Public EneMe?

By Bruce Brennan

The nearly true story of a lawyer turned criminal and those around him and the bumpy road to adulthood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bruce Brennan
• Release date: Sep 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465756329

Bruce Brennan

55 year old married attorney with three kids. One novel published along with numerous legal aeticles. Another book to be published by March, 2011. I write a daily blog and contribute to several others. I practice in the criminal defense arena but maintain a general practice law firm

Book preview

Public EneMe?

By

Smashwords Edition

Bruce A. Brennan

ISBN 9781465756329

A novel that is the complete and mostly accurate tale of the United States foremost modern bank robber and his trusted and faithful companion, Bud. Follow the criminal friends from one misadventure to another with heartwarming, humorous and evil moments a page away.

A NEW NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF HOLMES the RIPPER and THE ALL STAR TERRORISTS

Bruce A. Brennan

DeKalb, IL 60115

Copyright 2011

Public EneMe?

By

Bruce A. Brennan

DeKalb, IL 60115

Copyright 2011

Smashwords Edition

This is the complete and mostly accurate non-historical tale of this Nation’s foremost modern amateur bank robber and his trusted and faithful companion, Bud.

A NEW NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF HOLMES the RIPPER and THE ALL STAR TERRORISTS

www.brucebrennanlaw.com

[e-mail]

www.lawyerbruce.blogspot.com

www.lawyerbruce.wordpress.com

CHAPTER ONE - BAPTISMAL

As we go through life, each momentous event and some not so momentous help create the fabric of our life. Each of us weaves this fabric into our life’s quilt. Early in life, the quilt is merely a pot holder. As we age, it grows to a beach towel and then a blanket. By the time our life is closer to the end than it is to the beginning, the quilt has become a comforter.

Not all comforters are comfortable. As life’s quilt develops, much of the world can see it; at least the inhabitants of our world can see it. With age, the quilt of our life starts to fray and the weave separates. What was once quite comfortable, may become annoying. The quilt was a cover hiding our warts and foibles from the world; with age, our toes, shoulders and warts are no longer covered. The quilt is not shrinking, it is deteriorating with time much like the quality of life often does. Some of the ménage of life’s memories that are spread about our quilt become embarrassing to us or to our family members. The inevitable holes in our quilt now betray us, much like an old friend out to save himself, willing to give up others for his good. That does not always happen but it pays to be aware of the potential backstabbing life often presents to you and those around you.

I never thought of myself as a criminal. I am a gun owner and have hunted all my life but I never thought of myself as a violent person. I do not believe other people perceive me as a violent person. I just am not the type. My quilt does not indicate a criminal tendency. I am a criminal defense attorney, working for small-time criminals, keeping the world available to them so they could continue to rape, pillage, rob and steal.

Although my day job required I spend time with criminals, I do not really hang out with the criminal element. For the most part, my clients were non-violent, stupid, chemically impaired and lazy. They all thought of themselves as being innocent or they were convinced of their innocence; it was never their fault, they were just misunderstood, unlucky or the police were out to get them. Sociologists would say they were not hugged enough as a child. I think they are just stupid and self-centered.

They just do not grasp the concept that that is what police do; they arrest criminals, all criminals not just them. They bitch that the police should be out catching real criminals never really grasping the concept that they are the real criminals. There are more criminals like them than there are criminals like Chuck Manson or Jeff Dahmer.

I developed a working knowledge and understanding of what a criminal is. I do not fit my own slotting method. Things started to change in 2008, however, about the time the economy started to really go to hell, at least for me. I had never made a great deal of money as a lawyer but I never went hungry. My wife made good money. The kids were well fed and dressed. We rarely lacked for anything. I had a tendency to live over my means but we got by, in spite of me.

The law business has never been easy for the sole practitioner or the two to three person firms. Divorce work and family law are staples for many lawyers. It is an easy practice to learn, the fraternity readily accepts new members and there is plenty of business around. People are always looking for free legal advice, even many of those who say they will pay you have no intentions of paying you until forced to and some of those file bankruptcy rather than pay you.

Lawyers are a lot like policeman; you tend not to like them or want them around until you need one. Then they are your best friend. I, as most lawyers, have heard all the lawyer jokes; we even tell them but we don’t like them. One minute, I am the butt of your cocktail party joke, the next moment, you child was just arrested on a petty charge or you got a DUI on the way home from the office party. I am not a punch line any more; you need me and my expertise. At these times I am your friend not a scum-sucking lawyer.

As a whole, lawyers are a pretty smart group of people. Law school is hard to get into, tough to graduate from and tougher to pay for. Because of a few bright medical students and law school students a few decades ago, educational loans are no longer dischargeable in Bankruptcy Court. These enterprising young men and women took out the maximum amount of educational loans available to them while in medical school or law school with a plan of filing for bankruptcy once out of school, before they started to make a decent living from their education.

Being fresh out of school with no wage or salary track-record to review, they qualified for the then current bankruptcy guidelines. The loans were discharged allowing the debtor to start their new career without the burden of having to repay the education loans. The lender could not repossess the education or diploma.

As usual, Congress was not bright enough to foresee the discharge of education loans coming. Rather than prevent a problem, Congress over reacted to one brought to their attention. Congress changed the law to make educational loans non-dischargeable in Bankruptcy. What this accomplished amounted to penalizing a citizen living within the law who is or will be a productive member of society while continuing to pay welfare bums for generations. The welfare bums will never be productive or even make a legitimate effort to be productive.

I have plenty of clients that are extremely slow in paying. They may not pay for a year but they always need you again. I will receive a check from a client I haven’t had contact with for a year or so. I know that within the next couple of days I will get a call from this client. The phone call goes like this;

Client, Did you get my check?

Me, Yeah, I got it.

Client, Sorry about being late, times have been tough.

Me, Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger.

Client, While I got you on the phone….

He will then go into his newest legal entanglement. That is why I was finally paid. It had nothing to do with the economy or his displeasure with my services. I am just a non-interest charging lender to these clients.

I can tell when the economy is in bad shape because these slow pays become no pays. They move onto another lawyer to run their scam on anew. In my business, if you do litigation, you file an Appearance on behalf of the party you represent. This tells the Court and all other parties and attorneys involved in the matter that you are a participant. The Appearance form has your name, Firm name, address, phone number and attorney I. D. number. Unless it is a criminal matter, there is a fee attached to the filing of an Appearance. It is also a money making opportunity for the Court system. It takes young attorneys a few years and tears to quit giving every sad story you hear credence. If you file your Appearance before getting the filing fee and a retainer, you will often time end up chasing your client just to recover your out-of-pocket expenses fronted to the Clerk of the Court for your client.

The law business would be a great way of making a living if you didn’t have to deal with clients. Just ask corporate and government attorneys who have only one client, their boss. Many private attorneys work twice for much of their pay. Every client is your boss and every client thinks their case is the most important one in the world. Many attorneys provide legal services to a non-paying client. You then have to prosecute a collection lawsuit against your client, proving your case to another Court that you provided the services your seeking payment for. Even securing a Judgment does not guarantee payment. The Court will award you a Judgment not a check. Most lawyers who do any contract or collection work have a drawer or two full of uncollectable judgments.

I finally got to the point where I was working for less than twenty dollars an hour for collected fees. I surely did not like this state of affairs; my wife was less satisfied than I was. Something had to be done about raising the cash flow situation. I was born and raised in the land of plenty but by the time I got to my adult, productive years, there wasn’t enough. The land of plenty turned into the land of welfare. I was raised not to live off the government so I had to come up with plan B. I was about to make a life-changing, atrocious decision.

I had represented several thieves during my criminal defense career. I did not want to steal from people. Like Rooster Cogburn said, I never took a man’s watch or nothing. I wanted to keep that much pride. Like many criminals and many of my clients, I justified my actions to myself thereby resolving myself from blame. This self-confessional concept comes in handy if you are a petty criminal; too afraid to become a real criminal and too ashamed to fully commit.

I have never been one to do a lot of leisure fiction reading. As a lawyer, you do plenty of reading in college and law school. One of the biggest parts of a lawyer’s job is research. The law is always evolving and changing. A lawyer has to be current with the law since most of your clients have current problems. Occasionally, a client may present a problem that will require an old outdated or lapsed law that no longer governs the disposition of the matter, if it were to happen now. That is mostly in the criminal defense area. Criminal law is mostly codified. Civil law is based on common law and prior judicial rulings. Either way, lawyers do a lot of reading as an aspect of their job.

All good lawyers realize that they are teachers. In litigation, you know your case inside and out. The Judge or Jury does not. You must teach them the facts and the law as seen from your perspective. A solid knowledge base prevents unnecessary arguments with the opposing counsel both during negotiations and at trial. Attorneys must know how to disagree without being disagreeable.

My spare time has generally been consumed by reading nonfiction or studying real life criminals and crimes. The History Channel is one of my main modes of