"To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them." William Shakespeare's Hamlet
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| Christopher Boldt, Attorney and Shakespeare Fan |
By: Rich Bergeron
The meaning of the above quoted speech has been debated for centuries, with many scholars insisting it is merely the excited musings of a mad man contemplating suicide. These first few lines seem to point to another explanation, though. Perhaps Hamlet is questioning his princely riches and his boring life of pampered bliss (outrageous fortune). Maybe the bit where he says "take arms against a sea of troubles" is not a veiled way of talking about offing himself at all.
If we put these lines in different perspective, it could actually be the epiphany a spoiled brat. He never has to do anything constructive if he chooses not to, the classic silver spoon-fed royal. However, his father dying perhaps for once in his life leaves him actually thinking about solving the worst problems (sea of troubles) plaguing his kingdom. He feels the pressure of leaving a legacy like his father had, to be a leader who is actually remembered for his wholesome and honest life.
The question then is not whether to live or to kill yourself. It is a more complicated set of choices. It comes down to whether to accept your current standing in life and only do what is expected of you, or to be driven toward the betterment of yourself and your community. Do you stay within the confines of what society defines you as, or do you strive for endeavors with more purpose and a more positive impact on your surroundings?
People make these kind of choices every day. Do I just coast through the day and do the bare minimum at work, or should I keep trying to impress the boss and get that promotion I want? Do I maintain my invisible worker bee status, or do I go above and beyond and try to lead my colleagues into a better future?
I don't know if Christopher Boldt ever had one of these Hamlet moments, but I do know he's a Shakespeare fan. There must have been a time in his life when Boldt had to make some ultimate choice to either be a lawyer with benevolent purpose or one with mostly malicious motivations. He could choose to be a champion for just causes or the kind of corrupt and lying lawyer we all joke about. He could perhaps be both, he might have thought.
Unfortunately for a variety of people and municipalities in New Hampshire, Christopher Boldt became a corrupt, double dealing, conniving, and profit-driven cog in a broken system. From assessment rigging to price fixing to advising towns improperly to pushing developments with complete disregard for the environment, the skeletons in this attorney's closet could fill a graveyard. He's done it all. Yet he's still flying above the radar, moving in important circles and pretending to be a prim and proper practitioner of perfectly legitimate lawyering.
Either scandal just randomly follows an ever so unlucky Attorney Boldt wherever he goes, or he dabbles in so much questionable behavior that scandal is an occupational hazard. This series will chronicle how this shady character ended up migrating from Texas to the Granite State, compiling a long list of sworn enemies and severe screw ups along the way.
We start more than 20 years ago in a small city named Dripping Springs, Texas. Boldt was anointed into the secret cult of shady legal professionals by a real local mover and shaker. Rex Baker came from a long line of lawyers. His family name always carried a lot of weight.
Baker used his local influence, political connections, and the nuances of the city's "extraterritorial jurisdiction" to champion a series of real estate developments in a ruthless, unethical manner. Christopher Boldt helped him hoodwink the public and engage in a scheme that later led to Baker's stepping down as the general counsel for Dripping Springs.
Though Boldt had already vacated the premises by the time Baker stepped down, the damage was done and the die was cast. Boldt's future double dealing and shady legal shenanigans would come to mirror his mentor's. He became a chip off the old Baker block.
Next in this series, we will highlight just what was so wrong about the Dripping Springs debacle and why Boldt felt the need to tuck tail and run from his first partnership in a law firm. He would end up way out in the boondocks of New Hampshire, advising multiple municipalities and other private sector clients in a variety of land use issues.
Boldt is now up to the same old tricks and using the same tactics Baker used to put himself on both sides of certain lucrative disputes. As one victim of this home cooked Baker and Boldt development scheme recently put it, "there was nothing but hilltops then, but it's all rooftops now." Despite the passing of two decades, it's still a fresh wound for some of the more than 750 homeowners that made up the Friendship Alliance of Northern Hays County.
Baker is just one skeleton in the Chris Boldt closet. The Baker methodology and lack of any ethical backbone also represents a ghost that will forever haunt Boldt and follow him throughout his career. Like Hamlet's father appearing to him as an apparition perhaps influenced his behavior beyond that point in the play, Baker's spirit seems to inspire every devious and dastardly legal maneuver Boldt engages in even today. Instead of being repulsed by this important and early legal experience, Boldt was enamored by the perpetrator and sought to perfect that type of lawyering instead of never replicating it again.
This series is ultimately a sad but true tale of the same kind of "vaulting ambition" that plagued another famous Shakespearian character: MacBeth. We will do our best to share all the crucial details with you that paint a full picture of this amazing saga, one puzzle piece at a time.
Read and Share the entire Christopher Boldt Series:
The Plan B Justice Group: To Be or Not To Be... Corrupt to the Core, The Christopher Boldt Series (Part One)
The Plan B Justice Group: Christopher Boldt's Texas-Sized Mistakes Follow Him to New Hampshire (Part Three)
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