Back to the drawing board

This is how my morning started out. I had no sooner plopped myself in my desk chair at 8:45 am when the phone rang. It was a partner in my office with whom I have a good working relationship. He can be quite grumpy, but I seem to have endeared myself to him. He sort of reminds me of my grandpa.

He called me down to his office to talk about the brief I’ve been slaving over for him. Something in the tone of his voice made me realize that he was less than thrilled. And indeed, as soon as I stepped into his office he began, “You know I don’t mince words.” Oh, crap. Then he blurted it out: “I don’t like it. It needs a lot of work. I think you just need to go back to the drawing board. You need to rewrite it.” Words that I most dread hearing.

He then tried to make me feel better by 1) telling me a “war story” about a partner who used to criticize everything he did when he was a junior associate to the point that he dreaded coming to work in the morning and 2) telling me that I was “doing great.”

The real good news was, though, that as we started to go through the brief it became apparent that I wouldn’t need to go back to the drawing board — most of what he wanted was already there, it just needed to be retooled and re-framed. I breathed a big internal sigh of relief. It also occurred to me that I think I have a lot thicker skin than I used to. When I was younger I would cry at the drop of a hat and it was very hard for me to take criticism. But today, the criticism didn’t bother me because I knew it was coming from a good place, and that it will help me be a better lawyer. (If he were a screamer, that would be another story entirely).

At any rate, I am looking forward to 5 straight days of NO WORK. I’m flying up to Oregon to be with my family for the holidays and this time, unlike over Thanksgiving, I am bringing NO WORK with me!! I will be busy next week, but until then, it can wait. I need the R&R.

Another interesting thing this week. I wrote a few months ago about seeing A. for the first time since we broke up, and since then we have hung out several times and are buddies again. (In fact, he called me tonight and wants my advice, so we are having lunch next week.) That first time I saw him again, I expected it to be so hard, but instead I just had the feeling of “Huh – I used to really be into this guy.”

Well, I had that same experience this week with the guy I dated a few months back. He stopped by to drop off some of my things, and I was sort of dreading it. We have been emailing casually, but he had still been in my head more than I wanted to admit. I think when I’m not dating somebody, the tendency is to want to reminisce about the most recent person I dated. Anyway, he came by, and instead of feeling sad or wistful or flustered, I just got that same feeling of “Huh.” It was as if a switch went off and I was suddenly 100% over it — I still feel friendly towards him but that’s all.

And that is this week’s reminder that things really do fall into place just as they should, dear readers.

Noodles and I are off to bed … one more day of work and then leaving on a jet plane! I may blog while I’m in Oregon if the mood strikes…

The Eleventh Wheel

Another weekend is coming to an end, dear readers, and I thought I’d wrap it all up with a blog. Overall it was a pretty mellow weekend. I had to work part of the day yesterday and for a couple of hours today, but other than that I enjoyed the 4th annual cookie party with my former roommates, catching up on Netflix (Waitress and Superbad), reading (I am halfway through Saving Fish from Drowning) and, of course, my firm’s holiday party.

The holiday party was very nice–beautiful location, nice cocktail hour and appetizers, a meal, dancing. I love my co-workers, and the speeches were good (in particular one partner who had the crowd roaring with laughter – I literally had tears streaming down my face, I was laughing so hard). But still, I admit I didn’t exactly have fun. And I hate to say this, because I don’t want to be “that” whiny single person, but, well…frankly, it sort of sucks being a single in a sea of couples. For part of the night I was able to ignore the fact and even enjoy being a solo agent. During cocktail hour I wandered around and chatted with people, and felt sort of relieved to just be able to do my own thing. One funny thing about the night was that I was driving, so I only had 1/2 a glass of wine over the course of the whole night. My co-workers, on the other hand…not so much. Even my boss, when I was chatting with him toward the end of the night, was noticeably slurring his speech. People were getting very confessional with me, and I was just sort of nodding and humoring them.

Anyway, when my singleness became really noticeable was when we moved into the ballroom for the sit-down portion of the evening. There was no assigned seating, so people started grabbing up spots. Each table had 10 seats at it. Some of the girls I really like in my department encouraged me to come sit with them…but there were 10 seats, 5 couples already sitting there. One of my co-workers’ boyfriends went and stole a chair from another table so I could join them. This, of course, meant that I ended up stealing someone else’s napkin and fork, too. And at one point as I was eating my bloody prime rib and I looked around at everyone whispering conversation with ther spouse or boyfriend, I thought, Dear God, I’m the ELEVENTH WHEEL! (Actually, in the party as a whole I was probably the hundred-and-eleventh wheel, but who’s counting?)

After dinner I was literally dragged up on the dance floor by the arm, by my friend’s fiance. I danced while it was a group, but after a while, nobody was dancing in groups, just in couples, and I found myself weaving around on the dance floor among all the oblivious couples. If it had been a movie, everything would have been slow motion and there certainly would have been some sad song playing in the background. Soon afterward, I decided to leave, over the protests of my (tipsy) co-workers. One of my friends actually came running after me and was like, “Stay! You can drink, we can take a cab back later!” I begged off — it was sweet of her, but I was tired and done with the evening. I think maybe she was worried about me, and it would have taken too much effort to explain, “This isn’t fun, but it’s not the end of the world — I’d just rather be home in my PJs right now.”

I was talking to my college friend K. on the phone today — she is recently single after a long time on-again-off-again relationship with a guy who, in my opinion, sounded like no good. K. is one of the most spirited and outgoing, fun-loving people I know, so I think she’s a good single role model. I was talking to her about the fact that I love my girlfriends, but that most of them are married or pseudo-married and therefore not often available for or interested in girls’ nights or girls’ vacations. On Saturday night, after working a good chunk of the day, I felt like I wanted to go out. But I knew that my friends would be otherwise occupied with their men, so I opted for Netflix. To give a larger-scale example, I love to travel and would love to plan some little trips out of town, or bigger trips. But I can’t get anyone to go with me, either because they are saving time/money to travel with their BFs/spouses, or are saving money in general. Sometimes I feel like, what’s the use in working hard and making money if I don’t get to do the things I want to do? I was thinking about just saying screw it and taking a solo weekend trip in January, but I know myself and I’d probably just end up feeling sad and annoyed that I spent money to be in a different city alone – I can do that here!

Anyway, K. told me that when she was single a while ago, she started affirmatively trying to meet other single girls when she went out. I think maybe cultivating some new friendships would be a good thing for me…but then again, if I’m too busy at work to go out and meet new men, how am I going to meet new women? I guess it would be an interesting experiment to see which would be easier – finding a new guy, or finding a new girlfriend? Hmmm.

K. also told me something last time we talked that I really identify with. She said that she would be more fine with being single if she knew that she would eventually meet the right person. She wouldn’t need to know how or when – but just that she would meet him at some point. That’s sort of how I feel now. It’s not that being on my own is that bad day to day. But what bothers me is thinking that this could be how it is…indefinitely. I can bear being a little lonely now. I don’t know if I can bear this being the norm. I guess it’s all about attitude. Maybe I just need to buck up.

At any rate, dear readers, I hadn’t intended to write such a whiny post tonight! More sunny things next time, I swear…

Fa la la la la

Today, dear readers, I truly dived right into the holiday spirit. In addition to the holiday decor I already bought last weekend, I am now also the proud owner of a 7 1/2 foot tall artificial tree with white lights. My parents even sent me all my childhood Christmas ornaments, since they don’t use them anymore. It looks quite lovely, if I do say so myself. Even Noodles doesn’t mind it, after an initial freak-out when I lugged in the giant box — though I am a bit concerned since he seems to like to chew on the ends of the branches. And who knows what he does when I’m not here?

On a side note, I momentarily contemplated taking a photo of Noodles and me, perhaps in Santa hats, to send out as holiday cards this year. On the one hand, that is a definite entry into serious crazy cat lady territory. On the other hand, anyone who I’m going to be sending a personal holiday card to already knows about my CCL tendencies, so does it really matter? Maybe it’d be funny….?

Today I also got a lot of my Christmas shopping out of the way. Don’t get me wrong. I love shopping for other people. The problem is that it’s often hard for me to come up with the perfect gift — especially if I wait until 2 weeks before Christmas, as is usually the case. The other problem is that I see tons of stuff that I want for myself! (I showed enormous restraint today and did not purchase anything for me!) Things on my wish list include: sweater dress to wear with my new boots (I saw some gorgeous cashmere ones today at Bebe, but they were way too pricey); spa products at Blue Mercury; an electric skillet; anything and everything at Williams Sonoma; Scrabble board game…the list goes on. Of course, these are all things I can buy for myself, but for the next couple of weeks, me-shopping is off limits! After Christmas I can either buy the things myself or drop hints to my friends for my B-day (in January). Anyway, for today I found some good gifts and I didn’t spend way too much, as I am known to do when shopping under pressure, so it was a successful day.

This coming Friday is my firm’s holiday party, and it will be my 4th year attending it. The party is held at a beautiful hotel, and it’s really a lovely event. It’s the one time in the year that everyone — attorneys, staff, signifcant others — come together and celebrate. They announce who made partner and recognize people who have been at the firm for 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, etc. Everyone is always in good spirits and looking fantastic. I have a cute strapless black dress and new shoes to wear, so I’m all set. The one thing I hope will feel ok is not having a date. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I am one of only a handful of single people in my entire firm. The first two years I went to the party, I was with my ex-fiance; last year A. and I were dating clandestinely, so we were both there but not officially “together,” though we sat together at dinner. So this is my first year going truly solo. But I expect it’ll be fun as always — I find that I do well when I can do my own thing and not have to try to entertain someody else, especially with work people, who I love, so I think it’ll be a good time.

I’m feeling so holiday-ish, I wish I didn’t have 2 1/2 more weeks to wait! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, dear readers!

Little Miss Law Takes a Breath

There’s nothing quite like going from being hideously, all-consumingly, mind-numbingly busy at work to finally catching a breath and having some free time. After 2 straight weeks of intense hours and stress, things have finally calmed down and it feels just miraculous. Tonight I came home, put on my PJs, cooked some ravioli, watched some mindless TV (“You are still in the running towards becoming America’s Next Top Model!”) and talked on the phone. When I am busy, I tend to be very bad at keeping in touch (unless you are on Gmail chat – ha ha) so it feels very very nice to be able to reconnect with my friends.

So how are things looking in the world of Little Miss Law now that the dust has settled? Quite nice, actually. My parents came down to visit this past weekend and we had a really enjoyable time, laying by their hotel pool, putting my 42′ TV to use, and strolling around on the Santa Monica Pier. And of course, lots of eating. It’s always hard to cram our time together into just a couple of days, and I know that we would all prefer to live in the same city so that we could just have lunch or dinner together on a regular basis. But for now, it is what it is: email, phone calls and occasional visits. And I am thankful that we have remained so close despite the distance.

I also realize that I haven’t written anything recently about my furry life partner, Noodles. For the past few months, we have been getting along swimmingly and living in domestic bliss. This weekend, with my parents in town, he got a special treat. A couple of months ago, I mentioned to my mom that she and Dad shouldn’t be too disappointed if Noodles winds up being their only “grandchild.” Well, my parents took this comment quite seriously and spent a good deal of time in my apartment, brushing Noodles and generally doting on him, much to his great pleasure. Then they informed me that, loving “grandparents” that they are, they wanted to take me to Petco to buy a toy for their furry grandson. We went and picked out the perfect little structure – not too big, but tall enough for Noodles to sit on and look out the sliding door at the Hollywood Hills. Sure enough, he is sitting on it and admiring the view of the Hills as we speak.

(Yes, I do realize that this adds another giant mark to the “crazy cat lady” tally. So sue me.)

Yesterday, much to my amusement, I got an email from A., who apparently has now designated me as his social coordinator for him to hang out with my co workers (his former co workers). His email said, “Interested in setting up a drinks this week? I want to see people.” Anyway, I am an awesome social coordinator when I have the time to be, and so I already rallied a good group of people. My co workers are some of my favorite people, but it’s often hard to motvate people to all get together, so I’m happy whenever we do. It’s also just so nice to be back in touch with A. He and I were such good friends before we ever dated, and he was my 2nd best confidant at work. During the few months that he and I weren’t talking, I often had stories about work etc. that I wanted to tell him but I couldn’t contact him. Now that we are back in touch, even though we only talk every few weeks, I feel like that very particular friend-space he occupied in my life has been filled again, and I like that.

I have a lot more I can write about, since I have been delinquent in my blogging, but for now, dear readers, it’s bedtime . . .

Little Miss Law on Recruiting, part II

Happy Monday, dear readers. This promises to be a truly hectic week, as I am juggling my pro bono case, an appeal brief, a motion, and my first ever pseudo business trip. For tonight, though, I am taking a deep breath before I dive in, and focusing on the real priority — the blog, of course! Ha.

Last week I wrote a bit about the recruiting process at my firm, but I think I gave it short shrift. Those outside the legal world may not quite grasp the stress involved with interviewing for a summer associate position. First of all, it starts before you have barely taken your first breath in your 2L year, with a series of on campus interviews in which you try to set yourself apart from the 20 some-odd people those given lawyers are interviewing that day, and simultaneously try to fake that you know something about the firm. This is rather difficult since unless you were an aspiring lawyer in the womb, or already have some obscure practice specialty chosen (yeah, right), the fact of the matter is that a lot of the firms are, on paper, virtually indistinguishable.

Then, if you are lucky enough to survive round 1, you move on to callback interviews at one or more firms. Most firms have the same basic interview format — 20 to 30 minute interviews with several attorneys, followed by a meal. For me, the meal was always the most nerve wracking part. How to eat while maintaining an engaging conversation; how to appear relaxed and down to earth, yet poised and professional, while wearing an uncomfortable hot suit and secretly sweating bullets. I remember so well the meal I had when I interviewed to work at my current firm — it was at the Lobster, which is a great restaurant, but instead of enjoying the food, I was compulsively thinking, Boy, it’s hot. Boy, I wish I could take off this suit jacket. Can I take off this suit jacket? Is it unprofessional to be in just a shell at lunch? Doesn’t exactly make for the most relaxing lunch.

When I started at the firm as a real associate and learned how the recruiting worked from the firm’s end, I began to wonder, How in the world did I get a job here? My firm, unlike most, is incredibly democratic in its hiring process — which means that each and every week, whoever wants to attend the recruiting meeting sits around and discusses the candidates one by one. The most minute details about a person come up — sometimes I think that if we would just post the recruits’ photos on a projector, it would be identical to the greek rush process (but with better criteria). I’ll never forget the 1st recruiting meeting I attended where one attorney wrote on a recruit’s evaluation, “She laughed where she could have just smiled.”

Wow. If that is a crime, I am guilty as charged.

Now, one firm in Los Angeles has departed from the typical recruiting model. In lieu of the typical day o’ interviews, Quinn Emanuel is now offering its recruits a three day retreat in Deer Valley.

I have two polar opposite reactions to this idea. My first reaction was, Oh my God, why would you ever invest so much in recruits? and Oh my God, if I had to spend 72 hours bonding with some of the recruits I have met in my tenure at the firm, I would commit hari kari.

However, upon further reflection, I decided that perhaps this type of hard core recruiting process is exactly what all firms need to do. First, instead of dragging out callbacks over a month or more, they would be over and done in a weekend. That would be a lifesaver right now. Second, we would definitely weed out the people who have no real idea what our firm does, and come to interview for the hell of it/to get a free trip to L.A./etc.

Last, and most importantly, we could weed out, once and for all, those people who manage to keep on their game face for a 1/2 day, but who, when they come over the summer, turn into full-scale freak shows, drama queens, and the like. I haven’t seen this too frequently, but still — better to spend 72 hours with someone who makes you want to stab out your eye than an endless summer.

So good ol Quinn may have a stroke of genius here. Only time will tell if his little “experiment” works out.

Till that catches on, us oldschoolers have another good month of recruiting to weather. Onward and upward!

Honing my Dating Skills, on the Job

Dear readers, I apologize for my lack of blog-ness recently.  My recent lack of a computer at home has made blogging difficult (as I can’t bill this time to anyone!) but hopefully I will be buying a shiny new laptop this weekend.

I know what some of you (ahem, Knittikins) are going to say about my post title.  “But Little Miss Law, you’re on a mancation!  What is this talk of dating??”

Relax, dear readers.  The mancation remains in full effect and there is no dating to speak of going on.  However, I have discovered that I can somewhat maintain my dating skills in the meantime, and get paid at the same time!

How, you ask?  Three words:  Summer Associate Recruiting.

If you really think about it, dating is a lot like interviewing for a job.  You suss out your date/interviewee for potential red flags and make a mental checklist of pros and cons, all the while trying to put your best face on and appear attractive to this person that you may not even like.  You make sometimes engaging and sometimes banal chit-chat.  With some people, the time flies, and with others, you want to stab out your own eye.  Of course, the criteria you use are different depending on whether you are interviewing for a future boyfriend/date/life partner or interviewing for a future co-worker/lunch buddy/research slave.  But the process is essentially the same.  As one summer recruit put it this week as I ushered him from office to office for a series of 20-minute interviews, “This is a lot like speed dating.”

Dating has its advantages over interviewing.  For example, it often comes with a meal.   Then again, if I had to sit over a meal (even free) for two hours with some of the recruits I have interviewed, I might have to fake a death in the family and run away before the entree, so the advantage of interviewing is that typically the (potential) torture only lasts for 20 minutes.

At any rate, over the past two weeks I have been given a crash review course in how to: listen to boring speeches; smile and nod encouragingly at asinine comments; ask thoughtful questions; and be generally perky with a complete stranger.  I feel that once the mancation ends this may serve me very well when I re-enter the world of First Dates.

Things that are complicated about dating that recruiting helps with not at all:

1)   Picking out the first-date outfit.  Especially disastrous now that I have no roommates and hence no one to approve or veto.

2)  Dealing with the X factors.  Does your date drive like a maniac?  Drink like a fish?  Write on his Crackberry during dinner?  Who knows! 

3)  How to meet potential dates in the first place.  Online?  In a bar?  Set-ups?  Blech, blech, blech.

I could regale you, dear readers, with a series of stories of bad dates and bad interviews that would make your head spin.  For instance, the date who took me to an obscenely expensive restaurant, ordered an obscenely expensive bottle of wine, and then made me split the tab with him.  (My HALF was $260.  I was a first year law student.  I wish I were kidding.)  But I’ll save those stories for another day.

Until then:  bill, bill, bill.

Just One of Those Days…

…Make that one of those weeks.  I know, it’s only Tuesday.  It’s a combo of a lot of things, some carrying over from last week, including: a breakup; continuing sleep deprivation; insanity at work; one of my co-workers being given 60 days to find a new job; and just a general icky feeling.  Wah wah WAH (Debbie Downer noise).  Or as my friend T. would say, “Do I need to call the WAH-mbulance?”

But dammit, Little Miss Law is nothing if not an optimist!  So here are some bright spots:

1)  I decided to start thinking about buying a condo, so I am meeting with a mortgage guy next week to talk financials & see what I can afford.  Noodles and I may be living in a new abode at some point!

2)  When I saw my aunt a couple of weeks ago, her hair looked fabulous, so I am going for a cut & color on Saturday with her fabulous hairstylist, Lance. 

3)  Today a client (a middle aged Israeli man) came in to meet with the few of us working on his case.  First the partners met with him (basically to tell him he has no case) and then after that, I was supposed to meet with him to work on some discovery.  I heard from the person in the office next to the conference room that there was yelling going on for over an hour, so I was pretty nervous to meet him in person.  But when I walked in, there he was sitting with his friend, a rabbi.  The client smiled at me, and when I introduced myself, he said “Oh, your name is (the Hebrew pronunciation).”  I said yes, I had heard that before.  He said, “Well, that’s what it is.  That’s the only way to pronounce it.”  His rabbi friend said, “Well actually, in English, it’s pronounced the way she pronounces it.”  But he stubbornly repeated, “No, it’s (Hebrew pronunciation).”  Anyway, it was funny, and he was very pleasant to me throughout the meeting despite how unpleasant his meeting with the partners was, so I’m thinking maybe I should just embrace my heritage. 🙂

4)  On the way home, I was having a meltdown moment and called a friend who said, “Guess what conversation I had with my boss today?  I had to tell him, ‘I am not your wife, your sister or your mother.'”  So, at least my boss and I aren’t there…  Plus, she was very good at cheering me up in general.

5)  Noodles has been extremely loving and attentive this week.  Yesterday, I got home and flopped on the couch, and he jumped up onto my tummy/chest.  (Unfortunately, having a 15-lb cat on top of you is about as comfy as it sounds.)

In sum, though I have let my Gratitude Page lapse, I still think it’s important to find time to think good thoughts, even when things aren’t going great.

Thanks for bearing with me dear readers, and hopefully Little Miss Law will be more fun next time!

The “end” is just the beginning

Ok, ok.  That title is such a tease.  It suggests that I am going to be writing about something deep and insightful, like starting over after a rough time, bouncing back from a breakup, or something along the lines of one of my favorite song lyrics: “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”  (SO 1998.)  Yes, that would be an excellent topic for a post.  But not for today.

First, my apologies for the radio silence on my blog.  I have been half uninspired, half busy having fun,  and half (YES I know that makes 1 1/2 — shhh!!) trying to tie up all the loose ends at work to avoid having to answer calls from my law firm on my cell phone while I lay on the Maui beach and soak up some sun and some R & R.  The  long awaited vacation is almost upon me!!  After months of fantasizing, as of Wednesday I am leaving L.A., work, and all my everyday worries behind.  I can’t wait!

And here comes the real meaning of the title — it is the end of the summer in the world of my firm, since all the summer associates are about to leave.  We even had the “end-of-summer” party on Saturday.  But for me, the highlight of my summer is still to come!  So the “end” of the summer is just the beginning…ok, it’s cheezy.  So sue me.  (I feel like I say that too much.  As though there is not enough litigation in my life as is!  Sheesh.)

The end-of-summer party was classic of my firm.  First, there was the dress theme.  When I was a summer associate, the theme was the Roaring 20’s.  Where everyone else was understated in black dresses and pearls, I was too eager and new to know any better, and I took the theme seriously, borrowing a full flapper costume from a friend–fishnets, hair feather and all.  And I didn’t even have the wits to be embarrassed about it at the time; I’m just cringing in hindsight. 

Anyway, the theme of Saturday’s party was Black and White.  Everyone was quite tastefully dressed…the only people who stuck out were those who missed the black and white memo (polka dot pale blue tie, anyone?) but all in all, my office-mates clean up well. 

The evening was held at a partner’s home; he’s one of my favorites and I’m on 2 cases with him.  Earlier in the week, I had told him an answer he liked for one of our cases, so he told me that as a “reward” he would specially make me a Cosmopolitan at this party, even though it wasn’t on the drink menu.  (As I tell this story, you must picture that this partner is pushing 70, and of everyone in my life he reminds me most of my grandfather.  So NO, it’s not sketchy, it’s just funny.)  All week he bragged about his Cosmopolitan.

When I arrived at the party, I walked over to say hi to the host and others.  They were standing adjacent to the bar that was set up outside; in addition to the bartenders there were several waiters circulating and offering hors d’oeuvres.  Immediately, the host broke from the group, grabbed my arm and steered me into the kitchen, where he pulled out the lime juice, cranberry juice, vodka, triple sec and martini shaker that he had set aside.  He mixed the drink and waited expectantly as I sipped it.  He wasn’t joking around — he mixes a mean Cosmo!  Later, when my drink ran out, he dashed inside to pour me another one.  Now there’s a host.  (Does it take 70 years of life for a man to be that attentive?  Kidding!)

The food at the party was really sensational — there were all sorts of food stations.  I meant to work my way around, but after a generous helping of the best chicken curry I have ever had, and a cone full of yummy French fries, I was stuffed. 

Then, the dancing began.  All the bigtime partners were there and it was adorable to see them dancing with their wives or husbands.  Our jobs are stressful and takes its toll on many relationships, but some of these couples have been together for decades and you can just see how happy they are together.  It’s a beautiful thing to see. 

And with that, the “summer” has come to an end.

A couple of more things before I bid you adieu for the evening, dear readers.  First, I really wanted to do my laundry tonight.  But 2 of the washers are broken and the other 2 are being used.  Either I will stay up late tonight (doubtful) or wait till the last minute tomorrow (likely).  This is one of many reasons that I often fantasize about my own little house.  *Sigh*.

And now, another confession.  These days all my confessions seem to be about the awful TV I find myself watching the couple of nights a week that I stay home and veg with Noodles.  Tonight the new gem is: Scott Baio is 45 and Single.  I don’t even want to explain.  It’s exactly what it sounds like.  Wow, new shows need to come on and I need to get TiVo…stat.

White Water, Dry Land, Summer Associates, Karaoke and other Hazards

Hello dear readers!

My apologies for the absence of posts for the last few days.   I was on a whitewater rafting trip with my firm — left Friday midday, got back Saturday almost midnight, and spent all day yesterday doing errands and trying to catch up on sleep and feel less sore.  I swear that I can feel every single muscle in my body.  Most of them get very little use in my regular life.  (And seeing how scrawny my arms are in the rafting photos made me think maybe I should do something about it….meh.)

At any rate, the trip was incredibly fun, but was not without its share of misadventures.  Friday afternoon we arrived at our motel by the lake.  Since we have had a terrible drought this year, it was possible to actually walk all the way across a section of the lake without getting more than waist deep.  Almost all of the dudes on the trip proceeded to do this, whining the whole time about how disgusting the mud at the bottom of the lake was, but being way too macho to actually give up.  (This includes my boss, who started the whole thing!)

After the lake, we cleaned up, hung out and then headed for a dinner at “That’s Italian!”  restaurant.  To us, it was your fair-to-mediocre hole in the wall Italian joint, but everyone in Kernville who we mentioned it to, incl our river guides, talked about it like it was Spago.  Boy, sometimes I really do feel like an L.A. snob.

After dinner, we were all appropriately buzzed on wine so we moseyed over to the saloon next door for some karaoke.  I am never one to refuse the microphone, even when it is ill advised.  (It always is.  I can’t carry a tune.)  So it’s no surprise that I joined one of the summer associates in singing “Don’t Stop Believin'”.  Is there anything better than Journey?  I think not.  Then we forced my boss to sing “Tiny Dancer.”  (I should mention that there were more mullets and cowboy hats in one room than I have seen since that one time in college where I got dragged to a line dancing bar in Chino and danced with a cute Marine…but that is another story.)

I went to the bar to get some drinks and ended up next to a chatty local named A.J. — a tall, lanky, deeply tanned guy of unknown age with crazy eyes.  After a while of standing there waiting, he says to me, somewhat sarcastically, “Boy, it’s nice to have your arm rubbing up against me.”  I apologized and later gave him a Kamikaze shot that one of the summers turned down.  (Kids these days – don’t drink like they used to.)  I later repeated the comment to another summer who had been standing there and he said “Uh….he didn’t say ‘arm.’  He said ‘ass.'”  Greeeeaaaat.  I was embarrassed enough when I thought I was rubbing my arm on him accidentally!!

We finally made our way back to the motel at the wee hours of the morning…only to have to wake up 5 hours later for rafting.  We looked like quite the sorry bunch as we took our places in the bus to head to the rafting place (with a stop first at McDonald’s) at 7 am, but once we got our gear and got on the river at about 10 am, we were in a much more chipper mood.  The morning of rafting went off with barely a hitch (except for all my raft mates falling out because I didn’t successfully highside — sorry guys!) 

We stopped for lunch, pulled out the rafts and were standing around chatting.  One minute I was talking with a summer associate, the next she was turning around to get lunch, tripping over a large branch on the ground, and falling face first with her arm in the most atrocious position I have ever witnessed.  We were all horrified and stood by while the river guides ascertained that her elbow was dislocated and probably fractured.  She had to be hiked out to the road where the paramedics took her to the hospital, re-set her elbow, etc while we continued on (very shaken up, and our moods dampened) down the river.

Luckily, the rest of the day was really fun, with 5 class IV rapids all in a row, so our moods were lifted, and we had no other major injuries — whew!  Also, the injured summer (who was a huge trooper — I would have been crying like a baby) was at work today with her arm in a sling, feeling fine.  So all’s well that ends well, as they say.  Still, I suspect that this may have sounded the final death knell for the firm rafting trip….

All in all, it was a great chance to bond with my co workers and the summer associates, work on my tan, use muscles I didn’t know I had, and sing to a bar full of California hicks.  Can’t wait to do it again soon!

Hump Day Tribulations

Subtitle: Don’t Call me Ma’am; Litigation Gives me a Heart Attack; and Thoughts On Feeling Like a Guilty Sellout While Eating Rubber Chicken.

I am feeling particularly bloggy tonight.  Prepare yourselves, dear readers!

First things first.  I hate, hate, hate being called “ma’am.”  I can’t think of a single thing that makes me feel older or more frumpy.  I don’t care that it’s a polite cultural way to address a woman whose name you don’t know.  I don’t care if I’m wearing a skirt suit and heels and carrying a giant mom-purse that looks more like luggage than a purse (says my BF) and am clearly ordering takeout from the mall at 8 pm to take back to the office.  I don’t care that you are 10 years my junior and are probably dubbed “Pizza face” by your classmates.  JUST DON’T CALL ME MA’AM!!!

Whew, that felt good to get off my chest.

Today I rolled into work feeling incredibly calm.  Yesterday I found out that the biggest case I was working on miraculously settled, which meant that the motion we were scrambling to finish by Monday would be moot, and I would not have to travel to see Mom & Dad this weekend with laptop in tow. 

Then….my fellow associate on the case sends me an e-mail from our co-counsel in New York, stating that our client is insistent on one provision, and if he doesn’t get it, all bets are off.  My fellow associate comments, “Hmmm.”  Is the case not settled after all?  This doesn’t bode well.

I get back from an incredibly long lunch in honor of the same associate (see more on the lunch, below) and am settling in when I receive another email from New York co-counsel:

2:23 PST: “Not settled.  So send motion.”

ACK!!!!  Not settled?  So the dance of glee I did yesterday and the several triumphant emails I had sent out to my friends and family were all for nothing??  I immediately start plugging away again on the motion, my heart beating mile a minute, imagining that I’ll have to cancel my trip.

Two hours after causing my initial panic, and only in response to an email from me, another email:

4:16 PST: “LittleMissLaw, hold off absent some insanity we are settled”

Well, Mr. New York is nothing if not concise.  I don’t know whether I want to send him an e-hug for the good news, or an e-strangle for keeping me so out of the loop this week, and even to this moment, giving me no details about the settlement.  If I hadn’t emailed him, he may never have told me and I would have toiled all night!!!!  I opt for the friendly, (but with a sarcastic subtext), “Whew!  Thanks for the update.”

Finally, my long lunch today.  It was downtown at the Biltmore, put on by the ACLU Foundation, and my co-worker was one of several lawyers being honored for his pro bono work.  As always, it was an inspiring lunch.  The ACLU, and their pro bono lawyers, handle everything from asylum cases (in fact, the African asylee that my co-worker helped was there and sat at our table, smiling broadly the whole time) to sexual orientation discrimination, from free speech to open government issues. 

This is my 2nd or 3rd time attending this particular lunch, and in addition to the meal being identical every time (as every organization’s lunches are — rubber chicken and veggies), every time I have the same sensation that I have strayed far from the path I imagined for myself when I was in law school.  I always pictured myself working at a non profit organization.  But then I wonder, just because I used to want that, and that’s not what I’m doing, does that mean that what I’m doing is wrong?  There are times when my job feels unfulfilling, but on the whole I have learned a ton over the past two years about how to be an effective lawyer, and I have a long way to go.  Is there something wrong with wanting to get that training in private practice?  The ACLU does amazing work, but it is hard to come by organizations that do such interesting, large scale impact litigation.  If I stay at a firm, am I a hopeless sell-out?  (this is known as a rhetorical question, people).

Over the next few days, stay tuned for tales from my trip to see the fam!