Guess who's back?

I spent the day researching the whether an arbitration clause in a credit card contract can require a west coaster to go to the east coast for mandatory arbitration. The answer is yes. Pay your credit cards.

Hey, sorry for the mushy posts. Just kidding. Kiss my ass if you dont like reading. Admit it. This blog is the only thing that keeps you from jumping.

Lame legal pirate joke!

Why does a pirate hate court?

Cuz he prefers ARRRbitration!

Dating long distance

The hardest thing about dating long distance is the fact that you cannot do anything about being ignored. You can be persistent and call when hung up on, but most likely will merit a free rental of swimfan at Blockbuster. Or you can sit and stew about it like I am doing.

Defender of the public

For those of you interested in being public defenders, this post is funny.

So Close No Matter How Far

I still remember when I saw you first. You caught my eye, and I caught yours. There was an unspoken bond immediately although I wasnt sure I would ever see you again. You were instant familiar, a colorful beauty in a black and white background.

We ran into eachother a few times and I knew I needed to hear your voice. I took the bait and it tasted sweet; Your smile hooked me from day one.

As we spent more time together I noticed how special you were. Hours felt seconds hanging out with you. Time started to go faster and before I knew it, I had to leave. Had being a choice that was made long before I started this journey.

So now I sit here. Helpless. Clutching the past with white knuckles, never letting go of you. The pain of leaving only subsides when the searing pain of missing sets in again. Im not sure when I will get to hold you again, but I know it wont be long. Hang on princess...

Trial

Attended a $17 million trial today with one of the partners. I have to say that this experience solidified my interests in being a litigator. Civil suits are wear its at baby. Italian suits are nice too.

Nerd Superbowl

I cant remember if i blogged about this already, but the nerd superbowl was awesome. The special effects were great, the action was non stop, and all my pressing questions about where darth vader came from were answered. I cant wait until the boxed set with all six versions comes out. Then I will invite my closest friends and we will dress up at watch all six in a row, switching characters after each episode.

You Ass

The best part of working your ass off on an assignment, putting all sorts of detail into the project, is to have the partner look at you and say, "I didnt read it yet. It looks to long".

Grades

Today I realized that i might be tasting something that I will never taste again. I by no means am counting myself out. Im just a little down about my 2nd term grades. The firm I work for usually hires from the top 5% of their class. I was nowhere close to that 1st term, let alone where I am now.

So for now I will put in my time and show them why real life means so much more than a silly test. I have no clue whether I even have a shot, but i know that if I show them how good i am, they wont be able to refuse me. Or will they?

Everyone at the office is wheezing. I feel like I have asthma when i walk up the stairs. Hopefully I will be better by the weekend.

The Reset Button

Finished the land use article. Found three more research projects. Loving life right now. The only thing that would make this complete is if my woman was here to enjoy it with me. Grades come out tomorrow. Im nervous. The first three are not stellar. Lets hope for the last two. Off to bed so I can get into the office early and start billing some time.

I miss you

I met with a senior partner today, who happens to be extremely eccentric. I handed him a case that I found, which happened to be on point and I didnt really know it. So as I start to explain he tells me to shhh. He looks at me and says, "When you are in the courtroom and you are winning, keep your mouth shut. You dont want to ruin a good thing." He then congratulated me for find the case. Apparently he had been looking for a while with no sucess.

Turned in my land use digest article to another partner. This one is going to be tough to get some kudos for. It was a tough subject and I am just happy to have it off my desk.

Tomorrow, more research.

This weekend: Nerd Superbowl (Star Wars)

Sorry to all my friends who I havent called back. Now if you'll excuse me, time to go dream of my princess.

This is the title

I spent the day writing the rest of the digest article and I have to say that i think it stinks. I love how my writing looks great until i print it and proofread it.

Went to lunch with an associate who is considered the bomb in property law. He gives me great insight on what i need to do to be competitive in the market. He also gets to the office at 6am leaves by 5pm and has a family, 2 dogs, and an acre. I admire him, because he takes the time to be a great guy while putting up with a lot of crap. He is one of my mentors among many.

Went to a bar association dinner and it was a sleeper. The food was good, but no amount of booze and chocolate cake will make up for the lack of zest. Although, one speaker called his colleague the Michael Jordan of baseball, which i thought was hilarious.

It is crazy to think of how much effort it will take to start my career as a lawyer. I see lawyers with families and I know I can make it work. Not only can i make it work, I can make it fun.

Off to beddybye for me.

Feel my firm-ness.

Took a chunk out of my land use digest article today. Went to lunch with an of-counsel attorney at the firm. Tried to take over the world. Looks like it might be a two day project.

Broke my phone at the gym. Now the screen doesnt work. Ive had the damn thing for less than 6 months.

Billed 51 hours last week. Im trying to get an invite back for next summer. I could see myself working for this firm when i graduate.

I Went to a small ivy league law school named Westlaw!

The other clerks showed up for their first day today. It was kind of nice to have a couple week jump on them. Now some of my workload should get passed of to them.

10 associates took us out for lunch today. It was a nice lunch. Hell, any free lunch is nice, but this one tasted great.

Helped another partner find an expert witness today. I found an obscure expert who was more than willing to help us. The partner was grateful for my work, so that felt good.

I am liking this experience so far. Bring me my woman out here and I am set. This is Robyn Leach, er, i mean 2Cents and change signing off. And remember: 20's make your nose dry and crackly. Use the 50's.

Irony and other little creatures that bite you in the ass

I find it extremely ironic that day after writing my post about being happy in biglaw I was assigned a memo that was so urgent I stayed at the office 16 hours to finish it.

I found a crumpled up piece of paper in my pocket that added to the irony. It said "Note to self: Take research and writing before summer clerkship so that you dont spend 16 hours working on a memo for a partner."

The moral of the story is that when you finally meet the cleaning attendants that pick up all your messes at night, you arent really surprised that your stapler smells like Doritos, and your chair wreaks of patchouli.

I capped the week off with some sushi and an drinks with a few associates and a couple partners. It was a long week but I think that once I get a little more effecient at this writing thing, I will be in good shape. And by the way. The partner loved the memo.

Serious Post

I spent the day searching for an expert on mexican wage claims for a $17 million suit.

I have really grown to despise the judgmental folks in law school. Too many are idealistic and have no capacity to fathom the real world. They criticize my choice to persue big law without realizing the hypocrisy of their views.

If I choose to change the world by persuing a boring, monotonous, but generously well paying biglaw job, then so be it. Later down the road, when i have a little extra money I can put it to good work. I can start a non profit to benefit disadvantaged people.

The fact that people criticize this career path is astounding. I humbly admire anyone who can make a living in this world for less than what average lawyers make. The part that I have a hard time understanding, is how they will help others when they are struggling themselves.

Maybe I am naive. All I know is that I would like to be happy and to make people around me happy. Knowing how I will provide food, shelter, schooling, etc for the family I would like to start is probably my biggest motivation to pursue biglaw.

In the end, I will be happy, because I find away to adapt to any situation. I also know how to surround myself with people who share this positive outlook on the world. Belive me, they are few and far between.

The Cherry on Top

I had to ruin a nice day by checking my damn Torts grade. I couldnt just wait until all the grades are out. Now I have to wallow in mediocrity until the other 3 classes are out. I hate how elusive grades in law school are. The classes I think I bombed turn out to be my better grades. I really thought I nailed this final. Nope.

Off to the gym to blow off some steam.

Lawyers do it in their briefs.

A partner I havent seen since last summer came back from vacation today. He saw me and greeted me with a smile and gave me a hand shake. The problem is, that the handshake was the same one we had in the fraternity. He's not a fellow frater unfortunately, because if he was we would be responsible for some major office debauchery. We would start our days by going through all the associates offices and make them line up like a bunch of pledges. Then we would take all the food items found in the kitchens and throw them on the associates in an attempt to berate their self esteem. Then after the office is good and messy, we will make the associates clean up their messes. After all, what good is a pledge, i mean associate, if they cant do household chores. While the pledges clean up their messes, partner and I will set up lawn chairs and wear hawaiian shirts while we drink expensive vodka out of coconut shell glasses. After we are good and crunk, we will parade around the office stealing everyone's stapler and piling them all on the desk of that annoying lady who complains that someone stole her stapler.

Next, I will take the spectacle back to my desk, to check my email. I speak from experience when i tell you that you cant respond fast enough, when a partner asks if you want to go get lunch. And remember, order the lobster.

I will then call every other associate in the building and pretend to be a named partner. After a brief discussion about their lack of performance, I will fire them and take back the company Porsches.

Right about now, my alcohol induced psychosis will be wearing off and a bitter associate will remind me that I am just a lowly summer clerk who needs to work approximately 26.5 hours a day for the rest of my life just to be in the position to pull all this crap, and also to afford that '87 camaro will dice in the mirror.

Yeah, it could happen...

one week down

1st week:
188 pages written.
4 Memos written.
2 shots of tequila drank.
10 partners schmoozed.
3 margarita's guzzled.
43 hours billed.
1 glass of $100 bottle red wine sipped.
Notice a trend here...?

Bill This!

Day two of informal depositions. Ive written almost 200 pages and met the president, CEO, CFO, CIO of a multi-million dollar company. This legal stuff is a rush. I am exhausted. Time to count some sheep and bill my ass off tomorrow. Expect better posts this weekend. Maybe I can bill 10 hours tomorrow, fly to an undisclosed midwest town stuck in 1984 in time to catch the double OC episode, sitting next to my girlie.

Taco Tuesdays

Spent the day informally deposing executives for a $2 million trial. Was quite a bit of fun, but my hands are tired from taking notes. I filled up 1.5 notepads of notes. Pretty much the most I've ever written in one sitting. Learned alot about employment law and it was inspiring to actually spot the issues for a valid case.

The partner I went with said she was happy with the work and another partner and some associates went out for a martini at quitting time.

I am drained and have to do it all again tomorrow. This is the life.

Swimming with the sharks

I hit the ground running today at the office. I had no clue what to expect and boy did I underestimate what I will be doing for the firm. I have a strong feeling that most of the attorneys there think that I am just finishing my 2L. I have three projects, one including writing a review article for a land use digest. Quite the nail biter, i know. To top it off, the case that i have to review for it is 50 pages. Im not complaining though, I get paid to do this. Research and WRiting would have come in handy right about now.

Tomorrow a partner and i are going to depose some clients for a 2million dollar case. This should be fun.

Put on the shackles, Im ready

Today is my last day of freedom before I start my summer clerkship. I am nervous but mostly excited to start gaining some great legal experience. We will finally see if our school lives up to the hype that they prepare their students better than any Tier 1 school.

Waiting for grades sucks but at least I will know mid june which school I am attending for sure.

Off to the mall to get some work clothes.