fandomhigh | Lawyering Up: Week 1, Wed, Period 2 (1/9)

"Good morning everyone," said the man at the front of the room who was wearing a very nice suit, was from New York, and yet amazingly was not Barney. "For those who don't know me, my name's Nathan Petrelli. I'll be your teacher for Lawyering Up this semester. You can call me Mr. Petrelli. Some of you may know me from being friends with my brother Peter. You can also call me Mr. Petrelli. But I can be flexible about 'Nathan' when we're out of class."

Nathan then passed out a syllabus, a sheet of rules, and a copy of the roster. "On these you can find out what the class is going to do, what's expected of you, and if you're supposed to be here in the first place. Bear in mind the first two are subject to change without notice. That's what we in the business call the fine print."

Done with that, Nathan then passed out a sign-in sheet. "I know that many of your classes so far have been about introducing yourselves and going home. We're actually going to be doing work. But I would like to get to know you so when you put sign in also tell me why you're taking the class. That's just for my benefit, so don't worry about being right or wrong.

"Like the rules say," Nathan continued, "I want you here on time, I want you to behave, and I want to see that you're trying to use your mind. You'll be graded on effort as much as results. This includes your weekly extra-credit challenge. Anybody who wants to get an edge in their grades can do so by bringing in as many lawyer jokes as they can find. You'll get bonus points if I haven't heard them before."

Nathan paused to make sure everyone seemed to be following along. "This class isn't going to make you a lawyer. But it will give you an idea of different aspects of the American legal system. If nothing else it'll give you the ability to be a smart shopper when you need a lawyer to help you down the line. And make no mistake: you will at some point need a lawyer. Even if you don't get in trouble with the law. You might get married, buy a home, need to sue someone, want to patent something - you name it.

"But we'll start with the basics," Nathan said. He leaned against the front of his desk. "Using the law to save yourself. Normally they say anyone who represents themselves in a court of law has a fool for a client, but today we're going to ignore that. I want you to get a taste for how the law works by using it to get yourself out of trouble. The situation is this: You've been given a traffic citation. Maybe for speeding, maybe for something else. It's up to you. Now you have to deal with me, the judge.

"Argue your case. Are you guilty or not guilty? If you're guilty should I fine you? Jail you? Send you to traffic school?" Nathan held up his hand to forestall any interruptions. "Before anyone starts to panic, I'm not asking you to come up with a case that even the Supreme Court would approve of. Don't worry about formalities of the legal system. Just worry about this."

Nathan handed out another sheet. "Precedent. Simply put it means we'll let you get away with something if you can prove that somebody else either got away with the same thing, or something really close. Those of you with younger siblings may recognize this as the 'But Maaaaaaa, how come he gets to stay up late?' approach." Nathan grinned.

"To help you out you have these." Nathan handed out a few more materials to use. "You don't have to read all of this right now. Just pick a violation that you were cited for, find something to help your case, and use it to mount your defense. Tell me why you should get away with it because somebody else did. Or tell me why you're innocent because somebody else was.

"I'm looking for creativity and anything that shows me you were even vaguely paying attention," Nathan added, with another grin. "And if you think the lecture was bad, imagine being stuck in court all day.

"Take a little time to prepare yourself, and I'll be here when you're ready."

[ooc: ~~wait for~~ OCD is up! Go nuts! I'll pick up pings in the morning]

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It didn't take long at all for Sam to pick which violation he wanted to use.

"Hello, sir. I'm here to defend myself on the charge of driving without a valid license," he said. "I admit that I'm guilty, but I'd like to explain the circumstances, so that the court may find a reason to be lenient with me. You see, it's just me and my dad at home. My brother's been missing for a few months, so I've been helping to take care of our dad in his place." If his focus on Nathan strengthened, it was only so he didn't have to look at Dean. "He does some really dangerous work at home, and he's been teaching me how to drive in case, God forbid, something happens to him and he needs to get to the hospital. I admit that I was driving by myself the night I got pulled over; I was trying to see if I could really handle the car without my dad sitting there giving me direct instructions. But I was obeying almost all the traffic laws at the time. I just missed a stop sign when I was going back to the house. I know that driving without my dad is wrong, and I promise you, I won't do it again."

"What's wrong with calling a cab?" Nathan asked.

Sam had to work a little to keep from laughing. "It's not a very big city. Cabs aren't really an option."

"Has your father needed emergency services before?" Nathan asked.

"Yes, sir," Sam said. "Not often. But he's broken quite a few bones."

"How unfortunate for him," Nathan said. "Got proof?"

Damn, he's good, Sam thought. "No, I don't," he admitted. Any records of his dad being in the hospital wouldn't have his name on them, of course.

"So for all the court knows, you could've been joyriding," Nathan said. He didn't sound angry about this, he was just pointing out a problem with Sam's case so that Sam could try to fix it.

"I suppose," Sam said. "But I don't have any prior record, and I'm a straight-A student...which I guess I can't really prove on paper at the moment. But I'm not the kind of person who would joyride."

"Got anyone who can vouch for you?" Nathan asked. "Teacher, doctor, priest?"

"My teachers could vouch for me, especially the ones I've TAed for," Sam offered.

"That's better," Nathan said. "It's not as good as physical proof, but having someone who can stand up for you - especially someone respected in the community - can help reduce a sentence."

"So, I should make friends with priests before starting in on a life of crime?" Sam said, smiling.

"You wouldn't be the first."

"That does seem to be a choice made by people before me. I imagine in the end, it's easier to just be innocent."

"That's definitely my advice."

Lawyering Up: Week 1, Wed, Period 2 (1/9)

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