Today was a little better than yesterday. On the bright side, I got to write a letter to an adversary demanding a judgment be paid. I also got to call a client on the phone and sound as if I knew how to make his world right again. Um, well he was really just acting like “whatever,” but it still seemed like I was relaying important advice.
I’m still working on the memo. There is something near our house that reminds me a lot of the facts of the case I’m working on and so I’m reminded of my inability to write a memo in less than 2 days everytime I go back to my place or the school. It will probably take half of tomorrow to complete as well assuming no one gives me any more work to do until I’m done. I think I’ve got the general idea and I would probably get the thumbs up if I was working on this research for a law school class, but this is a real client and so it seems like I have to have everything down cold in case we were to pursue action based on my research.
So I stayed late again today and also went to the law library later on in the evening. Moreover, as I was driving back from T’s apartment, I could see the office in the distance and I think the assigning attorney’s light was on. Seriously; I’m pretty good at direction and orientation. I’m pretty sure it was his office. Whatever. 24 hours from now, I’ll be on the family vacation at a lake. Well, actually I’ll be on an airplane on an overnight flight.
So I guess I better finish the memo tomorrow. Besides, I want to write more letters to adversaries and get more people on the phone. That was fun.
-jd
Three days down? You keep forgetting that this is the rest of your life.
I know it seems daunting, but you have to remember that any job is intimidating at first. You struggled with finding a cause of action, and then you worked to find the elements and SOL for the case. It took you some time, but you and I both know that next time you get an assignment you’ll know where to go and what to do. This is all part of the learning curve. Give it some time and you’ll love it. Litigation is a lot of fun because you get so much client interaction, and what you do really does make a difference in someone’s life. Just think, the memo you are working on will determine if the potential client has a case. That is mind blowing!
And don’t worry about the attorney being in the office at midnight. Chances are he simply forgot to turn off his lights. Besides, you aren’t expected to give up your life to be an attorney. Work is meant to compliment your life, not be your life.
You’ll get the hang of all of this and then you’ll look back and laugh at how nervous you were.
T
Comment by T — June 22, 2006 @ 7:57 am