Finally doing some lawyer work!

[propita]

ONe of my best buddies from law school got the okay to have me do some part-time work at his firm. They’re dissolving and re-forming without one of their partners (someone you would NOT want as your attorney) and need help cleaning the mess she’s leaving behind.

The boss is really okay, honorable and all, so even though my being there is still informal--not talking of pay yet--I don’t mind because I’m learning stuff. Not just the what-to-do, but also the omg-don’t-do-that kind of stuff.

And there’s no recriminations for asking questions or not knowing something. They have a good team, minus that one attorney. So they’d like if I would want to learn/take-over the mva (motor vehicle accident) cases in the future, and agree with my wanting to learn the entire process the long way. I want that so I can make sure I know how before they hire a paralegal to be under me. They’re already planning that!!

Haven’t heard anything on the teaching thing, but I was told that would be next fall, at the earliest. So it’s all good. I’m learning how to be a lawyer without the full-court press crap I want to avoid.

 

[Captain_Nick]

Please don't sue me

 

[Lookingglassman]

DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED?????

 

[Vulcan Princess]

Awesome, propita!

 

[donners22]

Cool. It's great to get your foot in the door like that. It's not just a learning experience; you pick up connections and references which help out your career in the long run.

Getting full-time work in law as a graduate is not all that easy (if for you it's anything like it is here), so those little advantages count.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

Congrats Propita! Hope it all goes well

 

[Shatnertage]

Great news, propita! If law school is anything like undergrad/grad school, they might be putting together the class schedule for Fall 2011 soon, so I'd suggest staying on top of that, as well.

 

[propita]

Great news, propita! If law school is anything like undergrad/grad school, they might be putting together the class schedule for Fall 2011 soon, so I'd suggest staying on top of that, as well.

Yes! I’ll be emailing that professor I spoke with later this week. Maybe offer to work with a few students she thinks would benefit from a 2-3 hour session with me to work out the kinks in their understanding.

And thanks to all for your support!!!

 

[SmoothieX]

Congrats on getting started in the law field!

Always good to get that first job in your chosen vocation. My first engineering job involved helping one of my professors model PCBs in a river and uptake by the fish that live in it.

It has nothing to do with what I do now (land development) but it was sweet to finally do something related to all that class I took.

 

[ancientone51]

Way to go!!! So good to hear you are getting off to a good start, you've earned it.

 

[propita]

Well, I learned today that, if you're paying a lawyer who's billing time spent ... DON'T KEEP HIM ON THE PHONE REPEATING HIMSELF 5X BECAUSE YOU'RE UPSET OR NEED YOUR HAND HELD!!! My god! The money these people are spending for that! Vent your anger about your bitch ex-spouse to a friend, NOT your lawyer. You're not paying your friend (hopefully), but you're probably paying your lawyer for every time you repeat yourself and make your lawyer repeat instructions.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I'm sure they encourage that behavior.

Congratulations. That sounds like a great opportunity and great experience.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Congratulations. Best of luck in your job. If you're billing by the hour, does that mean defense work?

 

[propita]

I’m more doing contract work for the firm, I’d guess you’d put it. General work on multiple cases. That problem attorney left a mess of sorts and I’m helping to move those cases to completion--and the attorney fees are basically just a percentage of an already-negotiated settlement. But the cases need to be closed before the monies are paid out.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Cool! Sounds like a good opportunity.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

Well, I learned today that, if you're paying a lawyer who's billing time spent ... DON'T KEEP HIM ON THE PHONE REPEATING HIMSELF 5X BECAUSE YOU'RE UPSET OR NEED YOUR HAND HELD!!! My god! The money these people are spending for that! Vent your anger about your bitch ex-spouse to a friend, NOT your lawyer. You're not paying your friend (hopefully), but you're probably paying your lawyer for every time you repeat yourself and make your lawyer repeat instructions.

You have a lot to learn about billable hours!! Those are the BEST KIND OF TELEPHONE CALLS

Remember, its not the time you put in at the office its the time you touch the file and what the particular document/assignment is worth.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

I’m more doing contract work for the firm, I’d guess you’d put it. General work on multiple cases. That problem attorney left a mess of sorts and I’m helping to move those cases to completion--and the attorney fees are basically just a percentage of an already-negotiated settlement. But the cases need to be closed before the monies are paid out.

Sorry for the second post...this is exactly what happened to me at the present job. An idiot lawyer left and I had to clean up the mess. [That was two years ago and I am still dealing with some of it.]

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I’m more doing contract work for the firm, I’d guess you’d put it. General work on multiple cases. That problem attorney left a mess of sorts and I’m helping to move those cases to completion--and the attorney fees are basically just a percentage of an already-negotiated settlement. But the cases need to be closed before the monies are paid out.

Cool, best of luck.

 

[Holdfast]

Well, I learned today that, if you're paying a lawyer who's billing time spent ... DON'T KEEP HIM ON THE PHONE REPEATING HIMSELF 5X BECAUSE YOU'RE UPSET OR NEED YOUR HAND HELD!!! My god! The money these people are spending for that! Vent your anger about your bitch ex-spouse to a friend, NOT your lawyer. You're not paying your friend (hopefully), but you're probably paying your lawyer for every time you repeat yourself and make your lawyer repeat instructions.

Ah, the magic of billable hours. My lawyer acquaintances positively adore these sorts of calls, because they can just go on autopilot, checking their email, and doing all sorts of useful stuff, while occasionally mumbling "yeah, that sounds really tough" and just repeating the same thing again and again.

 

[Mary Ann]

Congratulations, propita!