On May 7th, this semester's final exams ended for me after I submitted a 10-15 page paper for "Death Penalty/Habeus Corpus," and a 13 page take home exam for "Corporate Tax." Neither was too difficult, though many days I had little motivation to actually work on either one. I guess every law student feels that wa
y sometimes though, huh? I did well on both fianl exams, especially considering I just had brain surgery in January. I'll be sure to put that on my resume :) Anyway, almost immediately afterwards, Amanda and I visited family back in North Jersey. Amanda returned to Philly that Sunday to start work early the following Monday morning, but I took the opportunity to hang out just a bit longer and I returned later the next day. Finally, after a few weeks of relaxing, catching up on some pro bono work, and arranging for an oncologist out in Colorado, I left for the Colorado Attorney General's Office, Appellate Division, where I'm currently interning.
This summer I'll be researching and writing various appeals for the state of Colorado, a skill that I really look forward to improving and (hopefully) at a place I'd love to work sometime after graduation. So far, it's been wonderful. The "dress code" (very casual, the first day I wore a nice shirt and tie and they told me I was too formal!), the attorneys (all very smart), and the hours (bliss!) are all relaxed and close to ideal. I hope to make some good contacts for post-graduation employment while I'm here, including clerkships, even though I've found that I can say awkward things sometimes that make me laugh afterwards while probably making others cringe. I'd like to blame that on my surgery too but I imagine it was there all along and I just didn't notice it.
Lawyers don't make
nearly as much in public service as their corporate firm counterparts, but we do get weekends and holidays (both state and federal) off, and our workdays usually end around 5 or 6:00-ish. Basically, government lawyers have lives, but without the money to live them. While some of my classmates will be buying gold-plated first editions of the latest Harry Potter book, I'll be heading to the local library to check one out. Then again, though "providing for ones family" definitely includes being able to pay the mortgage and put food on the table, the more important facet of "providing" means actually being present and available for one's family. As long as I can afford the former, it certainly looks like I'll have the latter taken care of.
So here I am, in the land of lunatic Second Amendment libertarians, marijuana-dispensary "wellness centers," crazy limo-liberals, ranchers, cowboys, and amazing mountain sunsets. Living in the heart of Denver is not bad at all. I can walk to work in about 20 minutes, passing several very decent coffee shops along the way. I am only about a 10 minute walk from three major grocery stores. And I'm surrounded by a gorgeous collection of late-Victorian homes: it kind of reminds me of Philadelphia but without the good Italian food, though with amazing outdoor opportunities that Philly couldn't even approach. Amanda is still in Philly, sticking with her personal training clients, and I can't wait for her to come out June 26th for a two week visit. I couldn't imagine being able to get that much time off this summer if I was working for a major law firm. Government lawyering is definitely for me...
y sometimes though, huh? I did well on both fianl exams, especially considering I just had brain surgery in January. I'll be sure to put that on my resume :) Anyway, almost immediately afterwards, Amanda and I visited family back in North Jersey. Amanda returned to Philly that Sunday to start work early the following Monday morning, but I took the opportunity to hang out just a bit longer and I returned later the next day. Finally, after a few weeks of relaxing, catching up on some pro bono work, and arranging for an oncologist out in Colorado, I left for the Colorado Attorney General's Office, Appellate Division, where I'm currently interning.
This summer I'll be researching and writing various appeals for the state of Colorado, a skill that I really look forward to improving and (hopefully) at a place I'd love to work sometime after graduation. So far, it's been wonderful. The "dress code" (very casual, the first day I wore a nice shirt and tie and they told me I was too formal!), the attorneys (all very smart), and the hours (bliss!) are all relaxed and close to ideal. I hope to make some good contacts for post-graduation employment while I'm here, including clerkships, even though I've found that I can say awkward things sometimes that make me laugh afterwards while probably making others cringe. I'd like to blame that on my surgery too but I imagine it was there all along and I just didn't notice it.
Lawyers don't make
nearly as much in public service as their corporate firm counterparts, but we do get weekends and holidays (both state and federal) off, and our workdays usually end around 5 or 6:00-ish. Basically, government lawyers have lives, but without the money to live them. While some of my classmates will be buying gold-plated first editions of the latest Harry Potter book, I'll be heading to the local library to check one out. Then again, though "providing for ones family" definitely includes being able to pay the mortgage and put food on the table, the more important facet of "providing" means actually being present and available for one's family. As long as I can afford the former, it certainly looks like I'll have the latter taken care of.So here I am, in the land of lunatic Second Amendment libertarians, marijuana-dispensary "wellness centers," crazy limo-liberals, ranchers, cowboys, and amazing mountain sunsets. Living in the heart of Denver is not bad at all. I can walk to work in about 20 minutes, passing several very decent coffee shops along the way. I am only about a 10 minute walk from three major grocery stores. And I'm surrounded by a gorgeous collection of late-Victorian homes: it kind of reminds me of Philadelphia but without the good Italian food, though with amazing outdoor opportunities that Philly couldn't even approach. Amanda is still in Philly, sticking with her personal training clients, and I can't wait for her to come out June 26th for a two week visit. I couldn't imagine being able to get that much time off this summer if I was working for a major law firm. Government lawyering is definitely for me...
