I’ve moved office just about every year now. I live in a different jurisdiction from that in which I practice, and the jurisdiction in which I live isn’t very friendly to ‘foreign’ lawyers. So, since this state borders the one I’ve been practicing in, I just drive around the god forsaken beltway to get to my office. I am constantly looking for a place that is closer to home, closer to the courthouse, just Gah, just closer.
If you’ve ever been to the DC metro region you know that there is no place that is quick and easy to get to. The Maryland border (the state I practice in) is a mere 5 miles away. It takes me at least 20-25 minutes to get there with no traffic. It’s another 20-25 to my current office. But, once I am there I am pretty happy. I have a nice big desk, my books, and a seemingly unlimited supply of coffee. I’ve got a back door that leads out to a grassy area where a woodchuck will come and keep me company (from a decent distance) now and then. It was just me and my little filing cabinet chugging away and trying to make this work.
Last year, May, I hired a legal assistant. Ann is admin, paralegal, and the other side of my brain. Here, let me tell you something honestly – if you think you can’t afford an assistant I will tell you I think you can’t afford to not have one. This person has allowed me to concentrate on the stuff I know how to do and that is to keep clients happy with the law. She knows how to keep clients happy period. She knows their cases, their names, who their best friends are and who to call if I can’t find the client. She knows the judges secretaries and she makes a killer pot of coffee and enchilada. Ann makes me and my practice better.
Then I decided gee, wouldn’t it be great to have a real live immigration practice. And wouldn’t that practice need someone Spanish? Enter Astrid. She is half Guatemalan from Nebraska. I am pretty sure she is the only one ever in that breed. Like a labrabeagle or something. Her parents met when her dad was in Guatemala for the peace corps. I asked her during her interview how her mom felt about moving to Nebraksa and she said “Well, she was happy about it because she thought she was moving to Alaska.”
So what’s the point of all of this? Well, to let you all know that we are moving again. We now have three lawyers and one paralegal and one brand new admin person. Katie joined us two days ago and I think she will fit in because well, she lasted the past two days and it’s been fairly chaotic. I figure anyone who can manage three lawyers working out of one office has got to have some staying power. But we’ll see.
The other point of this post is to write it. Just to sit here and put these words down and to let you know that I haven’t forgotten about all of you. I know I keep making promises that I never keep. And sometimes I say I won’t make promises I will just write. And I don’t do that either. But I figure if I just sit here and let you know what I’m up to at least you maybe won’t forget about me either.
I am practicing law which is the thing I always wanted to do. It’s the only thing I know I can do. I am teaching other young lawyers how to practice law. And I am teaching an office full of humans how to care about people and how to do this thing as well as I know how. I was taught by some of the best, and I still reach out to so many lawyers who have much more experience than me and it feels unreal sometimes to be able to teach another generation of lawyers how not to suck at this.
So, we are moving. We’ve got our own suite of offices with just my name on the door. We can walk to the courthouse, although we probably never will. We will continue to try to improve what we do and how we do it. And we will continue to remain committed to this thing we’ve signed up for. Oh, and we’ve got a three year lease so we are pretty committed to the space too.
