Judge Branch and Mac Johnson, by Robert McMillan
(Robert McMillan, senior partner in McMillan Smith & Plyler, has practiced law in Raleigh, N.C. for over 50 years. He graciously has allowed me to publish some of his favorite law stories, one of which appears below. Other stories written by Robert McMillan will be posted periodically.)
Upon graduation from Wake Forest Law School in the 1930s, Judge Joe Branch went back to his home in Halifax County and joined the practice of Mr. Mac Johnson. Mr. Johnson was the father of Virginia’s Meredith friend, Kitty Johnson.
Judge Branch, as all who knew him were aware, was a personable and able attorney. He developed a strong following in a remarkably short time. In due course, the clientele coming into the office started asking for Mr. Branch more often than for Mr. Johnson, the senior attorney in the office.
Mr. Johnson was moving on up in years and became a little sensitive about these developments. One hot summer day, long before the era of air conditioning, Mr. Johnson returned to his office somewhat down by virtue of the heat and by virtue of having lost a case in court.
One of his longtime clients was in the office upon Mr. Johnson’s return. Mr. Johnson walked by him and went into his office. Then he summoned the client in rough tones to “come on in.” The client responded: “I’m waiting to see Mr. Branch.”
Somewhat miffed by this, Mr. Johnson replied: “Come on in here. I can do anything Mr. Branch can do.” The client meekly entered and said, “Mr. Johnson, can you loan me $3 till Saturday?” This, perhaps, explained the mystery of the huge traffic seeing Mr. Branch.
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