real lawyering

I love the lawyering class we have here at NYU. It’s real and interesting albeit a lot of work. We interact with pseudo-clients and work on real legal problems. The mediation we had last week was a terrific example: we had to deal with distressed clients, a demanding mediator and some hostile opposing counsel. And I’m even more glad for it now that I’ve signed up to represent a real live client before an administrative law judge at the dept of labor. When your client starts crying and tells you how the system has screwed her for the last 10 months and you are in a position to help her, then you begin to appreciate your role in the grand scheme of things. It reminded me of the reason why I’m here right now. The hearing is tomorrow and I’ve got to put everything together and hope that the client pulls through. One thing is certain – I’ll be taking a box of tissues with me just in case.