Child safer

We finally made some headway in the child custody case I'm helping a neighbor with. We were experiencing unexpected difficulty getting the case transferred from San Antonio, the location of the divorce ten years ago, to this county, where the 13YO has lived most of her life and still lives. At long last, though there's still a mandamus pending, the local judge got a secure grip on the jurisdiction and scheduled the first hearing on a motion for temporary custody orders. Dad and his lawyer having inexplicably declined to attend, we put on grandma's riveting case yesterday through her own testimony and got an order granting her temporary custody, allowing dad only supervised visits.

I always enjoy watching courtroom dramas, in large part because the argument and testimony are coherent, dramatic, and revealing. Those of us who've done jury duty know how rare that is in real life, where the lawyers mumble and bore everyone, and witnesses have no gift for exposition. Yesterday grandma put on a tour de force, an unrehearsed and heartbreaking but cogent story, right to the point, a vivid picture of what she and her granddaughter have been enduring for the last year. She's such a little, soft-spoken thing, but her intelligence, moral core, and steely spine shone through.

Our lawyer had a good day, too. She took command of the proceedings and ably exploited the default by opposing counsel. Afterward, when we all went for coffee, a former client of hers recognized her and came over to express profound gratitude for her help in a divorce and custody case. A nice way to end a working week!