I've been at my job for 4 weeks, and in that time I've had moments that are exciting, moments that are frustrating and moments that make me wonder how I'm doing and how this is all going to work out. Today it felt like everything just clicked and fell into place. For one day at least, I am not just pretending to be an attorney, I am one.
As for most people living in LA, the morning commute set the tone for the rest of the day. Since it was Veteran's day, the freeway was empty. I flew down the 10 at 80 mph instead of the normal 15.
After enjoying coffee at my desk while checking my email, I got my first "from the beginning" assignment. Up until now, any real work I've had has just been little tasks broken off from something mid-stream. It's hard to get an idea of what's going on when everyone you work with has been on the deal for weeks or months. But now I am on a bankruptcy matter, working on something new and important. I sat in meetings today with all the partners discussing strategy and we talked about what we needed to research and how to present that in a brief. Something about starting at the beginning makes this project seem more real. Maybe because it's more like a law school exam: presenting all the facts, then the issues, leaving the problem solving for the task at hand. Maybe because I feel like part of a team and not just a name that is added to a huge working group list at the end when no one is even paying attention anymore.
I'm not sure if I really like bankruptcy or if I just like the fact that I understand the basic terms and concepts already, but it's nice to be excited about the actual work I'm doing. I'm amazed at how much I remember from being a bankruptcy paralegal (already 5 years ago) and my class in law school. I went into this job thinking I wanted to do transactional tax work but it's been nearly impossible to get anything to do. (Apparently tons of people in my class want to do tax, and several spent their deferral year getting an LLM in tax). I'm interested in corporate but I've almost completely written that off because it is known to be the practice area with the worst lifestyle in terms of crazy hours on nights and weekends. So far, I've been doing some bank finance (which people claim has slightly better work-life balance than corporate) and now insolvency. I plan on trying as many different practice areas as possible before I have to declare a department in two years.
The good news is, there is very little pressure right now. Our hours don't count as stubs, so I don't have to worry about pace or filling my plate with work until January. The goal for the rest of 2010 is to meet people and have work lined up so that we can be busy January 1st. That makes it nice for a brand new baby lawyer like me because I can take my time and learn how to do the work and balance everything without being super stressed by all that I have to figure out. I really like the people at my office, I think the quality of work is good and I'm feeling super blessed to have this job right now.
Plus, I got home tonight and spent a blissful two hours with my guys. Timmy danced, hugged, giggled and moon walked (his new obsession) all over the place and I couldn't have been happier.
4 comments:
Wow, has it been four weeks already! It must be flying by for you.
I hope you enjoy your new assignment - and glad that you don't have to stress hours. That'll give you more of a comfort zone.
Glad you're enjoying work atm, but I think you're definitely right to sample as many different practice areas as possible. :-)
"From the beginning" work is the best. Congrats!
Can't believe it's already been a month. Glad you're getting work and liking it. Bankruptcy was not my thing at all. I love the finace/lending work that I do, but the hours can be pretty crazy right before a deal closes.
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