It Would Have Been Easier To Get Arrested...

By Jen Paolino

If anyone ever says that getting someone to talk to you at the local High Point courthouse is easy, then they’re lying.

It’s about 3:30 pm on Thursday, April 9, and the courthouse is completely empty. The security guards at the front door joke about “the beepers,” then laugh when as someone walks through the metal detector, setting it off. They’re patted down by a small-ish man with glasses and a moustache who asks them to please lift their pant legs up so he can see if they’re hiding razorblades in their shoes.

The deputy clerk’s office is on the third floor, and if anyone is looking for a hearing, they’re the people to tell you when it will be held.
A short ride in a dimly lit elevator takes you up to the third floor. The building smells musty, and the far wall is made completely of glass. Peering into the door of the deputy clerk’s office, several of the seats are taken up by people filling out paper work.

The woman at the front desk announces that court ended today at noon, and there will be no more trials until the courthouse opened up again on Monday.

Apparently she wasn’t permitted to give out any further information, because after her brief announcement, she closed her sliding glass window with a whack. Apparently people at the courthouse aren’t willing to talk to complete strangers with notepads.

Finally, a man who turned out to be a lawyer, but at first glace could pass for Santa Claus blew through the doors adjacent to a big sign that read ESTATES. With a protruding belly, wire-rimmed glasses, and a white beard that covered pretty much his entire face, he was a dead ringer for Santa.

Turns out that Clarence Mattocks isn’t Santa at all; he’s an estate lawyer who has found himself, surprisingly, working closely on cases that deal with neglected or abused children.

After wandering around the maze on the third floor, Clarence settled into the lawyer’s lounge, which was completely empty at such a late hour. Without much coaxing Mr. Mattocks opened up to about everything from how he got started in law to the types of cases he finds most often in the High Point court rooms.

He’s been practicing law since 1974, and has his father, who is also a lawyer, to thank for that. He graduated with a degree in law from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has been practicing ever since.

Mr. Mattocks claims to love what he does, but admits that at times it does get stressful. He’s dealt with everything from parents smothering their child to junkies who can’t stay on their meds long enough to provide “safe, stable homes” for their children.

While he has seen his share of serious cases of child neglect, the ones that usually make it to the courts here are cases with lesser degrees of neglect.
After an hour and a half of rapid-fire lawyer talk, Mr. Mattocks had answered each and every question without a stutter or a stumble. After being in court rooms for the better part of 35 years, you learn a thing or two about the law.