Law v. Life

Star sighting!

This afternoon I went to the Dodgers game, and guess who I saw? Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford! Up close! They were in a black lexus SUV, and I saw them up really close on her side and from about 30 feet away on his side. It was very cool. It felt so LA.

Other than that, the game was pretty pathetic. The crowd was way more into batting a beach ball around than the actual game. They were cheering and booing really loud for the beach ball. JD Drew, who is on one of my fantasy teams, hit a home run. It was fun, and I'm always excited to visit a new ballpark, but the star sighting was definitely the best part of the game.

Palm trees and sun

I'm on vacation! No wait, I'm at a conference. Actually, it's both and I'm thrilled to be in LA. First I am attending the ABA section of litigation conference. Yes, I know I'm a dork, but I'm super excited. There are so many awesome people speaking. At night and when the conference is over, I'm hanging out with my cousin. My cousin is one of my favorite people in the whole world, so this should be a fun trip. And I might get to see one of my very best friends from law school while I'm here too. If anyone has any suggestions of things I have to do while I'm here, let me know.

Passover

For the last twenty years or so, my family has celebrated passover with a group of friends who are like family.  There are four families that include children, two couples, and a few other friends who have become part of the group over the years.  The seder is a little different every year, depending on who is there, depending on what's going on in the world, depending on how early guests start drinking whiskey.  This year was the most markedly different.  The family who always hosts the seder is the family whose house burned down on Christmas morning.  Right now they are living in a rental house.  It is a very nice house, but the change in location made everyone very aware of why we were there.  Passover is all about God delivering the Jews from slavery, so all that talk about deliverance made it inevitable that we were all thinking about how their house and pets may be gone, but God saved our friends from the fire.  One of the parts of the Haggadah we never skip is where it describes how if God had done one thing or another for the Jews, but not others, it would have been sufficient.  More than ever, that resonated with everyone present.  The fire is still very recent in everyone's memory, so it's not like we are ever around them and not thinking about it, but Passover made it different.  Last night was just a strange time.  Everyone was somber, but rejoicing at the same time.  Although I guess in a way, that's how Passover always is.  Now I get to go to church and rejoice in a different way.

I think I need kneepads

Have I mentioned that I have a new Little Sister?  About two years ago I signed up for Big Brothers Big Sisters, but my match was not the best.  I made it through a year with her, and I'm pretty sure she enjoyed our time together, but I never felt like we bonded.  After about a year away from the program, I decided it felt like time to give it another try.  I called and they matched me with another child immediately.  The new girl just turned 13 and I think there is a much better chance we are going to develop a strong, lasting bond.  This afternoon we are going rollerskating.  I keep having flashbacks to middle school.  That is serious dedication on my part.

Becoming a girl

Tonight I had dinner at my mom's house, and now I am home and not going out.  Two friends wanted me to do something, but all I want is sleep.  Lots of sleep.  Tomorrow I have to get up early for a facial, followed by a manicure.  Isn't that funny?  To anyone who knows me it is.  But I am in the process of creating this new persona.  A girly persona.  Okay, maybe that's an overstatement, but I'm starting to get my nails done regularly.  I feel like maybe little things like that will make me appear more feminine without actually having to change my persona.  Does that make sense?  I just never feel very girly, and I want to.

Ring your bell

Last night I went to see the Clippers play again.  It was a fun game.  A little sloppy, a LOT of runs, some rain, and definitely a good time.  I am already getting into the Clippers.  You see, I got a 20-game season ticket package.  Yes, I know, it's the Clippers.  Everyone I have told has made fun of me.  But I don't care.  It's baseball, it's fun, and it's cheap.  My seats are 6 rows behind the Clippers' dugout, which is cool.  In between innings, kids go running down the aisles to lean over and beg for autographs.  I have a great view of the game.  And I can see the players really well as they come and go from the dugout, so I can choose which one I am going to try to seduce from the stands.  I have been made fun of for this, too.  As I have complained about before, I don't have many friends who like sports, so it might be a struggle finding people to go to the games with me.  However, the guys I took to the last two games seemed to enjoy it more than they expected.  If anyone ever wants to go to a Clippers game with me, let me know.

It just never ends

It is somewhat annoying that everyone at work seems to have been anxiously waiting to give me work for the last two months, and they don't care at all that I'm going on vacation in a week.  This means I am still insanely busy.  Each little project seems perfectly manageable on its own, but with the finite amount of time before I leave town, I'm not so sure.  I guess this is nothing and I should stop complaining.  At least it's nice outside.

I'm back

I am back from the dead.  (Maybe that’s slightly inappropriate given that Easter is this weekend).  But in so many ways, that is the best description.  I have worked nearly every single day for the last three months.  In March, I billed 275 hours.  I rarely saw daylight.  And winter in Columbus did not help matters.  I had to hand off most of my cases to other attorneys, so I could focus solely on The Case.  Although this was not my choice, it did not make me any friends at work.  I worked on countless motions in limine and memos contra.  I was consumed by jury instructions.  Demonstrative evidence made me almost lose my temper (and that is rare).  Every moment of every day for as long as I can remember was spent thinking about The Case. 

We had three attorneys on the case (out of about 18), with other attorneys helping as needed, and much of our support staff monopolized.  We were up against a firm of over 800, with 80 attorneys in its Columbus office.  The opposing attorneys are used to working insane hours.  That’s how they earn their salaries that start out as nearly double ours.  They have all the resources they could ever need.  But we had determination and the drive to provide the very best legal services to our client.  We kept up with the other side every step of the way.  We walked into court the first day of trial with the confidence that comes from hard work and being as prepared as possible, completely ready to go toe to toe with opposing counsel. 

And then we settled.  Getting the phone call that the case had settled was one of the happiest moments of my life.  Several people asked me if I was disappointed.  No.  Maybe like 2%.  I was going to get to cross-examine a witness in Federal Court, which would have been extremely cool.  And terrifying.  So I guess it was a little disappointing to lose that opportunity.  And after all those months of work, it would have been more gratifying to put it all to use and ultimately see a jury return a verdict in our client’s favor.  But it was even better to have it end.  To not have to worry about what the verdict would be, and would it be unanimous.  To not have to worry about an appeal.  To be free. 

The trial had started prior to settlement.  We got through voir dire, opening statements, and part of the direct examination of one witness.  Of course, I didn’t actually do anything.  The real lawyers did it all.  But I had been involved in getting us to that point, and it was exciting and rewarding just to be a part of it.  And I am grateful that I had the chance to be so involved in a case like that immediately upon being admitted to practice.  All the exhaustion was worth it for the experience.  And I think we all experienced the “This is why I’m a lawyer” moment during the day and a half we were in court.  It was awesome. 

So now I am readjusting to life without The Case.  I have new research assignments, new cases, meetings, billing, and all the other normal parts of being a lawyer.  I am trying to relax and catch up on sleep.  I got my nails done.  I got my oil changed.  I went to see the Clippers play.  I’m going on vacation in a week.  I’m back.