Lincoln lawyer tired of sitting in court writes a poem, shedding some light on a serious situation

Lincoln criminal defense attorney, Nancy Peterson, is having a little fun. 

In a world of subpoenas, courtrooms, hearings and more Peterson likes to bring a laugh to a job that can be a bit of a bore. 

It started in hour four in District Court, when she couldn’t take it anymore. 

She started writing this poem, and eventually filed it as a motion for attorney’s fees. 

“In courtrooms I spend lots of time, for defendants I’m here on their dime,” she wrote. 

She had been subpoenaed to that courtroom by a former client, while compliant Peterson couldn’t stay quiet. 

“I don’t practice for free, I must charge a fee in order to pay bills and dine,” the poem continued. 

“I wasn’t his attorney when sitting there,” Peterson said in an interview. “I was basically sitting there not getting paid for anything and trying to find a way to turn a bad situation into a good thing.” 

She said the wheels in her mind started to turn, the rhymes beginning to churn. 

The poem continued. 

“One seventy five an hour, will get you my lawyering power. The county pays less, seventy bucks I confess. My plumber gets more for my shower!”

Peterson said the first few lines of the poem were easy.

“After that I kinda got bogged down and because I’m just sitting in court I had my phone so I got the rhyming dictionary out and kind of worked it backwards,” Peterson said. 

She said she wanted to make someone smile, during a trial that had gone on for miles.

“It hit me that I needed to make everybody laugh. It’s a difficult case and it’s stressful on everybody and it felt like a good opportunity to have a little fun.”

But also to try and get compensated for the hours she had waited. 

“So I write to you and humbly plea, that you’ll make a judicial decree,” she wrote. “To please compensate, the four hours I did wait on Long’s painful request to go free.” 

Whether or not the motion will be, Peterson said “we’ll see.”