The Atlanta Lawyer December/January 2020 | Page 11

IN THE PROFESSION One day, you will get an assignment from a partner and find yourself searching through the keepsakes of a grandmother who died, looking for some indication to help you decide which of her two warring children should get her small estate. Or, you will be placed in charge of goats as part of a bankruptcy. You might sit fifth chair at the deposition of a person suffering from the effects of asbestos poisoning, or have to tell a tragically injured person that there is no insurance to cover their injuries. This isn’t the stuff of a textbook. These are real issues that you will have to solve. remedy you can find, grab your rolling briefcase, and pray you make it through the hearing. You will miss family events and reschedule vacations. In fact, law school should teach an entire class on the appropriate excuses for missing events. That would be a practical addition to the curriculum. There will be days when your needs simply will not matter because you were retained to help someone with a TPO, and you need to arrange for the police to escort an abuser to retrieve their belongings from the home, so their spouse and children can feel safe that night. Also, expect weekend calls and texts. You will get asked questions at cocktails parties, at church, on your birthday, at the gym, during karate class, or while you eat dinners at restaurants. All. The. Time. This is the reality of the calling that you are taking on as an attorney. Someday, you will call your friend and mentor, offering to help with a tragedy, and you will find yourself standing in the very place where their daughter died, holding it together for them, so you can do your job. Or, you will hold secrets for your closest friends and business contacts that they would not tell a priest. You will be a vault of hurts and losses, and you will have to be a professional through all of it. People will tell you things that they have done, and you will know exactly why their life is falling apart. You will have to remind yourself of the true humanity of life and then force your face to remain kind and calm. They do not teach these skills in law school. You are going to hold hands, pass tissues, and provide insight and comfort. There are times when someone will look at you and ask for help, and you will have no idea what to say or do, except tell them that you will be there. You are going to find yourself exhausted from a stomach virus, but you have court the next day, and the judge simply will not reschedule, and the other side will not consent to a continuance. So, you will take whatever over-the-counter You need to know that you are a professional and that means at times you will carry the heavy burdens. You are the confidant and confessor. You are the advocate and the devil’s advocate. You will need to be more honest with people and with yourself than you ever imagined. You will need to do all of this while marketing your services, billing time, sending out invoices, collecting your fees, and trying to get all your CLE credits. Someday, no matter what you do, an unreasonable client is going to file a bar complaint against you or blast you on social media, in spite of the long nights, weekend calls, and unpaid invoices. Yet, to maintain their confidences, you simply cannot defend yourself publicly. This is the actual practice of law. Yes, you still get to argue about obscure cases and points of law, especially if you go into appellate work, but by and large, most of us end up helping real people with real problems. When I was in law school, I never wanted to own my own firm, but now, I could do nothing else. The practice of law will change you by challenging you to move beyond the mental exercises that you learn in law school. It will teach you how to serve and if you do it right, you will love what you do. I know I do. But, don’t forget to work on yourself. Read. Take classes in other areas. Learn about empathy and EQ. Get into selfcare. Get a therapist. Be active in your faith community. Just understand that nothing in your career will turn out the way that you thought it would in law school. And, frankly, you will be the better for it. HEATHER WRIGHT The Wright Firm LLC [email protected] Wise Expectations By Meghan Thomas “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.” - Socrates (contines on page 13) www.atlantabar.org THE ATLANTA LAWYER 11