Zealous representation. Or something . . .

Remember the woman here in Portland who drove her SUV off the bridge and into the Willamette river this weekend? She had to go over and through a fairly substantial looking guard railing to do it. Supposedly, the fact that the bridge deck is made of metal grating had something to do with it. But still, she had to hit the sidewalk curb, go up and over, then hit the guard rail which wasn't chopped liver itself, and then smash through. In other words, she hit the side of the bridge pretty forcefully.

I'm glad for her that she survived the crash through the guard rail, the nose first impact with the water and the swim to the surface. It was probably horrible for her. But . . .

Maybe I'm wrong about this, but it looks to me as if she had to be doing something really, really wrong to put herself in that position. I mean, all sorts of vehicles cross that bridge every day and have been doing so for years. And hardly any of them go over the side of the bridge into the water below. And this isn't the only bridge in the U.S. with a metal grating deck. They are all over the place. With all the sympathy in the world, I figure she screwed up.

But bless her heart, even though she screwed up, she went through a horrible experience. So I have a hunch there's probably at least one attorney in town who can't wait to represent her and sue the manufacturer of the SUV, the steel in the bridge, the rigging company that installed the steel, the architect, the bridge painters, the city, the county, the state, you, me, and heaven everlasting. To some attorneys, this poor woman could be the perfect representative of a class, for a class action seeking, among other things, attorney fees for the plaintiff's attorney.

What class? Why, all of us who are screw-ups, have been screw-ups, or ever will be screw-ups.

Does it show, from this post, how much I miss practicing law?