#ik for a lot of people this is there first big exposure to rap because of the beef going on but like

[pumpkinrootbeer]

Hardware Store is a Weird Al song. During the bridge, he lists off a bunch of different tools and appliances very quickly, which I suppose could be considered "rap" if you've never listened to an actual rap song.

ANOTHER?? ANOTHER WEIRD AL SONG? IN THE POST ABOUT HOW WHITE PEOPLE CANT BE NORMAL ABOUT RAP MUSIC ?

[lawyerd]

ik you started out law school 100% devoted to public interest and I think you mentioned you shifted to now do private first for a bit. as I'm starting ls this fall and also have PI goals, I was wondering if you would mind talking about that decision? would it be different if you were a different school, place, etc.? love your blog and hoping you are safe rn!

Hey! 

Ha yeah I have been on a JOURNEY 

A LONG JOURNEY so it is under a cut (at least I think it is? Sorry if it’s not. Xkit is messing with me here).

I’ve told this story in bits and pieces before because I think I was actively figuring it out for myself at the time, but I think - I hope?? - I finally know what I’m doing, so this is a far fuller picture of my thoughts and experiences from the last few years 

I actually came to law school because I was interested in politics and had some vague thought that people in politics had law degrees, so I could make this work for myself. Before I started law school, our school mailed us a copy of Just Mercy and during my 1L year I worked with the Innocence Project on a case, and then events in my personal life led to the arrest and incarceration of two separate people close to me for offenses that I personally believe should be decriminalized, so I felt passionate about criminal justice and took an internship with a public defenders office. 

The experience wasn’t quite what I thought it would be - my two largest projects were particularly gruesome child pornography defense cases, which was not the work I was interested in doing (and, in retrospect, was a pretty brutal way to introduce a fresh-faced student to public defense work!) - so afterward I cast around aimlessly for a bit. I soon thereafter made law review, and then got an internship with a Federal judge I admired, so I started running in a particular law school circle (law students know the type) and began thinking well, I’m not sure what I want to do, but I now have a very classic big law background, I’ve missed OCI (the on-campus interviewing that happens in the summer after 1L that leads to post-grad jobs in Big Law), but I can start networking and find something that’ll lead me somewhere. 

I grew up poor and can’t lie, I was attracted to the idea of big law money! I figured I’d do it for a few years and if I hated it, soft-exit through a clerkship to something more public interest. But in the meantime, hey it’s good experience and I can pay down my student loans. So I took my third internship in a corporate litigation firm. And again, it just was not for me. The environment of the particular office was very isolating, the work was depressing (foreclosing on people’s homes on behalf of banks! asbestos defense! defending employers in discrimination suits!).

So, I kind of scrapped that second, new plan. It’s hard to say I’d turn down one of those jobs if I managed to land one (we are in a pandemic and oh my god they do pay SO MUCH MONEY and I have SO MUCH DEBT), but it’s not where my values are, not something I could stomach long-term, and it’s not work I’m actively out seeking. I finished my law school internships working for a municipal law firm, thinking that would be a good way to marry my interest in politics with my interest in litigation, but it felt a lot like just working at a private DAs office, which I didn’t realize when I started (somehow!) and didn’t particularly enjoy. Just felt like the majority of the work I was doing was litigating punitive laws against the citizenry that I didn’t particularly care for. 

Which brings me to now. Three-week post-grad Kit. Hello! Sounds like I’ve still got no fucking clue what I’m doing, but I promise you I have sorted it out now. None of those roles was the exact position I was looking for (well, the judge’s chambers were pretty great) but each taught me enough about what I am looking for that I’m feeling comfortable about my next steps. Notably, I learned that I enjoy litigation a LOT (I did a transactional drafting clinic at school just to dip my toes into those waters to make sure I wasn’t missing out on anything and oh boy, I was not) and I learned from topics that I did not enjoy litigating what I might actually enjoy litigating. In particular, there were several times when I found the law I was working with particularly invigorating but wished that I was doing the plaintiff’s side work on those topics. These areas include torts and employment law cases, but I have also had some exposure to zoning and affordable housing work that I really enjoyed. I also worked as a Tort Law TA for two years, so I think just really freaking enjoy torts. I have also had more exposure to criminal justice work and recently have been rejecting that I didn’t apply to the public defender's office in my region during their last round of hiring. 

I am not currently looking for a job (seems like a waste to pour so much into it when clearly nobody is hiring right now) other than glancing vaguely to make sure I’m not missing anything huge, but once I’ve taken the bar exam I’m going to start earnestly seeking plaintiff’s side litigation positions or if I can get it, misdemeanor criminal defense (again, would love to be a public defender, but I have slightly missed the boat there for now). My downstairs neighbor is an attorney at a small firm that does plaintiff's side civil litigation and defendant’s side criminal defense and I would be thrilled if I could land something similar. I just...want to work with people and not corporations and help those people through some of their worst days, if I can. Personal Injury attorneys get a bad rap, but I’m telling you, I fucking love Torts and I genuinely believe there is a public good in helping harmed parties recover expenses from their injuries from wrongdoers.

I think when people hear “public interest” their first thought is non-profit or governmental work, but it’s broader than that. The clinics at my school are all considered “public interest” and some were in areas of law like intellectual property. It’s not about where you work, but the clients you serve. I think I would prefer the kind of firm work I have outlined above to any kind of non-profit because non-profits have more narrow missions and usually work in a more narrow legal capacity (i.e. the ACLU does entirely civil rights law, meanwhile the small firm my neighbor works at that I’ve already used as a point of reference does civil rights cases in addition to family law, securities regulation for some reason, personal injury, etc), but honestly, it would be a privilege to work for a principled non-profit, so I wouldn’t say no to that either. 

So that’s where I’m at. It’s been a ride. I’m tired? Is that from the personal journey or is that from typing out six paragraphs about the personal journey? I came to law school because I felt strongly about my own personal values and thought I would like to translate those values into policy. I learned while at law school that litigation is as important an agent for change and protection of the oppressed as legislation and also learned that honestly guys, I am really freaking good at oral arguments and litigation briefs, so I’ve pivoted to this lane. Went on a long journey and it basically took me back to where I started. It’s almost annoying I was so derailed because I could have gotten some great Plaintiff’s side experience while in school, but I didn’t know what I was doing and was flailing openly, casting around. I’m just happy I figured it out now.