I find myself hesitant to talk about my work in any detail, not because I'm afraid of divulging client confidences but because I don't want to tempt trouble with anyone accusing me of being too lawyerly before I'm properly licensed. I'm not: all my work is attorney-supervised, nothing goes out with my name, etc. I even looked up how California defined the unauthorized practice of law, before I got too deeply embroiled, to make sure I'd be ok (I am). I basically do what any law clerk or even brand new associate would do - learn how to do things.
Lately I've been learning how to draft complaints. A complaint is the opening volley in a lawsuit, when the plaintiff tells the court, "This is what the defendant did, it was wrong, and you need to award a remedy for it."
Some complaints can be boiled down to a few checkboxes on a standard form, and I've been working with some software known as Hotdocs to make some of those. But the other day I helped draft one that was constructed out of prose. Using another complaint as a model, after reviewing the file and figuring out the facts, I took a stab at telling the story of the client's complaint. Of course the supervising attorney could have done this without me, and most likely quicker, but my contribution was not negligible. I may just be support staff, but I'm support staff with a JD and can contribute intelligently to the inherent strategic decisions that underlie any drafted complaint.
The thing got done and filed with the court. Which is something of an accomplishment in and of itself, because often the court kicks back complaints for having some sort of defect. When the messenger brought back the papers confirming its successful filing, the attorney I was working with directed him to hand them to me. "It's her first lawsuit."
Indeed it was. "I just helped sue someone!" I marvelled. It was sort of weird knowing that the work I'd just done was soon going to ruin someone's day. It was also very exciting.
In fact, when I slipped out of the office at one point the attorney sent me an email, "Congratulations on your first lawsuit!"
Does Hallmark make cards for this kind of occasion?