Lawyers

For reasons I can't really get into, we've recently had to hire a lawyer. It really sort of sucked.
As an adult, I'm not sure the proper procedure for hiring a lawyer. I'm sure the method that Joe employed-Google-isn't the approved method. I guess it can have some role in it but ultimately you probably should do more research than 'I saw your commercial'. Anyway, we ended up with one of those lawyers with the commercials on TV. Luckily not one of the generic ones with Captain Kirk.
So after a meeting or two, Joe wasn't satisfied that his lawyer was going to do a whole lot. It was disappointing. He pretty much said that Joe was screwed. Then the court date was moved without asking us first.
Luckily, we found out that this lawyer was not actually the lawyer. It was an investigator. It sort of made me feel a little bit better. But just a little.
Today, we went to court. We waited on the lawyer to show up longer than we were actually in the courtroom.
While the end result was favorable, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I guess I expected something more along the lines of Law And Order. Something more exciting. And when I didn't get it I decided our lawyer was a shyster.
I understand that he probably does hundreds of these a year. That we aren't anything special. That really, its in and out sort of case but I still want to stand up and scream that we are not your typical dumb fuck Pennsylvanians! I'm a fucking doctor! And Joe is an intelligent guy. Mistakes were made. Lessons learned.
It would have been nice if this guy had introduced himself to both of us. To one of us. I guess I should be glad that he knew Joe's name...
The lesson that I've learned? Make friends with a lawyer. Not so much to be council for us but to tell us who to hire.


(EDIT: this was written several weeks ago. Also I might edit it to include some links.)