by Stan Stankowski
As you may remember, some time ago, Evan asked if there was anyone who would agree to write a weekly post giving a realistic view of large firm life for young associates. I, having just finished up a clerkship, have decided to answer the call. I have recently, or will soon be starting, work as an associate at a law firm. Since I will not have much work to do, and I will be spending almost no time at a computer, this gig writing a weekly entry for Notes from the Legal Underground seemed like just the thing.
Allow me to go ahead and address a few issues that I am sure will pop up immediately. I am not Evan writing as a fictional associate. I am actually a different person. Really. Secondly, this will not be a fictional account of life at a big firm, I am not Jeremy Blachman and I am not looking for a book deal (yet). I will attempt to be as accurate as possible in describing the daily life of an associate in today's legal world, as a resource for those in law school and other associates. Thus, I imagine that this weekly feature will soon be renowned throughout the blogosphere as "the world's most boring guest spot." I try will stay as anonymous as possible and I will not reveal the firm or partners I work for. To that end, some details, such as the city I practice in or destinations I travel to may be altered.
Now for a little background information. I have just finished clerking for a court. The law firm that I am working for is, in direct contravention of Evan's request, not a large law firm. In fact, it is pretty small. Nonetheless, it requires large firm hours and provides large firm paychecks and we service large firm clients. So, while I imagine that the experience will be similar to that of a large firm, I actually do work for a "boutique."1 Also, I will be practicing somewhere in what would widely be considered the South. It might be Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Birmingham, Atlanta or Nashville. Hell, it might be in Little Rock. (I realize this is stretching it a little, no one would ever believe I, or anyone else, willingly went to Little Rock).
That about wraps it up. I am sure that Evan will have something to add. I look forward to ruining at least one day of your week by posting about writing research memos and being yelled at by senior partners. For the next six years.2
Notes
1.The author is well aware that almost every firm that has less than 100 lawyers refers to itself as a "boutique," and that therefore, the term has lost any impact that it may have once had. Still, he insists that his firm might actually meet the original definition of a boutique, just as a "progressive" politician might insist that he is only "liberal" in the "classical sense."
2. Or two months, if the author inadvertently reveals his utter incompetence and lack of work ethic to his employer.
About the Author: Stan Stankowski is the pseudonym of a first-year associate working in a litigation firm somewhere in the South.
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