Boston University School of Law

Today I walked into a court room representing a client in need. A client I had only met a week ago whose situation required me to be prepared as if I had met her six months ago. At stake was the safety of her children. To put it mildly, having such little time to prepare for something which such serious implications can cause some anxiety. Having to do it while juggling all my other school work is insanity. Yet and still  neither the court, my client, or her kids are in a position to feel empathy for my feelings of being over-worked and burned out.

So I did what every one of my friends and colleagues do when school is seeming like it will get the best of them…I dug in deeper….lack of sleep and all…

Luckily for me, the court looked favorably upon the motion I put together and granted my client temporary custody of her children.

To say I was elated is a gross understatement…still I could not even begin to celebrate…because the case is far from over. There is another hearing soon, and the full case will likely spill over into next semester. Before my next hearing on this case, I will have a second one regarding unemployment benefits for another client, while studying for finals and completing other school related tasks.

The short term victory is just a short glimmer of light in what is inevitably a longer struggle.

That said, it was great to finally feel like all of this legal education I am recieving finally means something other than preparing me for happy hour conversations and critiques of TV shows that deal with legal subject matter.

I’m not a lawyer yet, but I believe I can now fully appreciate the satisfaction that can be had after long hours of toiling with a legal memorandum….