My 2 firsts as a Lawyer

Finally I see the fruits of my labor after 2 months of working on files and working on cases that will take a long time.

My 1st first.
Last week Friday, I settled my first case. Of course I can't give the details of it but I can say this; Had I gone to the hearing and won, the only thing we would've recovered is our expenses. However, after a lot of negotiations we settled on something that not only our client has money in his pocket but our firm does as well. It may not be a significant amount but a victory nonetheless. I gotta admit, it was easy dealing with all parties this time, and I know it will get harder in the future. But a settlement is good to have in the belt. It will give me confidence and familiarity with this area of lawyering.



My 2nd first.
I went to my first hearing today. I would like to tell you that it was a heated battle between two well versed lawyers. I would also like to tell you that I shredded the other side to the point that they ran giving me and my client all the money we asked for and then some. In reality it was neither (to those of you who know me well, telling the truth is rather hard for me, and I love to embellish the truth. However, I have new found truthfulness via blogging and have to say is rather therapeutic. Indeed blogging has made me a better person. WOW what a nerd I am). Anyway, this was an unemployment insurance hearing. The other side never showed up and all I had to do was ask my client the questions. I successfully answered all the judges questions (which were, state your name, your position in the matter and if I would like a Jr. Mint (yes this is true and I wanted to laugh because it was like that Seinfeld episode where Kramer offers Jerry a Jr. Mint and ends up falling in the open cut of Elaine's boyfriend).

Simple enough right? Right, but it made me a lot more comfortable as far as asking my client questions, following up on items asked by the judge (the judge asked tons of questions, which made me feel good because a lot of the questions I wanted to ask he asked, which meant that I was doing something right). The biggest compliment I got came from my client. Of course he doesn't know any better but he said "thanks for making this really easy, we were well prepared and thanks to you I can sleep a little better tonight knowing I got some money coming to me." The truth is that it went well, but the judge still has to make that determination (my cocky side says "you nailed it nigga, holla at a brotha, cuz I fin get some fees outa this one.")

I got a similar compliment from the client whose case I just settled, so far my theme continues, (if you read a previous blog of my it is going from)
First it used to be - Damn it feels good to be a Gangsta (geto boys for those who don't recognize)
Then it went to - Damn it feels good to be a blogger (I just started blogging, and I like it)
Now it's - Damn it feels good to be a lawyer (in lieu of my recent accomplishments)

We'll see what the next "Damn it feels good to be a ____" says.