Bad Bad day - happy happy cure.
I don't usually use my LJ as a 'blog', hilarious considering that was the purpose for which it was designed, but today is a crappy day. It's just the crappy icing on the terribly bad tasting year really. I am currently going through the process of being admitted (or taking the bar as it is known in the US). We don't take a giant exam over here, we undertake a 6 month to a year post grad course. It's all about the practical aspects of being a lawyer, learning how to make court appearances, interview clients, write legal documents etc. It turns out that this program is a big giant crock - with a capital OMFG! We have to pay for the course, which is a big deal in Australia where we usually HECS defer (the government pays and then garnishes our wages when we get a full time job). So all of a sudden i am having to pay $5,200 AU. That might not be too bad if it weren't for the course itself. It's basically a crappy version of my Uni degree. It's a dumbed down - in case you weren't listening the first time - and again for the slow people - guide to how to be bored out of my brain. We had to come in day after day and just listen to these 'lectures' if that's what you could call them. Then we would get these really vague instructions and were told to go off like good little kiddies and do an assignment for which our giant folder (Lawyers must be the cause of global warming) has absolutely no guidence or help to complete. The assignment would actually be on something we had never learnt, but the lectures were one something we did. This was the first WTF! of my year that started this cracker off.
The second WTF came with the fast realisation that no, i cannot pass each of those damnable assignments the first time. I will be required to 'resubmit' it because some trigger happy lawyer had a stroke and covered my paper in red pen. I quickly learnt that no matter how hard i worked, i would have to resubmit. So began the process of half assing, waiting for innane comments and then ammending to suit. Not so bad on the scale of crapness but it meant i was in actuality doing the assignment twice. Not great considering some genious decided we should hand 8 in on the same day for a three day unit. Nice!
Final WTF and really the catalyst for this rant, there are no jobs for graduate lawyers at the moment! OMG. How is this possible? Well i will tell you how. I live in a state that only has 1M population in total. Small huh! We have three university's and two of them have run a law program for longer than anyone care remember. Somewhere along the line arose the wonderful situation of there being more law students than actual practicing lawyers. OMG! Why was i not told this? Why were those damnable moronic people at the uni open day informing me that no, i did not have a guaranteed job (which yes they lead me to believe) to go along with the $45,000 debt that i would have to spend the rest of my life paying back to the government. But then, some even bigger genious decided that the final Uni would also start up a law program - great more people to compete with. So now i am faced with a dilemma. There are no jobs, so do i move interstate (which would be hard considering my family situation) or stay here and apply for the non-existant jobs. Well that is not true. There are two going at the moment. One, i already applied for - a prosecutor. The other is my final sucky hit to my sucky year. I am having to contemplate (and am seriously leaning towards) applying for a job at one of the largest and most bloodsuckiest of law firms in my state. Oh yes! They are the epitome of the american style ambulance chasers. I disliked them on sight. They use 'contingency fees'. This means that you don't have to pay them unless you win. If you do then they will charge you. This sounds like a good plan, but my brain immediately imagined lawyers half-assing work and only accepting clients with a 'slam dunk' case. Who wants to lose money? But that's not the point of the legal system. We are suposed to be representing someone on their day in court. And of course they take on mostly personal injury cases, because that's where the money is. I thought that maybe i was a little harsh, but all my suspicions were confirmed when i had some contact with the firm. Yes they do focus on their winnable cases and ditch the other ones. Yes they do go for the cases with the most amount of money. Ugh! I want to die. Money grubbing lawyers. I got into this business to help people. Hell i would be happy with a cardboard stand in a park offering free advice over that job. But there is nothing else going....
so what does a despondent girl do? Ah, and here is the happy happy cure. I have decided upon achilly_flame a-thon. If you too have had a crappy day/week/month/year/LIFE! join me if you will in reading all her fabulous DWP fics. It is like chicken soup for your soul. Everytime i finish reading 'Small Favours' i sigh a happy contented sigh, like a hot tea on a cold winters night.
Rant Over! Let the reading commence