Family Law Friday

What I thought was going to be a casual Friday ended up be very exciting. After having sushi with two lawyers, I got to shadow another two at their trial.

To make a long story short(er): One of our former clients (87 years old) came in last May for a pre-nup but his then 50 year old fiance refused to sign it because she said she was the only one taking care of him and his son didn't deserve anything. They got married, but a month later he comes in asking for a divorce. He said that she threw a potted plant at him, tackled him, and bit him three times. Our office took pictures of the abuse and reported it to the police. Our office got a restraining order against her for our client.

She contacted him saying she was sorry and loved him, tried to get him off his medication, violated the restraining order, went to court last November, and got probation. Then between last November and March, she has sent him dozens if not hundreds of emails to him trying to convince him that our firm and his son were conspiring to get his money and she was the only one who loved or took care of him. He believes her and tries to fire our lawyer. He gets depressed, tries to commit suicide, is hospitalized several times, and she goes to see him.

Our office brought the action to enforce the second restraining order and prevent her from getting into his estate. In the end, the judge found the woman "glaringly violated the restraining order" and sentenced her to 135 days in jail. Usually people convicted of misdemeanors can turn themselves in after a few days, but the judge said the woman's complete disregard of the law and danger she posed merited immediate arrest. "Bailiffs, take her away!" Watching a woman cuffed right there in court, what a closing to my first week of work.

Even though our lawyers were ecstatic with the verdict, everyone also felt really bad for our former client. He did not understand why the court would not let them see each other and was still afraid that his son was trying to take his money.

Family law is a tough field, and probably crazier than what they even show on tv. But when the man's caretaker came up to our firm's lawyers in tears thanking us for bringing a little closure to this horrible experience, I can understand why it is so important.

[Don't worry, this story is not privileged since everything I know I learned from today's courtroom proceedings]

How Old Are You?

Today, the client I am writing a prenuptial for came into the office to drop off some papers. When I came out to greet him, he had that look on his face that said "how old are you?" Even though I was in my nice suit, I know I still look young--especially compared to many of the lawyers in the firm who have been with the place since before I was born.

On the other end of the spectrum, when I moved into my summer sublet and told one of my new roommates that I am in law school, she asked me how old I was also. Even though they are only a few years younger than me, it is funny to think that I will be done with law school before they finish undergrad.

Too young. Too old. Since leaving the law school bubble, where 90% of people were probably within five years of my age, I think I have had age identity crisis.

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In other work news, I have mostly been assigned cases from the lawyer who works on education stuff, which is exciting. He is nice but he's also tough and expects a lot. Example:
Me: So which parts of the case do you want me to take?
Lawyer: All of it.

However, yesterday I felt like we had a bonding moment:
Laywer: I had a chance to look over your resume again.
Me: Oh, ok.
Lawyer: I am glad that you were the President of the College Democrats. If it were the Republicans, we might have had problems. [don't worry Faith, he would still like you]
Me: *breathes a sigh of relief*
Lawyer: You an Obama supporter?
Me: Yeah, I voted for him. And you?
Lawyer: Obama all the way. You know, all these years I have never put a political bumper sticker on my car. But I do now. Ok, back to work.

Our firm has a mix of political ideologies, but I guess I should not have been surprised with this lawyer. I looked at his biography afterward and saw that he did go to Berkeley in the 60s.

To Learn List

• How to parallel park the Green Monster, my mom's SUV I am driving over the summer.
• Business Associations, Conflict of Laws, Family Law, and review Civil Procedure and Torts (these are just the subject areas I have encountered in two days).
  
• How to make my printer not print out invisible documents.
  
• Not to be overwhelmed when I get issues that deal with a lot of money or people's marriages.
  
• Why Santa Barbara has so many one way streets.
• How to stay warm in my freezing cold office.
  
• Not get angry at all the bikers around Santa Barbara who selectively obey traffic laws.
  
• Not to feel really old when half the people who live around me were born in the 90s.
  

Speaking of life lessons during the summer, DCist made a hilarious list of "How Not to Be That Intern." After spending two summers in DC myself, I saw many interns who could have used this list. Fortunately, I think I only violated the gawking at famous people rule. I almost physically ran into Ted Kennedy and Newt Gingrich.

Maybe I run into some of the famous celebs who live around Santa Barbara like Oprah, Brangelina, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, etc.

She Works Hard for the Money . . .

Today was my first day of work at the small firm I am working at in Santa Barbara. I got to put on my power suit and drive (yes, me driving) through the picturesque State Street to work. They put me to work pretty quickly--my first assignment was drafting a pre-nup and getting to call the client.

I have the feeling that I will be writing and researching many things that I have never seen before. My second assignment today definitely fit into this category. Even if I wasn't bound by confidentiality, I still would not be able to divulge the specifics because I am still trying to figure that out myself. Although I felt a little overwhelmed trying to research an area where I did not even know where to start, everyone has been very helpful and nice.

Overall, the day was exciting, nerve-wracking, stimulating, and confusing all at once. I am too exhausted to write anymore. I guess that is why they call it work.

My Brother, The Graduate

Even though I am older and of course wiser, I look up to my brother -- physically and figuratively. Today he graduated from Berkeley Engineering, which I heard many times during a very rainy outdoor ceremony is the best engineering school in the world, and even universe.

*starts bragging* Somehow he managed to get a mechanical engineering degree and secure a post-grad job while being the president of his fraternity, member of the super mileage vehicle project, loyal boyfriend, Tahoe-skier, club-goer, etc. *ends bragging*

We Doans are doers . . . and now all graduates of the wonderful public university system. Congratulations Big Little Doan.