It was this older Accord sitting in front of this modest house that first caught my eye. And then I noticed the shingle hung out. Here’s a closer look:
It rather looks like from a very different era altogether, like a hundred years ago. Now if you’re going to make lawyer jokes or remarks, let’s not get too carried away, as we have at least one on the CC staff. And he’s a libel specialist!
MMM 🙂
Looks like a good set up for a Grisham novel.
“A small town Oregon lawyer goes up against the mob in the case of his life…”
Though judging from the moss growing underneath, doesn’t look like there is much casework going on…
LOL! thanks…. I needed that laugh.
The mob? In small-town Oregon? Come on now..
You’ve never heard of the Corvalis Syndicate?
Hmm.. sounds like an East-Coast thing 😉
You DO know the first two rules of the Corvallis Syndicate, right?
What Corvalis Syndicate?
Heh. Around here we usually get unorganized crime.
Years ago my girlfriend went to court over some vegetable matter her legal aid Lawyer turned up in a beatup Camira, a car so bad you couldnt give one away, he did not inspire confidence and Deb got a huge fine.
She got sued over a vegetable?
Haven’t you heard of Killer Tomatoes?
FROM SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!!!
Those Kiwis take their cucumbers seriously,
I would argue that these are the most reliable of all Accords made. Though most people assume that, at the time, Honda redesigned the cars every 4 years, that’s not entirely true. This is a 1990 car, widened and reskinned in 1994, and facelifted in 1996. That facelift finally cured the car of its primary weakness: rust. Aside from that, the company had 6 years to get any bugs out of what was a very solid, reliable design to begin with.
The 1998 redesign is also not as new as people think. The car got a new rear suspension and an engine bay reconfigured to fit the new 60 degree 3.0 V6 but the front suspension, steering, transmissions and 4-cyl engines are largely similar. There was a retrograde step in quality, with the automatic transmission back to average quality and rust around the rear wheel arches once again a problem (not that you’d know in Oregon). I’d say that the best used car a person could buy is a 96-97 Accord with a manual. The only thing that can really go wrong on a regular basis is that the ABS light comes on (clean speed sensors) and check engine light illuminates (get a new primary O2 sensor and reset the comp).
This lawyer may be poor but she’s smart.
The ’94 redesign was substantial enough that the U.S./JDM market cars received a new chassis code; The Euro model received a “facelift” that was co-developed with the Rover 600. That said, many components on the ’94 were carryover, such as the steering column/wheel, etc.
The ’95 V6 model required a substantial redesign of the front structure to accommodate the bigger engine, although the only noticeable cosmetic difference was the grille which was adopted by all models for ’96. Also, for ’96, Honda redesigned the trunk opening, enlarging it, eliminating the scissor hinges and magically eliminating the rear quarter rust in the process.
I remember a print ad for the redesigned ’98, demonstrating that the only components Honda didn’t reengineer were things like grommets, etc. I imagine that was an overstatement, but I owned both generations and they felt different in every way. Never had the rust issue on the later car, but it definitely was cheapened out.
The ’94-’97 is the pinnacle of these cars, as far as I’m concerned. I miss mine.
Why do I occasionally but regularly see gas filler lids a different color on cars? The left front door handle has been replaced probably the inside one as well.
Older Camrys were known for their door handles and gas doors breaking. I didn’t realize similar-era Accords had this problem but evidently they might. Notice the driver’s door handle has been replaced as well.
Look in a Dorman catalog it will tell you pretty much everything that gets regularly replaced. What a great company offering products to get around dealer markup. Sometimes the parts engineer out the original defects.
I wouldn’t assume that a humble house or car means the owner has limited means. Many wealthy people are frugal & do not necessarily make ostentatious purchases; e.g., Warren Buffet’s 5-bedroom house in Omaha which he bought back in ’58, while not small, gives little hint of his net worth.
There is another incentive as well: I recall a magazine article which pointed out that many Italians conceal signs of their wealth so as not to draw unwanted attention from tax authorities.
That’s my take as well. Why replace a reliable, low-upkeep car with a flashy headache?
+1
Ms. Magginis probably didn’t like the rat race, driving through the traffic jams, parking fees downtown, and the stress of high power litigation.
As Thoreau once said,” I’d rather sit on a pumpkin I own, rather than a velvet pillow I borrowed.” (or something like that.)
FWIW, she’s far from the only one in Eugene. Quite a few professionals have scaled down like this. I can relate!
My childhood pediatrician drove a plain VW Beetle (maybe a ’66 or ’67) and her husband drove an old pickup, replaced by a new 2nd gen VW bus. They were not young. I wonder how many older doctors now drive a 2 door stick shift base Golf.
My childhood doctor still owns the 1976 and 1990 Cadillac Eldorados that he bought brand-new. Both cars have lived outdoors in Vermont their entire lives, and the ’90 has well over 200k miles on it. And no, he’s not planning on parting with either, even though he’s in his mid-70s now.
Those may be old, but they’re still Cadillacs. Not a 2-door, 4 cylinder, 4 speed, 40 horsepower car!
The car could belong to a client as well. “Have YOU been turned down for disability by Social Security?”
Seriously, I have periodically wondered how my life would be different with near-zero overhead, no office rent, no staff salaries, and doing a small legal practice out of a spare room in my house. There are days . . . .
As per my previous comment, it’s pretty common around here. Some move here just to do that.
Have you been injured through no fault of your own?
Have you been sued for paternitiy?
DUI?
Leaving the scene of the accident?
Better Call Saul!
Albuquerque has our own real-life Saul Goodman (who I’ll refrain from identifying further, except to say that he’s quite proud of his work suing drunk – er, “careless” – drivers) who I suspect could top anything the ‘Breaking Bad’ writers have come up with so far.
And, yes, I’m counting Saul’s help with running a meth ring. It really is the Wild West out here.
Supposedly a “Breaking Bad” spinoff centered around Saul is under consideration, and although I generally think spinoffs are a bad idea (“Frasier” perhaps being the exception), I sort of hope this happens. More Odenkirk is always a good thing.
He’s my favorite character on the show. I’d love to see his own spinoff.
Agreed. I barely watch TV anymore, but I would so watch that.
For some people, nice cars just aren’t one of their top priorities (sadly). There was this family whose kids I went to high school with. They lived in this amazing, probably 5,000+ sq.ft. house and drove a Dodge Caravan, Hyundai SantaFe, and Saturn SL1 (all low trim models too).
Sadly? Those people are likely laughing all the way to the bank.
You’d be surprised how many Hondas and Toyotas are in the driveways of the very wealthy. Even that decadent capitalist pig Mitt Romney, son of an auto executive, drove a banged-up Chevy wagon while he was making millions at Bain.
I love nice cars, but honestly they’re a waste of money, and some people just have different priorities.
Sadly no. Smart yes. I’d be much better off if I sold my collection & kept the ’98 Camry we used to have.
The most “solid” people I know & like at work drive ‘boring’ cars with one exception… (her husband picked her out a new Challenger).
I’m glad to see -a few- here don’t automatically assume the lawyer is poor because she drives an old heap.
Heaven forbid someone in this country lives within their means! 😀
I won’t assume the lawyer is poor, but that wouldn’t be a bad guess. Not poor really, but a working class (non-union working class) level of income. Not all lawyers make a lot of money.
I know lawyers who end up selling used cars, insurance, working as carpenters, etc. It’s not because they actually prefer those jobs -though they may claim they do- it’s because there just isn’t a need for as many lawyers as are being “created” every year. A flashy car makes it hard to pay off the student loans.
Law-school applications have been halved the past ten years. Partly because of corporate BS (perhaps some here know of what I’m referring), partly because of the economy (there is a need for lawyers, at a starting salary of $30k!).
As another poster said, it might belong to a client and not to the attorney.
Agreed. Her Koenigsegg is parked out back.
It’s there all the time.
Interesting photo, Paul. Most lawyers around my parts drive more upscale models then this old Honda, but nothing too flashy to court. I believe they like to save the more expensive purchases in the garage, for the weekends.
But seriously, good on ya, Ms Margaret M Maginnis!
Army judge advocate here. My daily driver is a 1971 BMW Bavaria and my ‘long haul’ car is a 1998 Jetta TDI with a partially hooked-up Greasecar system.
Many of the paralegals who have worked for me over the years own newer, more expensive, more blingy cars than I do, yet I think they’re the ones who should be embarrassed for spending money they don’t have. During the week my youngest paralegal drives her brand new Hyundai Sante Fe approx. a football field from the barracks to the office … why?!
I let my enlisted tease me about the Bavaria, but like the old bumper sticker goes at least it’s paid for. I used the Bav to drive around the full-bird colonel for whom I work when he came down from Washington, DC for an inspection … he didn’t say anything one way or the other and I was glad the a/c worked.
I’m embarrassed about many aspects of my existence, but I’m rather proud of the Bavaria and the Jetta because they put my good taste on display for all the world to see.
“My daily driver is a 1971 BMW Bavaria…”
This series of BMW is one of my all time favorites. If the colonel has any taste, he’ll probably enjoy being driven around in it.
I agree that the attorney in question might just like not having a car payment. A family friend who passed away a few years ago at 85 was partner at my grandfather’s law firm and bought used Town Cars for years, despite being able to easily afford a new car. He just didn’t care to.
My cousin and his wife are attorneys for the State of Iowa and they have a Ford Escape and VW Jetta between them.
This picture reminds me of a newer version of attorney Paul Biegler’s office in Otto Preminger’s 1959 film “Anatomy of a Murder”. James Stuart drove an early 1950’s Chevrolet convertible in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as he defended Lt. Manion on a charge of 1st degree murder. Unfortunately for the Chevy Biegler’s boozy colleague Parnell (Arthur O’Connell) wrecked it on the way back from gathering evidence for the trial in Canada.
As others have already noted, there are numerous explanations as to why someone in a supposedly lucrative profession would drive such a car. It is absolutely true, though, that not all attorneys make the big bucks, as ‘Dynamic88’ already touched on. A lot of lawyers with small solo practices, or in very small firms with only a few lawyers, don’t really make that much money. In some cases, this may be due to the attorney in question having voluntarily downsized in the interests of living a simpler life. In other cases, though, these solo practices or very small firms were created because there simply weren’t any better jobs available. Running a practice that size can be hard work, and the competition for business can be brutal.
A slightly different angle, which ‘Dynamic88’ and ‘Midwest Corn’ alluded to earlier: When discussing employment and income, “Law School graduate” and “Lawyer” are not at all the same thing. For at least a couple of decades, if not longer, law schools have been pumping out significantly more graduates than the economy has a need for. A fair number of law school grads either never practice law at all — it’s simply mathematically impossible for this not to be the case — or drop out of the profession after just a few years, never having really gotten established within it. Between those people, and the ones who find jobs but just get burned out, I’ve heard claims that only half of all law school graduates are still practicing law ten years after they graduate from law school. And that was before the slowdown in the economy; over the past few years, it’s more like half of all graduates are finding real attorney jobs in the first place.
Anyway, let’s hope that the attorney whose office/residence and car are depicted in this article is in the “voluntarily downsized in the interests of living a simple life” (or “doing well but see no need to flaunt it”) crowd, and not the “I opened a small part-time solo practice out of my home because I had no other way of staying in the legal profession (and I have no idea how I’m ever going to be able to pay off these student loans)” cohort.
I agree with you completely. The accounting profession is much like law. More graduates than needed. I was a home based CPA most of my accounting career. No overhead, I practiced more golf than accounting.
For me, a modest home, and a simpler life worked. Not for everyone, though.
If you ever want to see the old money in the Hamptons, find the tarnished 20 year old Land Cruisers and Volvo wagons.
Anything flashy is new and probably temporary money.
While I enjoyed contracts and research in law school, the only real interest I had in practicing was consumer protection law. And only Nader and a handful of others can make a leaving from it. But my dad liked to claim it was the most expensive piece of wallpaper he’d ever seen….
I’ve always said, the really old money is driving well-preserved W123 300TDs with prep-school and Ivy League stickers on the rear windows, not anything made in the last 25 years.
One smart lawyer.
The joys of scaling back, living within one’s means…are not to be discounted. There’s the freedom of knowing that what you make is your own; that you’re more than one month away from a Sheriff’s sale; that you do NOT actually need an income of $30,000 a month…just to meet expenses.
Finally, the singular joy that comes of the knowledge: that the morning the boss gets in touch with his Inner A$$hole, that you can tell him what he can do with his jobs and his needs. I suspect our Madam Counselor has done exactly that.