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There's No Free Parking in Downtown Aberdeen

By Lynne DeVenny

"I can't afford parking - I can't afford anything." ~ Scottish paralegal Claire Williams

The Scotsman is reporting that a paralegal, owner of a black Volkswagon Beetle, has incurred parking fees in excess of £18,000 for parking illegally in downtown Aberdeen - on a daily basis for almost a year.

For those of you (like me) who aren't frequent overseas travelers, that's approximately $27,451 and some change in U.S. dollars.

That's a jaw-dropping amount for anybody. I'm not saying that I haven't incurred a few random parking tickets in my day while filing documents at the federal courthouse (in ancient times before e-filing), but I just dropped them on the office administrator's desk and forgot about them.

The article contained this description of the paralegal's parking situation:

Miss Williams works at a law firm in Aberdeen city centre, where car parking is limited and expensive.

That may be the understatement of the century.

I don't know who I feel sorrier for - the "cash-strapped city council" or the cash-strapped paralegal. The Evening Express reported earlier this year that she had "a pile of tickets on the floor of her car and an even bigger stash of notices at her office." (Did nobody at the office notice?) She's filed bankruptcy, but the city is still calculating its legal fees to tack on to her bill.

But as I review Aberdeen's schedule of car parking charges, it looks like a business permit at £160, or a little over $240 per year, would have been the more prudent choice.

Note to self: If you ever move to Aberdeen to work in a law office, make sure the price of a downtown parking permit is included in your compensation package.

Source: Scotsman; Evening Express

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on July 14, 2010 (boomark / email).