Difficult People – Page 8 – Perpetual Adoration

February 27, 2016

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A Stressful College Experience

About 20 years ago when I was still doing criminal defense work, one day while I was in court with a client, a man showed up late for his court hearing. When the bailiff told the judge that the man had arrived, the judge told the man that a warrant had been issued for his arrest because he was late for his hearing. The judge then instructed the deputy in the courtroom to arrest the man and book him in the Peoria County jail where he would have to pay a cash bond to be released. Upon his release, he would be given a new date and time to appear in court.

August 29, 2015

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Just A Nice Guy

It’s been a couple of years since my three youngest daughters — Mary, Christine, and Teresa — stopped describing boys to me in the way they had always described them. Before they stopped, whenever they talked about a new boy they had met and liked, they focused on how nice he was. They would say, “He’s such a nice guy. You can’t help but like him.”

August 22, 2015

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From Whiner to Winner

Last week, I wrote about how I was able to convince a prosecuting attorney to agree to reduce a felony charge to a misdemeanor for a client who had been accused of committing a serious crime. The attorney accused me of being a whiner when I refused to stop pushing him to work with me. In the end, I got what I wanted; he agreed to reduce the charge.

August 15, 2015

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I Was Accused of Being a Whiner

A recent event triggered my memory of a case I was involved in more than 20 years ago. The case involved a man who had been charged with a serious crime. For the purpose of this article, I’m going to call him “Ray.” Ray was arrested in Peoria and charged with committing a felony. Prior to the initial hearing in his case, he hired me to represent him.

December 10, 2014

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Turning Conflict Into Personal Growth

I want to share with you a very powerful technique for changing the way you respond to offensive or critical comments. This technique has the potential of turning what is usually a very painful and unpleasant experience into an opportunity for personal growth and wisdom.

November 29, 2014

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An Unusual Reason to be Grateful

During the spring semester of my senior year of high school, I had a communications class with a teacher who was in her mid-50s. One of my classmates was a good friend of mine whose father was a doctor. On the last day of class, the teacher asked each of the students what their goals were for the future.

July 26, 2014

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Aggressive Behavior, Anger, and Trust

One evening during the summer of 2005, I called one of my clients and asked him if he would come over to my house to fix a problem with my plumbing. His name was Jim, and at that time he was in his mid-50s. We had done business with each other since the early 1990s. I was originally introduced to Jim by another client who owned several rental properties and had hired Jim to work on his properties.

May 3, 2014

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A Client Who Thought He Was Invincible

Last month while I was at a party, I ran into a man that I had assisted with some legal problems in the mid-1980s. (For the purpose of this article, I’m going to call him “Mark.”) When I saw Mark at the party he didn’t look very well to me. In addition to being extremely thin, his skin looked dull and pasty.

November 2, 2013

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Relationships, Familiarity, and Contempt

About 10 years ago, an adorer called our home to let us know that he and his wife were not going to be able to cover their holy hour. (For the purpose of this article, I’m going to call him Frank.) At the time of the call, Frank and his wife were in their late 70s. Since no one was home to answer the telephone, Frank left a message on our answering machine.