I’ve been busy this morning reviewing and writing up declarations, making sure I’m adhering to the court schedule, and generally poring over the details of the current relocation case. For those who might be curious, when you are preparing a case it’s a little like writing a play or a book. Actually, it’s two parties writing two conflicting stories, which ultimately become one book that the judge reads.
Studying drama and fiction might be of some use to an attorney, because having an understanding of what makes one character more sympathetic than another could be very helpful in preparing a case. You might think that nailing someone on a technicality can win the case, but this doesn’t seem to work in family law. Instead, what the judge will inevitably see is two flawed characters who had a flawed marriage, and what might leave the strongest impression in the long run is some pattern that, subtle at first glance, begins to take on greater weight as the story develops.
When one gains some perspective on life, it is difficult to escape the feeling that we are all merely characters in some grand drama.
Shakespeare said it best:
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts…
