My days start with a check of my calendar. I make sure that my files are ready to go with me to court, my research is complete and ready for any consultations, and my list of calls to return is intact. However, despite my best efforts to keep my day on track, I am usually derailed. It could be a call from a Judge needing a lawyer for someone at an emergency custody hearing, or a potential client who needs legal assistance immediately, or simply a phone call that took much longer than anticipated. However, keeping on “schedule” isn’t my main concern on a daily basis, it is much loftier than that; perhaps, a bit audacious.
Before I spout out what I really want to accomplish – first, let me say this: I have no problem looking past the client’s burdens. Theft does not faze me; adultery doesn’t even make me blink. Moreover, if the client is the accuser, I don’t critique the position they are in now. Neither the client nor I can change the circumstances that brought us together. I do not judge, I do not minimize, and I choose not to inflame, what is already an unfortunate situation. What I do try to do is understand that the client is in pain and frankly, it doesn’t matter to me which side of the courtroom they will eventually stand.
So, after checking (and re-checking!) my calendar, reviewing my notes and files, and putting my to-call list next to the phone, my schedule of daily duties begin. The first item of business is to ease my client’s suffering.
