VISITING THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD

On Friday, March 12, 2021, I did something many older folks do from time to time.  I took a drive through the old neighborhood, in this case the northeast corner of Woodward and Jefferson in Detroit, pictured above.  Now called the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center (CAYMC), in the old days it was the City-County Building, known as  "the CCB".  Those initials might still be edged in the glass of the entry doors.

I timed my trip for  a Friday morning, to coincide with the time which, for decades, that weekly festival known as Wayne County Circuit Court motion day, was celebrated. Because of an early conference call, I did not arrive until 9:45am, a time when one would often meet a Wayne Circuit judge or two entering the building for their 8:30 motion call.

The picture above was not taken on March 12, but it does accurately depict the level of activity around the building that morning. I could have parked in front of the building on the Jefferson side, something I was never able to do in 40 years of practice.

Usually, if I arrived at 9:45, the closest parking would be on a surface lot along Brush near Jacobys.  "Hey, Boss, how long you gonna be here, Boss?  Ten Dollars, Boss.  Park over there, Boss. No, not there, idiot."

Very peaceful that morning.  Friday morning at Wayne County could be called many things.  Peaceful should not be one of them.  I am afraid when the pandemic ends, Friday mornings will never be the same.  No more packed elevators.  No more using the stairs to get from the 9th floor to the 16th because of the packed elevators.  No more waiting for your opponent until you became the last  motion on the docket.  No more resolving motions and cases in the stairwells.  Zoom hearings, or still worse, no hearings will be the normal forever.  Sad.

My March 12 nostalgia tour did not end with the trip downtown.  Later on a took a walk past the building shown below, a practice I have visited as both a plaintiff lawyer and defense lawyer. Ah, me.