Any Lawyers out there in the MP world?

Hey Brian H - Haven't heard from Birdman, but give me a holler and we'll get together and talk about solo practice. Wayne Smart

From a self employed carpenter, take the bar. You're that close, don't through it away. The hardest part of taking the time t enjoy yourself is....TAKING THE TIME TO ENJOY YOURSELF! Most people figure there will be time for ME. The truth is there will be no time for you unless you TAKE it. Employers will exploit you unless you stand up for yourself. Don't be afraid to have a heart-to-heart with your boss. If you feel your performing above standard and not getting the respect, i.e. pay or time off, let him/her know. Understand what the employer expects from you and visa versa. If you can't see eye to eye, find another job. This is YOUR life. YOU live it. Don't let anyone dictate how you live your life.

Hope this helps.

Kind of off topic, but other cynical attorneys out there may think this is funny...

"Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio filed a lawsuit last week against the operator of a House of Representatives cafeteria, claiming he is owed $150,000 because a sandwich he bought contained "dangerous substances" -- namely, an olive pit. The lawsuit claims Kucinich suffered dental harm plus "pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment."

I am guessing he will not advocate for tort reform.

TheBirdman wrote:I'm looking for some advice. I'm a 3rd year law student. School is fine, relatively easy, but boring. My internships/clinical experience/externships have all been painful. They are boring and slow. I am like I assume many other climbers are a "brass tacks" sort of individual. I like to get things in, get them done, and get them out the door so I can go pursue what I really enjoy doing (i.e. women, beer, climbing, snowboarding, etc.)I feel like oftentimes, I get punished for being an efficient worker because the work never ends. I do things right the first time and I do them quickly so I can go do the things that life is really about. Unfortunately, in the legal field this doesn't result in additional free time. Instead, you either have to look busy or more work gets dumped on you. I don't like that my high productivity output is basically a bad thing because other employees who work much more slowly earn the same amount of credits and/or pay. I'm in my last semester and the time has come to decide whether to take the bar and continue down this road. Fortunately, I worked as a few years as a bartender making cash money and was able to pay for school so I am not saddled with soul-crushing student debt. I regret leaving that bartending job every day but when I was doing it all I heard was, "You can't be a bartender the rest of your life." I do well in school but the legal job market has arguably been one of the hardest hit by the recession so the earning potential, at least for the first few years, is comparable to any construction or restaurant job which I used to truly enjoy doing. My question to those attorneys with a little more experience in the field and life in general is how far down this path do I go? I have to graduate, I'm only a few months away. Do I take the bar or not? Do I take the bar and then take some time off? Do you regret being an attorney or has it been satisfying? Do you ever have the time to climb or pursue other passions in life? I'm not looking to make millions. I'm a single guy with no debt and no kids, just a dog. I mean, do I just consider the last three years a mistake, get in my car, and start the climbing road trip or do I keep banging my head against the wall hoping something will change down the road? Hopefully, there is someone out there who has experienced something similar and can offer some salient advice.

Ask Reddit. Search or Post. Better.

reddit.com/r/AskReddit/

in addition for you climbers.

reddit.com/r/climbing

Take a look at this pic posted in their climbing. sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto…

ps- thank me later for giving you access to the best internet site that has ever existed. May you spent endless hours of time there.

Birdman, I'm in exactly the same boat as you and I pretty much share all of your sentiments. I have been struggling with what to do next for the last few months and still haven't come up with a great solution. I too pretty much regret going to law school, primarily due to all of the bs associated with the process. I have received some good ideas from practicing attorneys along the way though. You are also completely right about the job market being terrible right now, however this has created a need for contract based employment with firms that are looking for help but don't have the desire/funds to hire an associate. If you're just trying to make enough money to climb and repay loans like I am it's not a bad idea. Also, from what I've been told by the climbing attorneys that I've talked to it's all about the culture of the where you work. One friend is at a firm where the ideology is just get your work done and when it's finished your free to do as you please. He works long hours when his caseload is heavy but climbs a lot when it isn't. Solo is also always on the radar but I'm also reticent about doing it without some sort of mentor. I think just staying open minded is the biggest thing, most of the attorneys that I've talked to that climb frequently ended up in their jobs in completely random ways.

FYI, also if you're looking to take the CO bar, the filing period started today for the July bar. I'm doing the Kaplan review course and I think it was $1800 or so but I need the class environment to keep me on task.

Wayne Smart wrote:Hey Brian H - Haven't heard from Birdman, but give me a holler and we'll get together and talk about solo practice. Wayne Smart

Hey Wayne, where are you located?

I graduated from law school 30 years ago. I took the bar right away.
I worked in corporate American for 15 years and then went out on my own. I make less on my own but have much more freedom to climb or ski. I would do it again and would go out on my own sooner. Don't skip the bar exam. It gives you options even if you do not realize it until years later.

It's also worth asking yourself how you feel about conflict. How do you feel about being in rooms where people hate each other, or how do you feel playing a game where the rules are unclear?

It's ironic, but there are a lot of conflict adverse lawyers out there, and I think they don't do a very good job for their clients.

I'm conflict adverse but that's not part of the dilemna. There is plenty of law to be done that isn't adversarial; at least not in the sense of being in a courtroom yelling at each other. It's more a work/life satisfaction balance.

Had a chance to talk to Wayne last night. He had the sage advice I was looking for. Any other attorneys who wouldn't mind sharing how they got started, I'd be interested to know.

After I passed the bar I knocked on doors until someone hired me.

What other choice do you have?

Like I said earlier, see if you can do a work for space or something comparable. Every dollar of overhead you avoid is a dollar in your pocket. You may also find someone (hopefully competent) that you can learn from and mentor you, something young lawyers really, really need. Even if you do part time, hourly work for several different lawyers, you'll be acquiring knowledge and form file that'll come in handy later.

Regarding the conflict avoidance issue, I moved from products liability litigation into estate planning with the notion that I wanted to avoid litigation. However, since most probate lawyers are really nice people who thrive on conflict avoidance, I found myself getting referrals for disputed probate and trust matters. I've come to learn that it actually suits me really well. I need a fire lit under to me to work well. Just sitting at a desk drafting documents is boring as all get out to me. So what you think you want may not actually be what you want or what you're good at.

I'm in Aurora, CO, next to Denver. - Wayne