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Scallops and Bacon: A Story of Legal Expertise and a Fisherman’s Plight

October 1, 2024
By Josie Mastandrea
Josie Mastandrea, a rising junior at the University of Richmond, spent the summer of 2024 shadowing Attorney Chris Fiorentino to develop a better understanding of what the life of a criminal defense lawyer looks like. The following article is one of a series documenting the insights she derived from the experience.

When you meet Chris, he looks like every other attorney–professional, always wearing a nice suit, nice shoes, and a nice tie, but don’t be fooled. He doesn’t always do things as conventionally as most. I learned about as much last Tuesday, at 7:59 a.m., when I received quite the unusual text from Chris. It went something like this: “Josie! I have a ton of scallops. Like a ton. I also have bacon. Would you like some scallops and bacon?”. Having just woken up, I read the message about 5 times trying to decode it before replying with the only reasonable response I could think of: “Yes?”. 


Once at Court… 


I arrived at Brockton District Court about 2 hours later to meet Chris and his client for a magistrate hearing. The client had come to Chris for help getting a speeding ticket dismissed. 

This particular client was pulled over, he was driving 95 mph on the highway – well above the 5-10 miles per hour most people drive above the speed limit in the Boston area. 


Nonetheless, the numbers make a lot more sense when you hear this client’s story. He’s a commercial scallop fisherman. He goes out on the boat for days, sometimes weeks, at a time. There are plenty of people willing to do this work, so there is no being late to the dock. If you’re late, you’re out. This client is responsible for supporting his family, which includes a wife, a daughter in preschool, and a new dog. He’s built a pleasant life for himself in the suburbs of Boston, but his livelihood depends on being on time. The morning he got that ticket, he was running late. There's never a great excuse for speeding, but that’s a pretty good one.


I know all of this because Chris, the client, and I waited together for about an hour and a half outside the magistrate judge’s courtroom that day. You can really get to know a person in an hour and a half. By the time our case got called, we were comparing photos of our dogs. 


Inside the Courtroom…

Inside the courtroom, things weren’t quite as pleasant. Chris relayed his client’s story to the judge, commercial fishing, suburbs, and all. The judge barely nodded before launching into a speech about the dangers of speeding and the cases that had come through his courtroom with far worse outcomes. Others had gone 95 straight into a guardrail, or a deer, or another car. He wasn’t being unreasonable, but the more animated he became, the further I thought our odds of winning were maybe 20/80. Chris hung in there, though, as I grimaced in the back of the courtroom. He sympathized with the judge’s points while maintaining that his client deserved to get cut a break. 


To my absolute surprise, the judge agreed to dismiss the ticket provided the client takes two driving courses that he could complete within the month he has off from fishing in November. Somehow, 20/80 odds were good enough for Chris. This was the best result possible, given the relatively bad facts we were working with. 


Outside the Courthouse…


The client agreed. He was ecstatic as we walked out of the courtroom and later posted a review for Chris, in which he wrote “Chris wasn’t [the] first one I called, but the first one [that was] understanding of my special needs…[Chris] set up an appointment for me right away on a Saturday! (Wow)...When I asked him how much I owe for consulting, he replied that it is nothing to worry about and didn’t want to take anything. (Wow)... Now instead of paying a huge traffic ticket [and] having auto insurance skyrocket I will just complete a driving class. (Wow).” You can read the rest of his review here.


It’s not like Chris hasn’t won a traffic violation hearing before, though, so why have I chosen to tell this particular client’s story? You might remember the text I received early that morning. Well, when we walked out into the parking lot of the courtroom, Chris brought me to his car and handed me what could only have been his child’s lunchbox. Upon opening it, I uncovered 2 packages: one of bacon and one of scallops–straight from the pig and the sea. I looked at Chris, puzzled, before I remembered that this client was a fisherman and Chris smokes his own bacon at home.


“How do you think I’m getting paid?” he asked, with a grin.


We both laughed. I had no complaints, of course, I had scallops for dinner that night.


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