UPTOWN LAWYER: Law and Crime Book

By Richard Collins

As a criminal defense attorney, I search for the truth and impress on clients that I want the truth and will not continue to defend if I find a client lying to me. I will not defend a client if I think he is not telling me the truth. I will not enter a plea that I believe is not the truth (either you plea

• Language: English
• Publisher: RICHARD COLLINS
• Release date: Sep 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781737854005

Richard Collins

Richard Collins is Visiting Professor at the LINK Centre; Visiting Professor at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne; and Professor of Media Studies at the Open University, United Kingdom.

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Uptown Lawyer

2nd Edition Revised

A Study of Criminal Law in the Real World

Uptown Lawyer

2nd Edition Revised

A Study of Criminal Law in the Real World

R. L. Collins

A Novel

Uptown Lawyer: A Study of Criminal Law in the Real World

Copyright © 2021 R.L. Collins

All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Uptown Lawyer: A Study of Criminal Law in the Real World, is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America

First printing 2019

R.L. Collins

1603 Capitol Ave, Suite 310 A552,

Cheyenne WY 82001

ISBN: 978-1-7378540-1-2 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-7378540-2-9 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 978-1-7378540-0-5 (eBook)

Acknowledgements

Author

Richard L Collins

Retired and makes his home with his wife Barbara of fifty six years in beautiful Northern California.

Writings in the Future

The endless legal end of construction claims

A family business—can a closely held family business be successful in this hip shooting environment of today.

Uptown lawyer revisited

Introduction

Main Character Education and Practice

College and pre-law completed at the University of San Francisco.

Grad work and law degree USF Law School, then Bar exam and intern work. Decision was made to be criminal trial defense attorney.

As a criminal defense attorney, I search for the truth and impress on clients that I want the truth and will not continue to defend if find a client lying to me. I will not defend a client if I think he is not telling me the truth. I will not enter a plea that I think is not the truth (either you plea bargain or find another attorney).

I like constitutional law, and I constantly study criminal law. My goal is to always interpret the law so that the law will work in my favor and give my client a true defense. If my investigation proves my client is lying to me, I will terminate my association quickly which sometimes results in me having problems with the State Bar of California. I am not so naive that I think I can change the profession of lawyering simply by applying the principles that I believe in. The profession of lawyering is viewed by many parents as so distasteful that the recommendation of law school to their children is hardly a choice that would be a benefit to their growth in society.

The cost of a college education and completing ones education in law school is a bitter pill to swallow for parents paying the full boat. Lawyering has such a pitiful reputation that acceptance as a real profession is becoming more difficult to deal with every day.

I am convinced that a majority of students who study to become a lawyer do not have any other motive to succeed other than the great earnings power that can be attained by becoming a partner in a large law firm that has clients with very deep pockets to pay the huge hourly fees that are generated by very successful law firms. A large number of these attorneys that I just referenced will never try a case in a court of law.

Anti-trust cases, corporate law, tax law, international law, insurance law, dominate the court rooms of today. International law with so many U S companies operating globally is just now getting a very strong foothold in the world wide law arena.

The United States Tax Code is in the area of 75 thousand pages long. Tax attorneys study the tax code relentlessly for their entire career doing the best they can to detail an interpretation that will work for their client, and the result from winning a positive verdict can be monumental. The hourly figures for the law firms work would shock the average person.

For a large law firm to do some pro-bono work that might save a small corporation from going bankrupt is beyond the mission statement for almost all large law firms. A small company that maybe does 50 or 100 million dollars a year in sales, a 2 thousand dollar an hour legal bill is not in the cards.

My office has received inquires about construction claims from a number of small contractors about filing a claim against the general contractor (they considered a criminal) who is withholding payment.

Construction claims are not my area of expertise I had to decline, but the same principle of protecting the innocent applies. If enough firms that specialize in construction claims do some pro-bono work the practice of stiffing the little guy would stop because the big guys would get tired of paying the claims. For me this would be an exciting field to get into, because the technical portion of the arena would become very important and an interesting new challenge.

I have been involved with a number of students that wanted to pursue law school but somehow did not get the support they needed to accomplish the program. This is one of the reasons I agreed to teach a class at USF. Somehow I have to get my message across to potential students that want to pursue a career in the practice of law being a trial lawyer.

After the first summer class session I was very surprised to learn that my class was very well received and that the class for the following summer was already half full. A great wave of satisfaction engulfed me as I spoke to my friend the Dean of the School of Law at USF as he informed me that the class was a resounding success. Somehow I have to upgrade my curriculum so that the joy of learning and studying the law can be spread among the students who are leaning in that direction of their education.

I was working on this book and suddenly realized how close to a startup corporation I was becoming. And what really clicked was the fact that I recognized I would have to have something new and different to compliment my straight forward law practice to be a successful viable business.

During my tenured service as a law student I had a constant working theory about how I as a current practicing attorney could make some sort of a service available for current clients that would enhance the availability of defense for clients. My thought was based on a very fast personal approach to representing clients that have been arrested. Time is of the essence because folks that have been arrested tend to shoot their mouth off and the longer they sit in jail the more pissed off they get. Also it would be a new angle toward helping to keep information from the cops (in the interview process) that they could turn around and use against the client in an alleged violation of the law. By the way the cops hate that an attorney shows up at the jail right away before they can interview.

My twenty four-seven application is going to be a key to my success and keep my practice a going concern. Will it work, can I sell the program? These questions will be answered by going for it and giving it a try.

The answer you will see as you read the chapters in this book is a resounding yes it works. I could sell this program to the entire nation if in fact I could make it operational to that degree. At this point I have two lawyers in my office that want to take on their own 24 seven operation as a sub contract to my firm. At this point we are still in the thinking process but the future for 24/7 service looks very bright indeed.

I have spent many hours developing a mission statement that we can follow and live by in our day to day operation of the firm.

In Courts of Law in our Country the rule of innocence until proven guilty does not necessarily apply. Considering all the social media and news media that get involved with the charges sometimes the reverse is true. The perception of guilt is at times becoming very hard to disprove in our Courts of Law.

Many times it is all about the money. Very high-priced lawyers rule, the golden rule, he who has the gold rules, and he who does the best job of lying rules.

This script is again my opinion, I have my problems with the State Bar of California.

Mission Statement

In Lawful Courts of Law in the United States of America, I will Defend and Protect Innocent Victims Who do not have the Ability or Resources to Defend and Protect Themselves. Above all I will Always Search for and Base My position on the Truth.

Getting Started

My name is Robert B. Collins, Attorney at Law. My law firm tends to occupy most of my waking hours resulting in recreation and hobby time being very limited.

My two recreation passions are early muscle cars, late 50’s thru 1970 (only certain models and years) and watching Giants baseball. I have season tickets at AT&T park in my city, San Francisco. Those 2 activities are really the only things that occupy my off time when I am not working, reading or writing.

Actually from a social point I have a very boring lifestyle. I very much like spending leisure time in my high rise apartment in the south beach area of the city, I have a view of SF Bay and SF Bay Bridge to die for.

My idea of a very nice evening is to have a couple of Glenlivet single malts, grill some fresh Pacific Coast wild salmon filets with fresh lemon wedges and sitting in my recliner with a good book while enjoying the view of ship traffic on the bay.

As I said before, I have a passion for my work and spend most of my waking hours indulged in my law practice. Unfortunately my selfishness relating to my work cost me my marriage.

I have made up my mind that my life will revolve around my work and at no time will I make any sort of a commitment to anyone with regard to marriage or even engagement. The terrible emotional pain that I put my ex-wife through was so thoughtless, disgusting and selfish on my part that I cannot bare to even think about another situation like that. I am very selfish with my time and was totally not fair to my ex wife who is a very nice lady that did not deserve the life style that I live. Thankfully we are still good friends even after she has re-married.

The Attorney General for the State of California is a close friend who I have a dating relationship. We spend time together whenever we can, keeping in mind that she is also working with many time constraints. Luckily she likes baseball so we try to attend the Giants games occasionally.

Holidays and weekends tend to be my me busiest time frames in my practice. My 24/7 service tends to keep me grounded at home.

The business decision that I recently made is paying off in spades. The downside being is that it requires availability at all times. More on the 24/7 service later.

List of Characters

Organizational Staff

Robert Collins-CEO-owner

Kathy-Exec VP--COO

Lucy-IT VP, primary investigator

Pete-investigator

Laura–attorney

Paula–attorney

Rick-paralegal

Paralegals

Mikel-general office help

–Frank-shop manager

Lizbeth-investigator-part time (when she wants to work), also IT specialist

-Robert–Exec assistant to Kathy

Chapter 1

Day Trip to Tucson

I have been working steadily for almost 2 weeks doing the initial work of research, reading backgrounds, studying police reports, writing briefs and following the investigation process in preparing a defense for an alleged armed robbery/attempted murder/man slaughter defense trial. I am the lead for our shop so I get very involved in the process. The defendant is a close friend of one of my best clients and at this time details are very sketchy, other than the victim of the shooting was the Uber driver of the car driving the defendant. The prosecutor of this case is the San Mateo County District Attorneys office. I have slept very little and I am tired, but the time spent is worth it because new facts and evidence are surfacing and I feel good about that.

I have been staying most nights in my office quarters. I have a nice lounge with bath and shower and a nice sofa/pull out bed plus I keep extra changes of clothes on hand. I have food sent in but after a week or two of this type of confinement I definitely need a break. I get so involved in trials of this nature that I lose all sense and track of time. Usually after 1 week Kathy is all over my case to go home early and get some rest, have a couple Glenlivet single malts go to the Blvd for fresh king salmon and hit the sack early.

My car collection is always a good diversion for me to help cleanse my mind. I decided to take a short break. I want to take a day trip to Arizona to look at a classic car that Frank had discovered and if the information is true the car would be a nice fit into my collection.

Our trip will be Wheels Up from San Jose Jet Center. An 8am flight in a sweet Gulfstream business jet, what is not to like? Starbucks brew, fresh fruit and yogurt, life is good.

We have just arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, Frank Thomason who is my shop manager and restoration professional is on the trip with me.

Our trip to Tucson is to inspect a 1961 Chevy bubble top Bel-air 2-door sedan. The advertiser claimed it to be a very pristine automobile that has had loving care all of its life of 51 plus years. Not the first time I have heard that sort of statement.

My interest in classic muscle cars was stimulated when I was in high school, the day I went to a drag race with a guy that my Dad worked with. Later that same year I attended a drag race in Lodi with a college friend who was also interested in restoring classic muscle cars and building up street rods. We were college students with part time jobs and did not have much discretionary income to spend on hobbies. I did some research on the sport of drag racing and determined that it was a money hole for most of the racers involved in the sport but my interest in muscle cars remained in my long range vision plan of my life.

I was in my first year of college at San Jose State that was requiring most of my time just to try to figure out the nature of aeronautical engineering. I found out rather quickly that college physics and solid geometry are much more difficult than the college prep math and physics curriculum that I was even having trouble with in high school. Looking back I would have been much better off to have taken the advice of my senior year adviser and just taken some generalized courses that would satisfied my goal of moving to an upper class student.

Needless to say the end of the second semester was the end of my aeronautical engineering education and San Jose State University. I was crushed, failure in my first year of college.

My interest in this car in Tucson is purely historical value in that the 61 Chevy Bel Air bubble tops are rare and this one is even more a rare automobile in that it is a bel-air as opposed to an impala which was the more popular model. My interest is the fact that it is a muscle car. Owner claiming a 409 cubic inch engine, 4-speed rock crusher transmission, 12-bolt rear differential. If all of this is true this car will fit into the particular years of my collection.

My comment to Frank, I am not sure why I decided to travel here; August is one of the hottest months of the entire year. When we were leaving Sky Harbor the large temperature gage at the ramp read 109 degrees. Luckily this late model car has a good ac unit that is keeping the car very cool, although I am not looking forward to inspection of the 61 unless inside in air-conditioned building.

Frank comments, If it wasn’t for the fact that this car is so rare and you really like the 61 bubble tops, you probably would have not bothered to suffer in this heat, not sure how people can work outside, I guess you get used to the weather.

We just passed a crew paving hot asphalt overlay on the highway like it is just another work day. As I see those guys working and sweating in that heat I say to myself what the hell am I bitching and whining about in a car with air conditioning?

Interstate 10 is a very busy interstate that stretches from one coast to the other across the southern portion of the United States. Interstate 10 is heavily traveled and today is no different. The very severe road heat of the asphalt takes its tole on tires of cars and trucks. We see many vehicles pulled over to the side of the road with repair work of some kind taking place.

My comment to Frank, I can imagine that there are many companies taking advantage of the breakdown situation that occurs on this highway whether it be tires, overheating or whatever. A vehicle should be in pretty good shape to travel this road in the summer time.

I consulted siri on my iphone and she again came through in directing us toward our destination in Tucson. The long driveway in a neatly manicured property started to make me feel a little more excited about our trip.

As we prepare to enter driveway my private iphone is sounding.

Chapter 2

General information

I carry two phones with me at all times. One is strictly a private line that only select people have. I am available 24/7 with this phone for clients that have special retainer relationship with my firm and me. When I was a student in law school I recognized that it would be much better for a law practice to have an edge in developing customer relationships. But in order to have an edge some sort of sacrifice will have to be endured by me in order to separate me from the general run of the mill criminal defense lawyer.

My thought was that there must be customers that would like to have their lawyer available at the other end of the phone 24/7 and be willing to pay for the service. I don’t mean someone from my office, that someone will be me. I am not naive enough to believe that I can be available at all times though out the entire year, without some serious sacrifice on my part, but the more I think about that concept the better I like the idea. Specialty service is offered by my firm for 24/7 accesses to me for consultation and defense. I started this service a couple of years after I went into business and it is amazing how many clients want the 24/7 service. The area where I have to be careful is the distance away from my office that the client resides, because statistics tell us that over 80% of personal arrests occur within 20 miles of home. Out of town clients require traveling too far to offer reasonably quick service, like getting to police station before cops can interrogate a client.

Based on that logic I go through a very thorough set of instructions and schooling process before I take them as a client. Most people get themselves in trouble by talking too much to the authorities which can later be used against them. Some people think they are above the law and start mouthing off or talk in a threatening way to the cops. The cops hate this kind of attitude and they might arrest you and put the cuffs on very tight and might even slap you around.

Much to my surprise most of my twenty-four/seven clients are well to do company officers or inherited wealth recipients that have spoiled their kids so badly it becomes an impossible situation for the parents to deal with other than try to protect them from the law with money. As of now I have 13-24/7 clients, and they are tending to keep me busy during off hours. Residents of the Los Angeles area have approached me and I could add another ten clients easily but from a logistical standpoint it would be an impossible situation. Seems like there is plenty of money in Southern California, and plenty of trouble for people to get into. My retainer fee is fifteen thousand dollars per month for 24/7 availability and that is retainer only, if I have to respond to a call that is a new billing. I am amazed by how clients take the charges in stride and don’t blink an eye; they probably never see the bill being paid by someone else in their system.

One of my first clients when I opened my San Francisco office, was Edgar Morgan (COO-Western Operations-Standard Oil of California), and was calling my private number.His youngest son had been arrested and was in the San Francisco