Five weeks down... eight to go

It's Friday again, which is pretty amazing because it seems like the week just started. I have Mondays and Thursdayas off, so even though Wednesdays are long and Fridays are sort of long, it feels like I'm not here that much. Especially compared to last year.

So interview week in Vancouver starts on October 17th for summer jobs. That's a week from Monday. And I still don't have any interviews. Yep, I've kept the phone turned on, even in class (where I have it on vibrate) but no dice. I guess I'm not that surprised, because my first year grades were decidedly average and apparently all the big firms are looking for the top twenty percent. But still, I've got some good stuff on my resume and I only applied at places where I've established some kind of relationship with somebody who may have a say in whether or not I get hired. That's the law equivilant of only going to houses where you know people on Halloween. The potential for reward is a lot less in terms of sheer volume, but that is outweighed by the benefits. Trick or treaters are less likely to get poisoned, kidnapped, or to find a razor blade in their candy apple or rice krispie square. For me, I figured that it would spare me the senseless task of sending off a million applactions to 1) firms that wouldn't give me an interview because my grades were too low, or 2) firms that aren't in BC so I'd have to move and therefore wouldn't want to work at anyway.

I've asked the firms about grades and how important they really are. They are pretty upfront about it in saying that they're looking for top grades, but they also say that grades are a very very poor indicator of how an individual will ultimately do as a lawyer and as an employee within the firm. The reason they rely on grades so heavily, they say, is because they have to sort through two hundred applications and grades are the best and the easiest way to make in interview list. Okay, so fair enough. I figured that I'd apply at the three firms where I had a chance to get to know the hiring committee a bit and maybe that would at least get an interview, because I know they all liked me. But no luck. At least not yet anyway. We're still ten days away from interview week and anything can happen.

Not that I'm getting my hopes up at this late date. And besides, I don't know if I would actually hope to get a job at a big firm. I mean, I used to think I hoped I would, but everybody buys into that crap they feed us in first year about getting the best grades to get the best jobs at the best firms. The reality is that eighty something percent of lawyers don't work for big firms. And is that really what I want to do? They work a ton of hours. I've even heard of cots being set up in a special room at a certain downtown firm that I applied to. The money's great, but is that a good enough trade off for the missed hours, or even the missed years with family and friends? I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that if I got an interview I'd turn it town. I definitely wouldn't, and I'd probably accept any summer job they offered me. But at the same time I'm thinking about the big picture. We only live ... well.... who knows how many times we live, but I don't think I want to spend this life in an office downtown giving up my evenings and weekends to some big firm where ultimately I'm just another faceless part of the legal machine.

The other side to that is money. I don't need to be rich, but I do need something that'll help me pay off the student loan debt sometime in the near future. I'm probably going to owe over 100k and I want to buy a house and a car at some point before too long...

So what to do? Well, taking all that stuff into consideration I've formulated my list of things to do before I'm 40 (nine years from now):

1. Finish second year
2. Spend summer between second and third year traveling around Europe
3. Finish third year
4. Get articling position with small firm
5. Buy car
6. Open own firm and bill $300,000 a year
7. Buy house

That's a good plan. Having my own firm will mean that I can work the hours I want. And after business expenses (including paying the salery of another lawyer) I should still be able to take home about $120,000.

Okay well I'm glad that's settled... ha... and I didn't think I was going to be productive between Charter and IP today. So now onto the weekly state of the classes address:

Sports law: Nothing much to say here. Wieler liked my research proposal, which I don't think I really had to do because he looked like he didn't know what I was talking about when I gave it to him. I need to start my research soon though.

Charter: I gave her my proposal, but I think it's to general. I need to focus on one particular niche more because I've heard that a couple people are doing hate speech and freedom of expression.

Taxation: I've been doing some extra reading for this class. Still my favorite.

Negotiation: One case analysis down, one case analysis, a class presentation, and a final research paper to go.

IP: This class starts in two hours. I should be doing the readings now. So on that note...