Pulling Onward
Well, this week has been crazy.
Monday I got appeal papers in my major case. The other side decided to file an appellate brief in the first department. Having gotten this & a motion to dismiss the lawsuit that's in supreme court was stressing me out in terms of the work I'd have to do. Not to mention the fact I don't know a thing about appellate court procedure. That led to panic.
Tuesday I have a meeting w/the potential law partners for my practice (I figure I'll need that once my benefactor has placed my ad & I get calls; I'm trying to avoid taking on lots of clients b/c I can't afford lots of things that many lawyers have). Learned that the office space my client offered can't even be used b/c this client isn't a "professional"; now the search is on for office space to sublet or somehow use on the cheap. Oh, and apparently you can't even concern yourself w/the %s unless you have associates or support staff. I can afford nothing. One potential partner, on hearing about my being stressed, said that if I had work overflow, she might be able to help.
On Wednesday, I met w/my client & after telling the of counsel lawyer (who has extensive experience in court & history dealing w/the defendants for similarly situated plaintiffs), realized that in light of doing things for my client as well, I might need help. When I formed this situation, I told everyone that it would be agreed that if any attorney needed help & the client gave consent, they could turn to the other lawyers of this association w/the other lawyers making a choice whether to help or not. The condition was the other lawyers could NOT mess w/the pre-existing agreements clients already had w/the asking lawyer nor steal the other lawyer's thunder; this was b/c if someone more experienced helped me, it would be unfair to my pre-existing clients who agreed to work w/me for far less than they'd pay w/a more experienced lawyer (clients making that choice is another story). No sooner than I ask about the possibility of reducing my workload, I get everyone having hands out for $. It ended up resolving itself w/out having to do that but neither I nor the of counsel lawyer are getting paid hourly for this & I'm partly in it for the career enhancement aspects offered by this client. Does it also strike you as unfair if someone else came in & got an hourly rate when the rest of us haven't + are working harder??? Does to me. We could also pay a per diem lawyer or a specialist in the area, which these attorneys aren't.
It didn't occur to me until later but there's also a character issue involved for me. I hate fair weather types so am I to expect partners to demand money before doing anything for someone needing help, especially when I made a whole point about it beforehand??? That's not a business I want any part of. It's also been leading to a sense of burnout on my part; once I had the words & wrote it down, it made things better. I'd have more respect for people saying "no thanks" & being done with it if they want money so damn badly, especially knowing I don't have any.
In the meantime, I have my opposition to a motion to dismiss the lawsuit to write (due Friday) but I'll have to do some serious soul-searching before I proceed on that. Not mentioned it to the people involved yet but I did tell the partner who's been out of the country; she was even treated as someone who wasn't involved despite my saying she is & no one gets to "decide" on that. I don't know what she'll think (she's got her own major client so maybe she'll be able to relate) but I'm almost to the point that I'd rather do it all alone & hire associates to take over once I work w/my other company, which is my dream job. I definitely don't like this last minute shit that has been popping up on this case & it leaves a bad taste in my mouth w/my willingness to be in charge of a lawsuit.
Monday I got appeal papers in my major case. The other side decided to file an appellate brief in the first department. Having gotten this & a motion to dismiss the lawsuit that's in supreme court was stressing me out in terms of the work I'd have to do. Not to mention the fact I don't know a thing about appellate court procedure. That led to panic.
Tuesday I have a meeting w/the potential law partners for my practice (I figure I'll need that once my benefactor has placed my ad & I get calls; I'm trying to avoid taking on lots of clients b/c I can't afford lots of things that many lawyers have). Learned that the office space my client offered can't even be used b/c this client isn't a "professional"; now the search is on for office space to sublet or somehow use on the cheap. Oh, and apparently you can't even concern yourself w/the %s unless you have associates or support staff. I can afford nothing. One potential partner, on hearing about my being stressed, said that if I had work overflow, she might be able to help.
On Wednesday, I met w/my client & after telling the of counsel lawyer (who has extensive experience in court & history dealing w/the defendants for similarly situated plaintiffs), realized that in light of doing things for my client as well, I might need help. When I formed this situation, I told everyone that it would be agreed that if any attorney needed help & the client gave consent, they could turn to the other lawyers of this association w/the other lawyers making a choice whether to help or not. The condition was the other lawyers could NOT mess w/the pre-existing agreements clients already had w/the asking lawyer nor steal the other lawyer's thunder; this was b/c if someone more experienced helped me, it would be unfair to my pre-existing clients who agreed to work w/me for far less than they'd pay w/a more experienced lawyer (clients making that choice is another story). No sooner than I ask about the possibility of reducing my workload, I get everyone having hands out for $. It ended up resolving itself w/out having to do that but neither I nor the of counsel lawyer are getting paid hourly for this & I'm partly in it for the career enhancement aspects offered by this client. Does it also strike you as unfair if someone else came in & got an hourly rate when the rest of us haven't + are working harder??? Does to me. We could also pay a per diem lawyer or a specialist in the area, which these attorneys aren't.
It didn't occur to me until later but there's also a character issue involved for me. I hate fair weather types so am I to expect partners to demand money before doing anything for someone needing help, especially when I made a whole point about it beforehand??? That's not a business I want any part of. It's also been leading to a sense of burnout on my part; once I had the words & wrote it down, it made things better. I'd have more respect for people saying "no thanks" & being done with it if they want money so damn badly, especially knowing I don't have any.
In the meantime, I have my opposition to a motion to dismiss the lawsuit to write (due Friday) but I'll have to do some serious soul-searching before I proceed on that. Not mentioned it to the people involved yet but I did tell the partner who's been out of the country; she was even treated as someone who wasn't involved despite my saying she is & no one gets to "decide" on that. I don't know what she'll think (she's got her own major client so maybe she'll be able to relate) but I'm almost to the point that I'd rather do it all alone & hire associates to take over once I work w/my other company, which is my dream job. I definitely don't like this last minute shit that has been popping up on this case & it leaves a bad taste in my mouth w/my willingness to be in charge of a lawsuit.