Welcome to Friday!
The video version of this post is here. In this time of social distancing, I find recording the videos to be somewhat soothing, or reassuring. They make feel like I’m connected to others.
Anyhow, last week, I spoke of how #203 reminded me of ticket stubs. Conversely, #204 reminds me of not having a ticket at all.
My brother and I have had our fair share of adventures. One of our best took place in 2004.
It started many years before.
We grew up Red Sox fans in a time when that meant rooting for a loser. Not just any loser, but one prone to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, often in heart-breaking fashion. 1978, 1986, 2003.
October 16 was a bleak Saturday. The night before, the New York Yankees – evil personified to New England kids like us – had demolished our beloved Sox 19-8 to take a 3 games to 0 lead in the best-of-7 American League Championship Series. No team in history had ever won a 7-game series in which it trailed 3-0. Nothing in Boston’s history suggested they’d be the first.
A better fan than I, my brother planned to attend Saturday night’s Game 4. I did not. I had no interest in bearing witness to New York eliminating Boston from the playoffs. Not to mention, we didn’t have tickets and my brother’s plan was to sneak into Fenway Park.
Ummm, no thanks bro. I couldn’t imagine anything less interesting that driving all that way without at ticket. Not only would we not to get in, we’d have to spend the entire ride home listening to the Sox lose on the radio.
My brother wasn’t mad, but I’m sure he was baffled. Unlike me, he’s always been more into the journey than the destination. Who cares if he didn’t have a ticket? Who cares if Boston loses? Worst case, he’d find a bar and watch the game on tv with a lot of other Red Sox fans. In other words, he’d have fun.
It rained in Boston that day. So hard that the game was postponed. To say it was the rain would be an excess in poetic license, but by Sunday morning, my spirits had been cleansed: I decided to go to Boston with my brother. Indeed, claiming that my spirits had been cleansed is beyond the pale — basically, I didn’t want my brother to have to drive home alone in the middle of the night.
To say I was skeptical we’d set foot in Fenway would be an understatement. My brother’s plan involved some girl he knew from Southie. She had a part-time job at The Crown Royal Club, a bar attached to Fenway. She’d convinced my brother that if we met her in the bar, she’d get us into the game.
Somewhere in New Hampshire, my brother casually mentioned that The Crown Royal Club was for season ticket holders only. Southie Girl, however, had given him a password to use at the door. All we had to do was tell the bouncer “Harvick 29.”
That’s right: our plan was to use a code word with the bouncer working the door at a bar attached to Fenway.
It worked.
Once inside the Crown Royal Club, I considered the trip a success: the food was free, the TVs flat, and, technically, we were in Fenway. So, it didn’t bother me that the back door – the one that season ticket holders used to get to their seats – was staffed by two menacing dudes who conditioned exiting to the field on proof of possessing a game ticket.
Of course, Southie girl had a plan for that too. Upon seeing my brother, she came over, said “hi,” and told us to be ready to go as soon as some guy from the kitchen gave us “the sign.” I chuckled, happily resigned to the free buffet.
Then some guy popped out of the kitchen and gave us what we intuitively knew was “the sign.” I was conflicted, never feeling more like Homer Simpson in my life: why would we leave all this free food? Especially to follow some guy through a kitchen to a door that was more likely to lead back to the street than into Fenway? Alas, when on adventures, rules are rules. Having seen the sign, I followed.
The trip through the kitchen was surreal. I was equal parts excited and scared. Thrilled about the chance to see the game, nervous that “disciplinary counsel arrested in Boston!” wouldn’t play well back home.
Long story short, within moments, we were inside Fenway Park and nobody was chasing us. Eventually we staked out spots in the SRO section and held them throughout the game.
The rest is history. I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice to say, without tickets, we witnessed two of the defining moments in Red Sox lore. Boston won that night, and again the next three. Four victories over St Louis followed and, for the first time since 1918, the Red Sox were World Series Champions.
And we were there when it started.
I can’t quite articulate it, but I’ve always taken a lesson from our 2004 adventure. Essentially, if there’s something in your life that you’re not doing because of the equivalent of not having a ticket, have faith in the person who is telling you that the point isn’t the ticket. That person is right. The point is the adventure of trying to get in anyway.
Onto the quiz!
Rules
- None. Open book, open search engine, text-a-friend.
- Exception: Question 5. We try to play that one honest.
- Unless stated otherwise, the Vermont Rules of Professional Conduct apply
- Team entries welcome, creative team names even more welcome.
- E-mail answers to michael.kennedy@vermont.gov
- I’ll post the answers & Honor Roll on Monday
- Please don’t use the “comment” feature to post your answers
- Please consider sharing the quiz with friends & colleagues
- Share on social media. Hashtag it – #fiveforfriday
Question 1
The following statement is from a comment to a rule. Your task: fill in the blank.
“The lawyer’s duty to act with reasonable diligence _______________ the use of offensive tactics or preclude the treating of all persons involved in the legal process with courtesy and respect.”
- A. may require.
- B. does not require.
- C. usually does not require.
- D. is perfectly, but sadly, consistent with
Question 2
By rule, a lawyer shall not use information relating to the representation of a former client to the former client’s disadvantage. One exception is when the information ______:
- A. has become generally known.
- B. is public record.
- C. Trick question. There are no exceptions.
- D. A or B.
Question 3
Lawyer and Client agree that Lawyer will represent Client for $200 per hour. The agreement is not reduced to writing. Lawyer sends invoices at the end of every month, always billing at $200 per hour. Client pays each bill.
Then, one month, Lawyer sends an invoice billing Lawyer’s time at $250 per hour. Prior to doing the work, Lawyer did not inform Client of the change to the hourly fee.
Which is most accurate?
- A. There is a rule that requires any changes in the basis or rate of the fee to be communicated to the client. Lawyer appears to have violated that rule.
- B. Hourly fee agreements do not have to be in writing. Therefore, while not very professional, Lawyer appears not to have violated the Rules of Professional Conduct.
Question 4
Consider the following:
- Information received by Bar Counsel while responding to an ethics inquiry.
- Information received by a lawyer while serving in the Lawyer Assistance Program
- Information received by a lawyer while serving as a member of the VBA’s Professional Responsibility Committee.
- Information otherwise protected by Rule 1.6 (the rule on client confidences).
In each, the recipient of the information is exempt from a duty that otherwise applies to all lawyers. What duty?
Question 5
You should be able to narrow this down to a 50-50.
On May 15, 1869, two women founded the National Women’s Suffrage Association. Three years later, one of them met & befriend California Republican Senator Aaron Sargent on a train ride. Their friendship eventually resulted in Senator Sargent introducing the first proposal to amend the Constitution to provide women the right to vote. Years later, and after many failures, the amendment became the 19th to be ratified.
Who did Senator Sargent meet on the train?
Ethical Grounds 