Things I have been able to do since landing the big case that I had yet to do at work:

• Log on to Westlaw. Our cases use Pennsylvania law almost exclusively and I’ve used a smaller, less effective (and presumably cheaper) case database in the small amount of legal research I’ve done at the firm thusfar. I used Westlaw all the time in law school, but I had completely forgotten how powerful a tool Westlaw can be. I now have my own log-in name under the firm account, which for some reason, made me feel like a real lawyer.

• Call/use a copy service. We’ve already amassed a few thousand pages of documents, mostly miscellaneous records from the trucking company. Last Friday, I called in a copy crew who picked up the documents, copied and organized them, and returned them in these very cool looking document boxes. Signing the copy order was the first official document I’ve signed binding the firm to anything. However slight the responsibility was, I appreciated it.

• Be taken to lunch by a name partner. We went to a local, inexpensive restaurant, but I really enjoyed it. Sure, the partner was only interested in talking about the story of how I landed the case, but sharing war stories over a delicious bowl of pasta made me feel, again, like a real lawyer.

• Expense reimbursement. Though I’ve filed my mileage repeatedly when I go out on various firm activities, they’ve never approved my reimbursement requests. It has actually been a point of contention at the firm, with a number of associates complaining about the firm being stingy with reimbursements. Since I landed the case though, every trip I’ve made has yielded and awesome $.55 per mile!

• Less bullshit. I, occasionally, surf the internet while at work. Maybe five minutes of every hour. Used to, when a supervisor or boss would walk by and catch me, I would receive a stern, written warning in my box the next day. The last few times this has happened, no warning. In fact, I had a discussion with a supervisor about how much I love gmail when he saw me checking my personal email.

I’ll be doing this feature sporadically over the next year as the case progresses. Right now, we have set the initial case schedule and are somewhere in the middle of discovery. We have depositions coming up in the next month, which will hopefully yield a post or two.

Posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 12:46 pm . Filed under Uncategorized.
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