Time to Be a Career Woman

I started work at the law firm on Monday and in six days, it feels like my life has completely changed. I've gotten used to putting on a suit/ pantyhose/ heels every morning, driving to work, making my coffee and reading the paper, and getting settled into my fourteenth-floor office. I have met a ton of new people and more or less learned my way around the office, or at least the parts I really need to know for my purposes. The domestic relations group is all on the same hall, and really as long as I know who and where everybody is in my practice group, I'll be good to go. I've been to a mediation already this week and will be going to court with D. first thing Tuesday morning. They want me to go to as many depositions, mediations, and court appearances as possible in the first few months, to go to a few family law classes and seminars, to draft some pleadings, to do a lot of reading geared toward my practice area, etc. They've put me in charge of providing email updates to the whole firm every other week about recent case law developments in our practice areas, so I've started keeping lists of all that information to have on hand. I've learned how to use our billing software and our research databases and been practicing with both. And then I've been coming home and trying to go for a run and then falling into bed exhausted by approximately 10:45 pm every night, which is so early, but after getting up at 6:30 am, I am tired.

I am joining all these groups like the Young Lawyers' Division of the American Bar Association and a volunteer lawyers' group and am planning to go to all their events, like family law section breakfasts and movie nights and wine tastings, to meet people and to network. I want to be that girl who brings in a HUGE case for the firm approximately two weeks after getting started, and you can't meet potential clients if you don't join groups and put yourself out there. I'm also hoping to join a gym or a running club and to start doing volunteer work, because those are the places where the potential clients will be.

So, I love my job and I can't believe I actually get to work at this firm and in this place. This is definitely what I have wanted for a long, long time, and it's everything I thought it would be. And it feels so good to love a job and to be truly excited for Monday (well, this week, for Tuesday because we have off for Labor Day). I haven't always loved my law-firm jobs, but I had a feeling that this one was going to work out, and it sure seems that way. I can't hide how excited I am about the next few months. I've already practically filled my calendar up with events to try out in the city in the next couple of months (I reasoned that I have no friends here yet besides emerging work friendships, so I may as well go to these events, since I'm guessing that's a pretty good way to make friends). Stay tuned for some more posts to come on: developing soft skills in the workplace, why I won't let people judge me for being (gasp!) a divorce attorney, and how to stay sane while waiting for bar results. Have a great Sunday!