Most eviction "stipulations", which is legal-ese for agreements
between the parties, are hand-written by attorneys in court on the day
of trial. Most courts supply a three-part form, so you only need to
write and sign the stipulation once. After it's signed by the judge, the
court keeps the original and each party walks out with a copy.
Here's the first page of a blank Los Angeles County eviction stipulation.
The second page includes a lot of lines to write additional terms, and lines for signatures.
Most
eviction attorneys arrive in court to handle multiple trials. Usually I
have anywhere between two and eight trials on any one morning. Most
trials settle by stipulation. Therefore, I do a LOT of writing during
the day.
Press hard, you are making three copies.
One
day early in my career, I appeared before a certain judge [now retired] who was known for dry sarcasm.
Occasionally he would reduce inexperienced attorneys to tears. I'd just
written my fourth stipulation of the day, and my hand was
understandably sore.
Judge: “Counsel," glaring at me over a spiked helmet prominently placed at the front of the bench.
Me: Yikes. **Make mighty effort to control shaking knees.**
Judge: "This stipulation,”
he held it face-out at arms length so everyone could see it.
Me: Double yikes. **Notice other attorneys stifling laughs as I'm about to get benchslapped.**
Judge: “Is actually
legible."
Me: “Yes, Your Honor." **Force knees to stop
shaking** "I didn't think writing an agreement no one could read, would
do either
of the parties any good.”
Judge, glaring at the other
attorneys in the courtroom, most of whom were disappointed in the lack
of benchslap: “I wish the other
attorneys in this courtroom subscribed to that philosophy.”
The other attorneys all turned and glared at me.
I smiled and
shrugged. Sometimes a sore hand is a life-saver, or at least a face-saver.
Writer, California attorney, stumbling through the courtrooms of Southern California
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So clearly my handwriting would have served me well in the medical profession, but not in the legal profession! :)
ReplyDeleteLOL! The staff at my firm are always telling me my handwriting is mostly illegible. But since Murphy's Law dictates that the key phrase of the agreement which needs to be enforced in the future, is the phrase that can't be read, when I write a stipulation, I do my best to write it as legibly as possible. I don't want to be a victim of Murphy's Law!
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