Degrees and Anxiety

My final post before law school graduation, here, was a lofty, emotional outward reflection.

In truth, I wrote it for another reason as well. I was scared out of my mind of facing the bar exam. I mean, how do you prepare for a kick in the groin?

The evening before graduation, I had a great dinner with my good friend, Joel, who unknowingly reminded me how far I'd come in the years we'd known each other.

Graduation day was an encouraging closing of the door of four years that forever changed me and my wife. We had our first child, financial ups and downs, a 180 change of course in my career, and emotional challenges and victories all within a hellacious four year span.

Heather and some close friends of our decided to have a couples' night out after my graduation. I'll never forget what my close fiend Mike told me as we sat around the fire at the Greenhouse Bar: "It encourages me that there are still people like you, who are hungry to learn and take challenges." I was humbled that he thought of me that way. What a great way to end a day of celebrating accompishments!

December days passed, Christmas came and went. My bar exam schedule was staring me right in the face. I remember scrolling through my calendar, which took me through the middle of February, looking at everything that was to be completed. "How can I possibly do ALL this?!", I silently asked myself.

Anxiety of the amount of work involved over the next two months had officially set in. In the middle of this, some wisdom from a first year professor crept in. Our first year torts professor was a stickler for exactness and thoroughness. But in one of his more touching moments, he offered some great advice for first year students struggling to cope with a taxing study schedule. "Take it a week at a time. Never look at the syllabus in terms of what you need to study for the entire year. Simply focus on the week at hand".

I never forgot this advice throughout law school. And I will remember the calm that set in once I applied this to my bar review early on. I decided from the beginning of bar review that I would take it a week at a time.

Bar Exam Series

As many of you know very well know, I took the bar exam for Tennessee in late February. I decided early on to blog about the process, for a couple of reasons:

1. To help any future bar takers that happen to set foot upon my blog. Studying for the bar is by far the craziest emotional rollercoaster I've ridden. You can literally go from soaring confidence one day to feeling like there's no way you'll pass the next day. For those willing to join the ride, I'd like for you to have a front seat view.

2. Writing has a therapeutic effect, at least for me. While I refrain from treating these posts as  "venting" everyday problems, sharing valid struggles often opens the doors for others to admit that it's not easy for anyone if we're all honest.

3. I am purposely witholding several posts until I get the bar results. I have included some experiences and raw emotions that shouldn't be shared until I found out how I did.

I have broken my bar studying and taking experience into several chunks, often into weeks or days.
 I realize a lot of people's eyes glaze over when you begin to talk about anything legal, so if a particular post doesn't interest you, skip it and maybe the next post will suit your fancy.

That being said, let's go to the beginning, which begins at the end (of law school)...

The Finale

I spent upwards of an hour creating a nifty timeline of events throughout law school. I ended up deleting it. It was unconscionably long-winded. You only need to know a few things.

The past 4 years have been a most difficult in mine and Heather's lives. Yet they have been the most rewarding. I have witnessed God wonderfully weave some of the most seemingly impossible situations together for a finale that simply leaves me in awe.

Each time a new year of law school began there was a challenge. Whether that challenge was a beautiful new daughter, or finances, we (myself and my wife, Heather) made it through.

This finale did not come easy. There were many late night study sessions. There were many conversations with my father where I confided that I was unsure if I could endure the stresses of law school. The difficulty of balancing a family, school and a career tested both me and my wife.

In the end you HAVE to want it bad enough to get it. There were 100+ students sitting in a law school classroom 4 years ago who thought they wanted it bad enough. It turns out approximately 50 had what it takes to make it.

I juggled three jobs, school, and a family, humbly stating that I'll be graduating in the top 20% of my class. Whatever dream or desire you have, go for it! But go for it with the full intent to achieve it. Attempting your dream at anything less will cause you to fall short.

This is my last blog post as a law student. I'll be taking a break from blogging while I study for the February 2013 bar exam. Judging from my number of page views, I haven't scared all of you off yet! This blog has been a healthy outlet for me throughout my law school years. There have been a few posts where I dared to admit not "having it all together" and was downright honest. Those posts were the most therapeutic. I hope you enjoyed at least some of the posts.

It is my full intent that my next post will be as a licensed attorney. Until then, thank you for reading.

Concede, don't be conceited

Conceding in the legal world, as in the real world, goes against human nature. It usually consists of acknowledging a fact or point of law that goes against your client's case. However, when properly used, it conveys the savvy-ness of an attorney. It indicates that an attorney has taken their blinders off and has considered the other side's point of view. It also indicates a modicum of humility.

No one likes to admit their weaknesses. Lawyers are no exception. The adage of "lead with your best argument" is still certainly true. However, there is no such thing as a perfect case and/or client. Lawyers better serve their clients by addressing weaknesses after presenting their best argument. To do this shows that you fully understand the issues. It also potentially takes away the sting of the opposing attorney stating your weaknesses when you blindly ignores them.

I recently dealt with an attorney who distorted our client's deposition in a motion to dismiss that he filed with the court. Not only did he misrepresent our client's testimony, he made false statements in the actual motion. Countering his motion was simple: state what our client actually said. This lawyer adopted such a one-sided view that he allowed it to cloud his judgment. After I brought up the many weaknesses of his argument in a responsive motion, he dropped his motion and decided to settle the case. If he had simply conceded certain things that were true, he may have been able to sting our client more effectively.

Refusing to admit weaknesses makes you appear conceited. Concede and leave your reputation intact.

Take My Case

If you're looking for humor in the legal world, there's not a lot around. But one thing that humors me is how differently people appraoch the process of hiring an attorney. This runs the gamut from those who want to hire your law firm over the phone to those who ask twenty precautionary interview-type questions before discussing their actual situation.

I regularly speak with people who are so convinced they have a case and want to hire us. I take the time to explain why they don't have a case. At this point, one of two things happens:

A. The person understands and thanks me for my time, the call ends.
B. The person gets upset that we have "rejected" their case and the proceeds to attempt to sell me their case. My patience wears thin and my responses dwindle to single words.

The A option makes my day much easier than B.

A very good attorney who taught two classes I took gave this sage advice:

"You'll make more money on the cases that you turn down, rather than on the ones you take"

Well taken.

David vs. Goliath

A few months back I was approached at work with a problem. A client of ours had a recently pled guilty to criminal charges and now the opposing attorney for our client's civil case filed a motion to dismiss based on what he deemed to be perjury in our client's deposition.

The lead attorney on the client's civil case asked if I would draft the response to the motion to dismiss. I instantly said that I would, only to have the reality of the difficulty I now faced crush my elation from being asked to do it. I had never written a motion to dismiss, let alone a response.

This was my chance to prove my potential. My big shot at impressing the boss. I spent the next four days putting every ounce of mental energy into my response. After several revisions, I finally mustered the courage to show my boss. He was impressed. However, that was the easy part. The million dollar question: would the judge be impressed?

Said response was filed and days went by. A few days before the hearing, the opposing attorney called and cancelled the hearing. He made an excuse that he couldn't attend, but we knew the writing on the wall. His motion to dismiss had virtually no merit, and my boss gladly allowed me to professionally call him out on it in our response.

Fast forward two months and the client received a very good settlement at mediation. Today the client's check came in. I couldn't help but think how far off that check seemed when I was first drafting the response.

Did my response solely save the client's case? No, we have a great time of people that built up the client's case along the way. But I believe years from now I'll look back and remember this as my first David vs Goliath moment, where you face something that seems infinitely bigger than you. As I will soon be the "newbie" in the attorney world, it surely won't be my last.

Exit Strategy

"What are your plans after passing the bar? What kind of law do you want to practice?"

With graduation less than five months away, these questions seem to intensify by friends and family. The truth is, for a few years I've known exactly where I want to go. As far as what, well, that's still working itself out.

More than four years ago, I began working at a small company. Having a "corporate" job immediately before, the new found freedom and independence of working for a small company was an eye-opening and life-changing experience.

Even now, as I work for a small law firm, I love the independence, freedom, lack of intrusion, and camaraderie of a small firm.  

After speaking with lawyers who worked for medium-large size firms, I came to the conclusion that I'd gladly exchange somewhat higher initial pay and the farce of job security for a smaller firm.

For those close to me, you know what my plans are. I've been associating with a close, successful attorney for the past few years. We've discovered success as a attorney/assistant team, and I can't wait to see the success we can bring as an attorney duo in the years to come.

New firm name and details to come soon!