Frequent Citations

Sugar Is Sweet As Victory

Hail!

I'll admit it here and now: a year ago, I did not foresee Michigan winning the Sugar Bowl.  But hail to the victors valiant, congrats to the team and the coaches, and go blue!

In other news: while back in Michigan for the holidays I was repeatedly scolded for not blogging more. Huh.

Just Wrong

The news from Penn State could not be more horrifying.

I can't wrap my head around it. 

Fall Saturdays

We went for a ride Saturday, up the Palisades and around West Point.  The sky was clear, the air was crisp, the mountains were still green, football was happening, and there was no better place to be than on a motorcycle.

I love the fall.

In other news: I left work just after 9 pm tonight, people.  Crazy early!!! I got to knit while I watched the Giants beat the Rams, even. 

Hours, Sleep, Perspective

The last time I had a day off was mid-July. I think there were 3 days since then that I billed in the single digits.  At least once I billed all but one hour in a day, leaving me barely enough time to cab home, change clothes, cab back, and during much of that time I was still sending and receiving emails.  I missed my daughter's birthday, I didn't get a single motorcycle ride, I ate maybe two dinners at home.

So once the trial was over, and the post-trial celebration was over (for me, I think I was the first to leave), I slept.  Until about now.  That's right, I was either sleeping or basically catatonic between Wednesday night and now. I've now been awake for about an hour and feel like I could use a nap.

In many ways it was a great experience, just to be able to see such a talented litigator in action.  In some ways it was fun, as we kept a ridiculous white-board going in the war room with pictures of our cast of characters and quotes and whatnot.  There were moments of individual triumph, when someone was singled out for a job well done.  And then there was the isolation, the random singling out for blame, the countless hours of extra work caused by avoidable inefficiencies and unavailability of key players.

Now I'm looking forward to more sleep, some real time with my family, and a change of direction when I head back to work.  We shall see what the next month or two bring...

Ireneomania

I guess it doesn't happen that often that the Emerald City itself faces a direct hit from a hurricane.  It's hard for me to get too excited about it--we're on relatively high ground, in a solid building, we have a couple pounds of nuts and a dozen bottles of beer, I have a box full of transcripts to read if the power goes out (or even if it doesn't), and, you know, wind and rain happens. 

Still, it's a little bizarre to see the city go into disaster-preparation mode.  My firm actually told people not to come in this weekend.  (I'm pretty sure it's dipping down to freezing temperatures in hell.)  The National Guard is apparently on its way, and FEMA (possibly a disaster in and of itself, but I'm hopeful I can avoid its "help").  The grocery stores were shutting down this morning but not without extremely long lines and, by TFL's reports, stripped shelves.  There are very few cars on the road, now.

The sky has been grey and moody all day.  You can sense there's something nasty out there, lurking.  I think I'm going to go out for a walk.

Freaks Of Nature

It's the most bizarre week.

An earthquake on Tuesday--after a split second of thinking I was just dizzy (surprising if I'm not, given the total lack of sleep around these parts) but then I recognized it for an earthquake.  No one else in the room had a clue, and half the people didn't even feel it.

Now a hurricane is heading straight for us and people are freaking out but I'm rather nonplussed.  I have to work at home all weekend and but otherwise nothing will really chane for me. We'll either resume the hearing on Monday or have a day "off" and come back Tuesday.

Fun times.

And my hours?  I'm amazed I'm still alive, and mostly functioning.  Although I am getting either a cold or double-pneumonia with bronchitis on the side.  And typhoid.  (I don't even know what that is, but I'm sure I'm going to get it.)  But hey, the hearing seems to be going well.

Trial: Day ?

Trial schedule: set alarm early enough to get to office before 7 to pick up binders and other emergency supplies in time to get to trial location by 7 or so.  Work for 2 1/2 hours getting stuff ready.  Attend hearing, watch witnesses get destroyed on the stand.  Grown men turn fearful before my eyes.  And admit to things that are horrible for our opponents.

Discuss how ill the lead lawyer on the other side is.  Play songs from the trial-specific play list.  Tell our lead lawyer all the awesome admissions he got on cross.  Order dinner.  Make suggestions for how to deal with a certain witness.  Add something to the whiteboard in the war room where you spend all your waking hours outside of the hearing room.  Conduct mock cross, harass paralegals.

Work until 2. Or 4.  Maybe 5. Cab home, toss clothes in dry cleaning bag, lie down, and hope you can sleep for the few minutes or hours you have. Hope your mind will stop spinning with all the things you have to do and think about just long enough for you to drift off so your brain is slightly more functional the next day.

Repeat. 

New Hobby

We go to trial Monday, so I've picked up a new hobby.  I watch, with a sort of sick fascination, as my hours zoom into the realm of the crazy.  I set a new personal best for hitting triple digits for the month but don't ask me when that was because I'm pretty sure the month began four or five weeks ago.

Or does it only feel that way?

I'm really looking forward to it (and not just because we'll sleep when we're done).  The senior partner has a reputation as a formidable litigator, but seldom goes to trial these days.  It will be great to see him do his stuff. All I have to do is survive the insane senior associates and everything will be peachy.

In other news: um.  Something Congress mumble mumble debt yada yada markets etc. complete stupidity and failure.  Uh, and less than a month until the first Michigan game! And most importantly,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRLCHILD!!!!!!!

(It was Sunday.  She still doesn't have her gift.  I am setting world records for bad-momness.)

Good, Bad, and Ugly

It's time for another post about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good: I got permission to re-write from scratch what has basically been a craptacular contract that we would never agree to and to which the other side kept trying to add ridiculous and impossible clauses in indecipherable lawyerese.  I wrote something in plain English that has now passed through all the review hoops on our end and I think stands as good a chance as anything at finally resolving a really, really expensive dispute.

So that was nice.

I wrote it from about, I don't know, 11 to 1 in the morning some time last week, because here's the bad: I've broken 300 hours and I still have a full day of billing to go this month.  We're going to trial in a couple weeks in one matter, and there's an endless amount of prep work to do for that. We're writing an appellate brief in another matter and I'm responsible for a section that's responding to the bulk of the other side's brief (in which they deny, deny, deny the truth). I've barely been able to touch it and I need to turn a draft in yesterday.  Literally, yesterday. I had started to work on it yesterday, too, and then everything got derailed by the ugly.

I might be tired, but I don't really mind working this much off and on, because I get totally stressed out if I don't have enough work to keep me busy.  What I do mind, however, is when a difficult and arduous work situation is made impossible and miserable by other people's demeanor.  I had a first-year motoring along yesterday compiling a lot of the prep work with occassional input from me, and I was clearing off my desk and starting to work on the brief, when senior associates decided to start getting pissy.

Really pissy.  Work on the brief became impossible and I ended up being at my desk until 2 am handling a made-up emergency for the trial prep and doing things that are way beyond my job description. I was sending emails at 3 am, now it's 8 and I'm about to head back to the office and wondering what I'm going to do because one way or another I'm going to need to find a way to confront some people, preferably with some tact, about the way they speak to me and the way they manage the team.

Wow, really looking forward to that.  But, as TFL reminded me earlier this week when the same people were sending me emails that were way over the top, I grew up with four older brothers.  I'm tougher than they are.

The trick will be remembering that.

Unmitigated Sadness

I have no words for Oslo.

O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart
Cannot conceive nor name thee!