Аннотация: The Devil"s Advocate. Autobiographical drawing.
The Devil's Advocate. Autobiographical drawing.
It was a long time ago. I subscribed to all legal (juridical) magazines and newspapers - and there were a lot of them then.
Plus newspapers of different levels, where legal acts of different bodies were published.
Plus other periodicals.
The postman woman (she was about fifty years old) - she was looking at me with a kind of sadness. All these magazines and newspapers could not fit in my mailbox.
Gradually, my head was filled with legal information, and people began to appear in my life, the expressions of whose eyes I now cannot remember.
I orginized a small office. There were several employees.
Among the employees was a girl - a graduate of a commercial law school with the conditional name Adele.
Adele graduated from secondary school around the time the Soviet Union collapsed and when the big privatization began - and the big privatization spawned many lawsuits.
In wide circles of the population, an opinion arose about the prestige and profitability of the specialty of a lawyer.
Adele entered a commercial law school. Studying was expensive. Adele lived with her mother and numerous dogs in a two-room apartment.
To pay for her daughter's studies at a commercial law school, Adele's mother sold a two-room apartment and bought a one-room apartment. The difference went (was spent) to getting a legal education.
Apparently, with the hope of a large income from the legal profession, Adele with her mother and dogs lived in a one-room apartment.
In general, Adele's big dignity was her "knowledgeable" and "solid", kind expression on her face and fairly frequent mentions of the dogs living in her apartment.
This somehow brightened up the legal (juridical) everyday life in the office.
Adele ended up in my office by coincidence. After graduation, she tried to join the ranks of lawyers (advocates) (members of a special organization of advocates), but could not pass the exam.
This, of course, did not belittle her. For example, I did not understand why I should take an exam to those people whom I confront in open and adversarial proceedings, and even wrote a letter on this topic to a law journal, which published my message in the "letters" section.
But the lack of experience and knowledge affected. Adele couldn't get a job anywhere. Somehow (the details now forgotten because of distance of the deep past) she ended up in my office.
Here I listened to stories about her dogs and looked at her "knowledgeable", "solid", kind face.
She, of course, received her wages regularly.
Once a person, relying on my recommendation, issued a power of attorney for Adele. Adele went with a power of attorney to the court, where she asked for the materials of the case for looking (inspection).
First she was given one answer, then another answer. Week after week passed, but Adele did not achieve possibility to see the court case.
As a result, she settled herself at the computer and pounded on the keys with the serious face of a kind person.
Why did she continue to work in my office? Probably, the dogs that lived in her apartment, as well as the story of the sale of an apartment to pay for her studies, aroused a some sympathy of other people.
The team in the office was small, but we were getting together to celebrate some dates.
For example, we celebrated birthdays.
For my birthday, Adele gave me a videotape with the film "The Devil's Advocate". Since I hardly watched the video films, I was indifferent to the gift.
Who did she mean?
She herself was unable to become a lawyer (advocate).
I made no attempt to join the ranks of lawyers (advocates) for reasons of principle.
Of course, lawyers (advocates) visited sometimes my office.
Those were the days when lawyers (advocates) mostly worked individually. Having an office was somewhat of a novelty.
One of the relatively well-known lawyers (advocates) found an excuse, ran into my office for a few minutes, sniffed the air, examined everything carefully and ran away.
After a while, the news spread that he had organized his own office.
Some time later, we met in the trial as representatives of the opposing disputing parties.
By this time, my procedural opponent had acquired an office, a young assistantess of dazzling beauty, and he came with her to the court to participate in the hearing. To shine in front of this assistantess and to plunge me into legal (juridical) dust.
At the beginning of the court session, I discovered that his power of attorney did not contain the date of issue. He was denied the right to participate in the court session as a representative, so that all his plans fell apart.
Much later, when I bought several garden plots (with the hope of their subsequent resale at a profit), after some time I found on the board of the partnership a man with the name of this lawyer (advocate) - most likely it was not he personally, but it was his close relative.
Requirements for the payment of membership fees soon began ...
The owners of some plots have died, others have disappeared somewhere, still others have no incomes, and forth have the only housing ...
It seems that the whole huge legal operation, which - according a logic - embraced many hundreds of people, ended up (completed) with my voluntary payment - although I purposefully did not appear in the partnership and did not use any of its services.
Of course I don't have such a big opinion of myself as to consider that the changes in the legislation on gardening associations and its application are carried out for the sake of one person ...
In general, if there is no success in open and adversarial litigation, then you can look for other options for attacks.
In general, in a strange way, those few partnerships where I had bought land plots for resale - they in a strange way attract people with surnames - with surnames that became known to me in the course of my legal efforts as a practicing lawyer.
Let's go back to Adele.
She continued to work at the computer. But at some point the office stopped working.
Naturally, Adele received the necessary money (salary). She had to look for an area of application for her efforts and her knowledge.
A year or two after the completion of the cooperation, I was walking along the street located next to the Main Market of Rostov. A spontaneous flea market was formed here at that time.
It was summer. The temperature was about thirty degrees Celsius.
Nearby one of the flea market stalls, Adele (wearing sunglasses) was lying in a reclining chair, her face was directed to the sky, as if she was on the beach of an island in the Caribbean Sea, .
I decided not to bother her in such a blissful state.
I seem to have tried to watch a movie from the videotape that she gave to me as a gift, but apparently this film did not make any impression on me. I don't remember anything from it - except for the name (title) and besides the fact that Adele gave it to me once for my birthday.
But even this is not often come to memory ... As far as possible, I try to engage in literary creativity and keep my distance from legal issues, but this does not always work out ...
October 6, 2021 18:16
Translation from Russian into English: October 6, 2021 18:18.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский 'Адвокат дьявола. Автобиографическая зарисовка'.