I work with about 25 or 30 attorneys at a pretty nice firm in the western part of Maryland. It’s a multi-national firm with several hundred attorneys and I have to say, honestly, that the people at this particular office are really nice. Not at all what I’d expect from a big firm. Not that I’d know what to expect from a big firm, but you know what I mean. It takes me about an hour on the back roads (Blondie knows what I mean), but its nice because it gives me a chance to really see the state I’ve chosen as my new home. It’s not that much different from the one I left!
Anyway, the guy that supervises us graduated from law school in 2002. He does not pretend to know everything and seems genuinely greatful that there are people on this project who have many years of experience. He listens to our suggestions, takes it into account, and then will acknowledges us when we’ve done something that’s been beneficial to the team.
All of that said, contract lawyering (temping) is both very rewarding, and very sad. It’s given me the opportunity to continue to reflect on my legal future while earning okay money. It’s not what I earned in private practice, but it’s more than I got as an Assistant D.A. And the difference is that in private practice I had a lot more responsibility – people’s lives and freedoms were at stake. I’m starting to think that I like the lack of responsibility, I like not having to worry about someone else and how what I do is going to affect them at the end of the day. Yes, if I tab F5 incorrectly, I’ll probably not be asked to come back. But that’s okay because there will be another project (hopefully). So this is the type of thing I can think about while I’m working. It’s not something you can do if you’ve committed yourself to a full time job. Well, maybe you can do it, but it would really be torture.
There are about three dozen of these temp firms in the D.C. metro area, so any of you who are considering moving here but don’t have work yet, not to worry. Sign up with several of these agencies and you should have enough money to keep you afloat while you look for your dream job or write that fellowship proposal.
I work with a wide variety of people, but its clear from the sheer number of agencies and temps that D.C. firms are not hiring. I carpool with a woman who went to HARVARD (undergrad, but still) and could not find a job for a year and a half. Another woman I work with has been out of work for 2 1/2 years and she’s got an MSE from Wharton and a J.D. There is a guy who came from Charolette, and he came for no good reason just like me. There is a guy who worked for the Kerry campaign in Colorado so he quit his job with a big, fancy D.C. firm and now has been unable to find more work. There are a couple of new law school graduates, but one of them can speak Chinese! And she can’t find work.
It’s nice, in a way, to be around so many people who are feeling your pain. We laugh at how much we are getting paid for this glorified data processing. We cry about how little we are getting paid considering the skills we have gathered over the years of practicing law. A lot of people are very serious about the project. They read every single document very thoroughly, they fret over whether they are entering the correct issue code, they read and re-read their binder to make sure they are not doing anything wrong.
And then there’s me. I want to do a good job. I want to have them keep me on for the next project, but I’m not so sure that they expect or even want me to use my lawyering skills while doing this job. I think they want us to act as machines to find the necessary documents for them so then they can use their overpriced lawyering skills to determine if they are worthwhile. Maybe I’m wrong and you will see a lot more posting in the next month when no agency will hire me because I am a shitty document reviewer, who knows.
Coming up. . . . Contract Lawyering: Part Two
