned."

Convictions, at least. For acquittals, they didn't have much recourse.

"Next week sounds perfect," she said. "Any particular day that works best for you? I'd appreciate your insight on this."

[bitten_notshy]

"I don't have other commitments," Jack said. "How about Thursday? That would give me time to move and get my things settled, and I could stop by the office to get the lay of the land before my first day."

[glasses-justice.livejournal.com]

"Sounds perfect," she beamed. "You can even stop in at my class Wednesday night, if you're interested. They have adult learning at the community center now."

She was entirely too happy about that fact.

[bitten_notshy]

"I'm glad they found a use for that place," Jack mused. "I'll try to stop in. What are you teaching?"

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"Civics," Alex said brightly. "Which is an excuse for me to talk about the Bill of Rights, and what rights citizens are guaranteed in this country."