Please don't congratulate me.

I have always known that the general public does not view "Legal Aid" and it's ilk as being real law firms or the attorneys who work there as being real attorneys. I can't even count how many times I've been told by a client, "If I could hire a real attorney...." and they are not trying to be insulting! They say this with an apologetic tone of voice as though they are sorry to be bothering me.

Then there are other attorneys. At the beginning of my Legal Aid career I would get comments about Legal Aid "being a great first job," and "a good place to get experience." And I have been asked more than once about what I wanted to do after Legal Aid. All the while it never occurred to me that I would leave Legal Aid. I was always very insulted that other legal professionals discounted the work that we did and couldn't fathom that someone would be very dedicated to it as a career choice.

But now here I am. I'm leaving Legal Aid for the very reasons I swore I never would. And I'm receiving "congratulations," from all walks of life. My Legal Aid clients seem genuinely happy for me, other attorneys are "excited" for me and my friends and family think that it's a step up.

I can't help but think this is all about money. People equate success with money. I can't say that I'm totally immune to this belief. I am obnoxiously materialistic. When I crunched the numbers about what I could make annually in private practice.. I was sold. It was that easy. Granted it will not be as easy to actually MAKE that money, but it's there to make. I am excited by the prospect of making money and helping to get this family from under the specter of debt.

BUT I'm also saddened by the fact that the work done at Legal Aid is discounted based on how much we make. If Legal Aid attorneys made as much as government attorneys the job would be so much more respected. Then again, Public Defenders also get a bad rap. I guess if you are representing people who can't afford a private attorney, then you must be a shitty attorney, a bleeding heart liberal, or fresh out of law school.  I'm very proud of the work I've done at Legal Aid and it has really given me the foundation to move on and into the next phase of my legal career.

I don't think congratulations are necessarily in order. I haven't done anything congratulation worthy. I'm doing something different. That's all.

Why the holiday season is NOT the time to set up a new office..

Wow.  These next 4 weeks are just going to be insane. I am definitely rethinking the wisdom of trying to open a law practice over the holidays! I feels so stressed and panicked about how I am going to get it all done! I have incredible amounts of work to do before leaving my current position (which is piling up as I take the precious time to write this entry!). I really don't want to leave a shit-ton of work for my successor who also happens to be one of my very best friends..I'd like to keep that relationship intact! But oh MAN is it hard to focus.

I still like the idea of starting the new year totally fresh and on my own. If we forwent Christmas this year, this would totes doable and this blog entry would not be written. We just got through Hanukkah and now the real Christmas preparation begins! We've had our tree up for 4 days and it has about 1/20th of the ornaments up..sad state of affairs really. I can't even keep track of what presents I have for who! Hopefully we have the same number of presents for both kids or we are in deep doo-doo. Last year I was the shining example of holiday organization - had my gift app all up to date with information, budget etc.. this year is a free for all frenzy on Amazon.

So let me backtrack a tad and explain why things are crazier than they should be.

1. Ever since I got the harebrained idea that I should open my own solo law practice, that is pretty much all I think about.

2. While I have not been taking new cases, my old ones are not closing as quickly and cleanly as I thought they would.

3. My husband is quitting the family law component of his practice and referring all calls to me - so I'm actually getting cases and work. But when am I going to get that done?! So while it's heartening to know that I will be starting my solo venture with actual clients, I am having a difficult time spending adequate time on those cases.

Okay. So I have FOUR MORE WEEKS to try to get this together. I am no longer under any illusions that I will have a fully set up office come January 2, 2014. I will be stoked if the lights work and my Keurig is up and running.