Friday 18 April 2008

Working 9-5, not a way to make a living.

Wannabe barristers probably share a few common traits (at least in their own minds). Intelligence, eloquence, liking the sound of their own voice, and a distinct rejection of authority and being told what to do. At least I assume the last one is true, it certainly is for me. I can't wait to be my own boss again!


Have had a week of hell temping in a law firm which was quite nice, and in employment law (which I like) but a couple of real jobsworth types managed to make my week hell!!

Argh. Working for the man is no way to live. I reckon I could write a book on how to manage people, and how best to support and motivate your employees to get the best out of them. It basically involves not treating them like crap, and assuming incompetance, dishonestly, and showing utter lack of faith and trust in them.

I think it's a self fulfilling prophesy - treat people like you don't expect much from them, and you won't get much from them.

Anyway, all that doesn't matter because I will be in NY in less than a month!

And then I will be a girl walking into a (New York) Bar Exam! Can't wait....

7 comments:

Android said...

I know what you mean. Some people take their jobs far too seriously!

Wow, good luck for the Bar Exams! What do they involve?

Mel said...

Hey Android,

Thanks. What they involve? Actually, I have NO idea.

I have booked my flights, sorting accommodation, have paid for the course, but haven't er...actually 100% been accepted to take the exam yet... I may have jumped the gun a tad.

There's an 8 week prep-class, I'm hoping that will teach me the entirety of American criminal, civil, property, contract, constitutional, etc law in time! Well, leaving enough time for sightseeing too!

Android said...

I'd love to visit an American court. I wonder if they're as dramatic as on the TV!

P.s. I'm sure you will be accepted to take the exam! :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, Mel - The NYB Exam?? That's AMAZING!! BIG hat tip - you are far braver than I am!! Will yoou carry on blogging whilst in the Apple? Would love to hear all about your adventures on this front! Only trouble is, NY is such a FAB city,with so much to do and see there yu will have to have cast IRON discipline not to be excessively distracted!
VERY best of luck though - have my fingers crossed for you that it will all work out as you plan!

Mel said...

I actually visited an American court, an appeals court. I heard a criminal appeal and a civil appeal.

It was BIZARRE. In many ways, obviously it was all the same pomp and circumstance of an English Court. But with the lawyers not wearing wigs/gowns, and as they only had 15 minutes to speak it seemed much more like a moot than oral advocacy at its height! The lawyer I went with had submitted his brief (skeleton) 18 months beforehand! Not so good when you consider his client was serving a sentence he was appealing all that time.

It was really interesting though. The civil lawyer (actually they had half an hour each to talk, now I remember - crim only had 15) was arguing something bizarre along the lines of 'this action by the government wasn't really all that nice or fair, so it must be unconstitutional'. He had no precedents or other legal authority for this!

Hey minx,

Thank you! I hope to still blog from there- and not to get too distracted, eek! I think the course will be quite tough but I am SO looking forward to it! I've never been before, so I'm going to totally throw myself into the experience.

Swiss Tony said...

Mel,

So does this mean you will be an american barrister before a UK barrister?

It all seems a bit bizzare to me if you can do it in 8 weeks, but it isn't going to hurt your cv is it to have it under your belt.

Well done, and keep blogging. This will be fascinating

Mel said...

Hey Tony, thanks.

Technically, I will be able to practice as an attorney in NY. In practice, I don't think anyone would really hire me given my lack of experience/ no American LLM.

Yeah, the 8 week thing is a bit strange but it's kind of like the GDL packed into that time (people doing the NY Bar will have already done a 3 year JD course). It doesn't cover drafting, opinion writing or any similar such 'practical skills' like the BVC or LPC.

I was told by someone, not sure how true it is, that some people were taking the NY Bar in order to be able to come back here and take the foreign lawyers exams and thus bypass training contracts? Doesn't sound like it would work, and in any case the Law Soc have since closed up any loopholes.

Not that I would try anything so shady, of course!