What I love about litigation is that my cases are never laid back and easy going. Somehow, I attract high maintenance cases with a lot of baggage. They are just never satisfied.
One day the defendant is living in Canada, the next day he is actually living in Jamaica. One day the Hague Service Convention applies, the next day a state statute applies. One day the plaintiff claims his injuries prevent him from working, the next day we catch him on the driving range! Then there are butt loads of motions, replies to motions, and other pleadings just waiting to be filed. Oh and in the meantime, I'm responding to interrogatory requests and writing status reports to our insurance company clients.
These cases make me want to pull my hair out but they also make me fall deeply and madly in love with my legal career every day. They are the reason I am crosseyed and my brain shuts down at 4:15pm. They are the reason I drink 2 cups of coffee and one Diet Dr. Pepper each day. They are the reason the bags under my eyes are growing bags under them. They are the reason I am incapable of having a logical thought or speaking coherently past 5:00pm. But they are MY CASES. I knew them when they were just teeny tiny Complaints. I know them like the back of my hand (I was going to say "eyelids" but I've forgotten what the back of my eyelids look like).
These cases cause me to jump out of bed in the middle of the night with new ideas and thoughts. They puzzle me, confuse me and try to beat me into the ground. But I love the challenge. I love the strategy. I love the process. I love the Court Rules and using them to favor our client. Litigation is like a big game of chess, with way more rules and so many game pieces that I haven't even discovered them all yet.
I may manage these cases from start to finish. I may direct their path to an extent and guide them to resolution, but these cases are teaching me. They are teaching me how to be a lawyer. They are teaching me how to be a litigator. I love every step along the way.
Now if only I passed the bar exam.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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3 comments:
I love that you are loving your new life so much. Isn't being out of law school great?
Did you find out already? Your post sounds so ominous!
yes, yes, yes! The chess analogy. I just got done with my mock trial's pre-trial conference. As one of the opposing counsel and I walked home together, we were talking about how much we love motions in limine. I believe his exact words were, "I could do that all day." Haha... we're such legal nerds! Love it!
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