Friday, January 7, 2011

End of law school tunnel is (barely) visible

Maybe it's the spring semester. Maybe it's the possibility of being gainfully employed on a full-time basis in a little more than a year. Or maybe it's the fact that we 2Ls are now halfway done with law school. Whatever the reason, I am getting a very faint sense that the clouds are parting and we are finally on a downward slope toward graduation. I know the semester is only three days old. I know there is still much work to do, and many exams to write. Still, I'm feeling a small shred of optimism that is replacing my 2L funk from last fall.

For me, one of the more rewarding aspects of the spring semester, so far, is the chance to work part-time as a law clerk for a firm in downtown Louisville. It's been tricky fitting a job into a full-time schedule of classes, but the rewards of real-life practice (and a little extra money) are hard to underestimate. Today, for example, I will attend my three-hour Trial Practice class, then jump in the truck and drive 80 miles to the home of a client in rural Kentucky to do a video interview about her injuries for a mass tort case. There are a lot of more mundane tasks associated with a clerkship -- billing, paperwork, forms, drafting motions, etc. -- but everything is a learning experience, and there is a certain thrill to the idea that what you are doing is going to have a real impact on a client's case. So, while the skies are gray and winter is just begun, I'm feeling a small ray of light. Let's hope it gets bigger.

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