I finally got/had to work from home during the recent snow storm. I’ve gone to my office throughout the pandemic but a foot of snow is more difficult to get past than a microscopic bug. Home work is starkly different from my usual routine of going to my office where I still don’t see people but can put my hands on files and sit in my comfortable desk chair in front of a huge computer monitor. I don’t really have a home office so I work at the dining room table on my laptop. Our kitchen chairs are suitable for a long meal but not a long day at work. Ditto for the little computer screen.

Home tasks and my dogs pull me out of lawyer think space. A lot. In looking back at the time working at home, I marvel at how little got done. Except for my naps of course. Some of those were epic.

The snow that blanketed the area did manage to smother an in-court motion hearing that was scheduled for me last week. Rather than grant a snow day, the judge held virtual court via video conference. I was happy to appear remotely and keep my client’s case on track. In truth, I am glad not to drive to court, even on a sunny day.

I made a comment about the death of the snow day on social media, and another judge who saw my complaint said I could appear in his court room on any motion with a GoPro attached to my bobsled helmet. I may take him up on that.

I am gruntled to report that I did learn some new words while I was home bound. I also got to go through the mailbag. It is always gruntling to get a note from readers of this space.

Frank had a comment about the Facebook court column and offered to serve as an arbitrator rather than call social media jurors. He counts as a qualification that he doesn’t use social media and will need a new hobby as he approaches retirement. Social media nonsense would quickly drive Frank out of retirement I fear.

I reached out to Facebook and was told not to call them, they would call me. At least I think that is what they said, the emoji symbols they used didn’t make much sense and I was unable to find a 14 year old to decode the message. Since my phone isn’t ringing, I assume it still isn’t them.

Will Scotsen asked if I had any predictions for the future of the legal profession. Since I nailed my prophecy on the death of the snow day, I figured I would stick my neck out on a few other predictions.

Missouri legislators will do something to embarrass us. This is a hedge bet and has already happened at least once this year. The Jefferson City gang that tries to repeal the common law almost every year is floating around Senate Bill 666 (not kidding about the number) that shifts the burden of proof in self-defense cases to the prosecutor or plaintiff to rebut a presumption of reasonableness by the person using physical or deadly force.  Pundits are calling it the Legalize murder law, and even the NRA is shaking their heads about this bill, which hasn’t passed. Yet.

The return of the Barrister. Judicial robes have stood the test of time but robes for attorneys faded decades ago. With video hearings, it is time for their return. Much like graduation robes, an attorney’s robe would work perfectly with any manner of clothing underneath and is the perfect save when we forget a scheduled meeting. Those of us with thinning hair will push for powdered wigs as well but I think we are out of luck. Again.

The United States will convert to the Metric system. Most folks reading do not remember when the U.S. committed to the metric system, including me- it was in 1866. We tried again about 110 years later but we had other problems- the President wasn’t very popular, inflation was rising and so were interest rates. Today, as in 1976, the Olympics is on television and sports events measured in meters rather than yards have spectators getting out their googleboxes to figure out how far a 254 meter ski jump really is.

Only sellers of drugs and bottled soda pop adopted the metric system last go round, and some say the initial resistance to cannabis legalization was due to fear of the metric system. Now that most states have legalized cannabis in some form or other, the metric system has a leg up and could stick the landing this time.

Bitcoin will be used to pay court fines and judgments. Cryptocurrency and digital art, or NFTs, scare lawyers because they combine what we don’t understand about economics with what we don’t understand about computers. Lawyers of a certain age think of them as fads, much as they did the internet or cellular phones. Blockchain billionaires and sports stars are accepting payment in bitcoin and our celebrity driven society is catching on. The biggest banks are “studying” crypto currency use. As blockchain usage spreads, it is only a matter of time before the court system finds a way to accept it.  I don’t expect this to be widespread over night, and there will be many folks held in contempt of court because a jurisdiction still using monochrome CRTs and 9600 baud modems (look it up kids) can barely manage credit cards and cash, let alone Ethereum payments. There will be those who are willing to go the last meter to modernize the legal system. Check back in another 110 years or so to see how we did.

©2022 With All Due Respect. Spencer Farris is the founding partner of The S.E. Farris Law Firm in St Louis, Missouri. He weighs less than 20 stone and stands about 2 meters tall.  Comments or criticisms about this column may be sent directly to me via email at farris@farrislaw.net.