The current big event in my life is that I got a job. It’s not in criminal defense. You will no longer be treated to stories of people cranked up on coke doing the hokey pokey at the defense table while I try to talk the judge out of throwing the book at them. On the upside I will no longer have to refer to the coked up monkey dancing fucker as “my client”.
I’m going to be doing family law. I hope I’ll have lots of stories about how stupid the spouse on the other side is. I’m going to be working at a non-profit, which is good b/c I’ll be able to help people who actually need it. One of the ideas I came into law school with, and the one that actually got a lot stronger, is that rich folks don’t need any more goddamned lawyers. There are two Spanish speaking attorneys in the office and it’s amazing to see how far people come to get their help. Clients show up from two or three counties away because they need the help of an attorney who can speak Spanish. My Spanish isn’t very good but I hope to do my part and pitch in. It’s kind of scary to try and learn the whole “lawyer” thing while trying to learn enough Spanish to help clients, but who wants to work at some easy job?
One of the great things about working at a non-profit/legal aid outfit is that you don’t get paid very much. The place I took a job at actually offered me a little bit too much money. There is a loan repayment program for people who work in public interest areas but who don’t make very much money so that they can pay back their loans. This helps diffuse the whole “the law is overly complicated preventing the poor, who can’t afford an attorney, from seeking redress from the wealthy, who can afford several attorneys, who wrong them” and “law school does nothing but crank out elitists who serve as the lap dogs of the rich in their attempts to take even more from the working class”. If you say that poor people can’t get lawyers someone always pipes up about legal aid. So anyway I almost made too much money to get loan repayment, but not enough to off set the loss of not getting loan repayment, so I had to talk them down on my salary. It’s a weird situation to say I won’t work for you unless I can make less than $X a year. It’s a bizarre negotiating stance. “I’m going to write down a number on this piece of paper. You either pay me less or I walk away right now.”
Nothing boosts the old self-esteem like arguing to get paid less. It almost makes you want to go and defend Walmart on some wage theft claim.
The best thing so far about the job is that the interview wasn’t that bad. The manager of the clinic where I will work out is a very touchy feely type person so I got a hug at the end of my interview. When was the last time you got a hug at the end of an interview? Hell, when was the last time you got a hug, period? I think that was my last hug…