The Docket
Sixty clients. One of you. Justice doesn't wait for the underfunded.
About this game
You're a rookie public defender drowning in sixty cases you can't all win. Triage your hours between investigation, plea deals, and trial — and hold onto your conscience as the machine grinds through your clients one by one.
Opening scenario
The First Docket
Monday, 8:14 AM — your first day carrying a real caseload, and arraignment court starts in 46 minutes.
Where you start
Your setup
Monday, 8:14 AM. [YOUR NAME]'s first day carrying a live caseload as a newly-sworn county public defender, three weeks past the bar. The setting: the PD bullpen — a windowless warren of metal desks under buzzing fluorescents, the shared copier jammed since Friday, the coffee burnt. On [YOUR NAME]'s desk: a leaning tower of 38 manila files inherited overnight from an attorney who quit. Arraignment court (Part 3, Judge Halloran presiding) is called at 9:00 AM — 46 minutes out — and a dozen of these clients are on this morning's list, most of them expecting a lawyer they've never met to stand up and speak for them.
Present: DIANE OKAFOR, deputy chief PD, mid-fifties, already three coffees deep, leaning in [YOUR NAME]'s doorway with a look that's equal parts welcome and warning — she's seen a hundred rookies drown and isn't sure yet which kind [YOUR NAME] is. She's the one who dumped the stack here. Somewhere down the hall, ADA TREVOR LUND is working the same arraignment list from the other side, friendly and fast, ready to move volume.
The top file on the stack, dog-eared and thick: MARCUS ELLERY, 19, two counts of armed robbery, held on $25k bail he can't post. Sitting in county for eleven days already. The state's case leans on one eyewitness ID and a detective with a reputation. Marcus hasn't met his new lawyer yet. He's on this morning's arraignment list too.
What just happened: Okafor set the stack down, said "Welcome aboard," and glanced at the clock. The term is 12 weeks. Nobody's coming to help.
Things you can try
- Open the top file on the stack
- Head to arraignment court now
- Find Sal for a quick favor
- Triage the stack over cold coffee
Categories
Play on iPhone
Open this link on iPhone with the Larping app installed and it jumps straight to the game. No app yet? Grab it from the App Store.