A New Mexico surgeon going through a nasty divorce decided he needed the best lawyer he could find – so he’s hired the wife he’s divorcing!
“In fifteen years of marriage, I never won an argument,” said Harvey Stiles, referring to Sheila Watson, his lawyer/wife. “I thought ‘Well, that’s exactly what I want in a lawyer. So I hired her!
“Besides, lawyers cost about four hundred dollars an hour. I’m just paying her the money she’s probably going to eventually get anyway.”
Ben Finagle, a legal scholar, said that while this arrangement was unprecedented, it was actually brilliant.
“There’s an old expression, ‘Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.’ Well, in a divorce, the ‘ex’ is the enemy, so what’s closer than hiring her to represent you in court?”
SHE’S CONFIDENT SHE’LL WIN
Watson said she was eager to be involved in the case, one way or the other.
“I’m not one for sitting on the sidelines. I was going to represent myself, but there’s that old adage, ‘A person who represents herself has a fool for a client,’ and I’m no fool. So when Harvey asked me to be his lawyer, I immediately agreed.
“Frankly, it’s the first smart thing Harvey’s done since he asked me to marry him.”
Still, Watson acknowledged that it placed her in a challenging position.
“As Harvey’s attorney, part of my job is to hide and protect his assets. But as his estranged spouse, now I know where everything is, which makes MY lawyer’s job easier.”
Stiles admitted he had another ulterior motive for hiring his wife. “At home, Sheila never let me get a word in edgewise. As my lawyer, she has to listen to my side of the story. Maybe she’ll even end up sympathizing with me, and we can stay together.”
But Watson says that if Stiles thinks that’s going to happen, he’s dreaming.
“Harvey’s okay as a client. As a husband, he’s, to use a legal term, ‘objectionable.’ Marriage dismissed.”
