The moment of truth approaches

Saturday, February 17, 2007

I’m going into overload! My bosses are putting me in court as “first chair” (lead attorney) starting next week. Normally attorneys appear by themselves for either a morning or afternoon or both, before one or two judges per day. Trainees start out, like I did, observing an experienced attorney as “second chair.” After a while, we get thrown in to do cases on our own, being shadowed by a senior attorney. Then a few weeks after that, we go solo.

I was told that new attorneys progress at varying rates depending on our prior experience. So I was surprised they put me as first chair already because the attorney who started 2 weeks before me also became first chair after a month, but she has prior immigration law experience. Oh well!

As I prepared the files for my first couple days, I began to feel overwhelmed. There’s still so much I don’t know. What if I forget even the basics while on the hot seat in court? What if this moment of truth reveals that I am not litigator material and I have no business beginning my sentences with “your honor”??? Freaky!!!

Luckily, this is a long weekend, so I’ll have time to review my notes and read cases. I know, this is a government job and I shouldn’t be working extra, but this is also my training phase where every bit of effort will pay huge dividends later.

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