the Greater Nomadic Council

The Job

I have told a few of you guys about this, but I haven't been able to get in touch with others. I have my first real job. Well, my first office job anyway.

It was getting down to the end of the school year, and I was getting nervous about my prospects for any job at all. In retrospect, I bungled the job search at every step of the way. Most big firms hire in the Fall for the following summer (some even seek commitments in September for jobs that begin in May or June of the following year). These are the "soul-crushing summer jobs" that Wings and Vodka talks about on occassion, and while they are probably more available for UT students, my grades are good enough to put me in the running for them. Anyway, I didn't start applying early enough, I didn't apply for some jobs that I would have been perfect for, and I even turned down a few job offers late last year because I thought something better was going to come around. My last hope was the US Attorney's office--I interviewed with them a few times, but I ended up not getting the job. I was left with accepting a position with a judge (which does not pay, and is among the least prestigious law jobs one can have), and was on the brink of accepting a position with a Tarrant County District Judge when something wonderful happened:

I got a call from a Dean at my school. Before he was a dean, he was my torts instructor in my first year, so I know him pretty well, and had sent him my resume earlier and told him about my difficulties. He is a Yale-educated former JAG officer, and is generally a very straight-laced man. Comically, he introduced himself on the phone thusly: "Hello, this is Associate Dean Reginald P. Higganbotham from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law" [name changed to protect the uptight]. I thought it was a joke--one of my friends being stupid--and I almost laughed and told him to f-off. Happily, I didn't, and it turned out that he had a job immediately available for me. Very very lucky.

The job is with a small firm (eleven attorneys) near downtown Funky Town. (I'm not going to mention the name because I don't want Google to crawl over it and prospective clients to see this stupid post.) The location is great because it is near the courthouse, but not in downtown, so the parking is easy. Anyway, the firm represents about thirty school districts, including the FWISD, which is cool because it's really the only place a practicing attorney can work on Constitutional Law issues. It's full-time, nice pay (in fact, the senior partner told me that if I find that I'm underpaid, to just let him know), I don't have to wear a suit everyday (pretty casual office, really), and I get my own office. The office is probably 20'x15' or so, and has a giant window overlooking the park and river. Everyone in the office is very friendly too. In short, it's just about perfect for me.

I turned in my first memo on Friday. So far, I'm not sure if I have been very helpful or efficient, but every attorney has told me that was the case with their first job. I've been there eight or nine hours a day every day, but I feel guilty about billing that much (because my hours are billed directly to clients), so I've only billed about half my time. That, too, will probably change as I become more comfortable.

Anyway, that's the update. I've been too busy these past few weeks to post much on the blog, and I'm sorry to break my silence with something so trivial, but I'll try to offer some substance soon. There are a few topics I've been meaning to research, and if I ever get around to them, I'll put them up. Kimika and Smeej will be good additions, and will hopefully take up some of my slack.

Peace to your grandneice.