Through The Legal Looking Glass: An Introduction

Like Alice, our legal system tries to believe three impossible things before breakfast. But unlike Alice’s world, most of what goes on in the legal system happens behind closed doors or hidden away far from view. It is a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, hidden in a brown bag.

As lawyers, indeed lawyers with unusually broad experiences, LawhawkSF and I have peered into that strange world of mad hatters and clock-watching rabbits, and we have stood before more than our fair share of red queens.

Now we want to share our observations with you. Thus, starting today, we intend to introduce a new column, titled “Through the Legal Looking Glass”, where we will talk about every conceivable aspect of the legal system. We also will answer questions that you may have -- so write us!

But before we publish the first column, indulge us for a moment as we give you a quick thumbnail sketch of our experience, so that you can judge the value of our opinions for yourself:

While majoring in history and political science as an undergraduate and M.A. candidate at Berkeley, LawhawkSF became deeply involved in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, including voter registration drives in Mississippi and Alabama. After experiencing first hand the struggle for civil rights, he decided to go to law school to make sense of it all. And while his political affiliations would eventually evolve from radical left to conservative right, this experience taught him the need for equal justice under the law and continues to strongly guide his reasoning on issues of race and ethnicity as they relate to the law. Upon completing law school, his early practice in California focused primarily on criminal law and family law, where he learned to navigate the labyrinth of criminal procedures through an active appellate practice in five states and federal courts, including the United States Court of Claims in D.C. While practicing, LawhawkSF also served as a city and county planning commissioner, which gave him an insight into the internal workings of municipal government. He was soon appointed as a judge pro tempore (an annual position) and served on both the municipal and superior court benches, including one year as a member of a three-judge superior court appellate panel. Since leaving the bench and practice, LawhawkSF returned to the business that paid his way though law school, first as an executive and then as an outside business and labor relations consultant before entering into semi-retirement. Until recently, he has enjoyed occasional forays into teaching as an adjunct instructor of constitutional law and criminal procedure at several Bay Area and Los Angeles area law schools.

AndrewPrice did the Government thing, the big firm thing and the solo-practitioner thing. He has practiced in four states, before four Federal district courts (trial level), and before various miscellaneous Federal courts, agency boards, and the GAO. He also has appeared before two Federal circuit courts (appellate level) and repeatedly before one state supreme court. His career began in government contracts, first doing the bidding of the government and then selling his soul to large defense contractors, before shifting to the drafting of high-tech commercial license agreements for some of the nation’s best know companies and defending white collar criminals (‘alleged’. . . always ‘alleged’), before he chucked it all to enter the world of general practice, where he’s done just about everything. Andrew has extensive trial and appellate level experience, and has learned that giving clients a home number is a big, big mistake.

So sit back and enjoy the column. And send us your questions. . .