Happy New Year’s Eve! I’ll be drinking some good champagne tonight (a fatcork from a small vigneron) and not this airplane bubbly. But sometimes you have to celebrate the wins with whatever you can find- and at 35,000 feet in the air- this Une Femme was the best option. Here’s to a New Year!

Sometimes after a massage (like the mini one yesterday) I’ll sleep super oddly and tweak my neck… At least all my plans today are pretty much stay home, work, cook, and drink.

First time going to one of those scalp spa places and I am not sure I have a scalp left- but my hair feels the softest it has been in years and I feel beyond decadent in the amount of water used.

In Cali you have to register your law firm with the state bar. Then they overhauled their registration system in 2025. I no longer have my own law firm and while I am keeping the corporation I am no longer operating it as a law firm and trying to communicate this to the bar is basically impossible.

And the last #AlysonClaireLaw Newsletter of 2025 has just gone out. (There are only three a year.) If you aren’t on the list and want to be added, let me know!

Me: Like maybe I should upgrade my errands and this place is not the right place to bring a Dior bag tote. Also Me: But like everything is too nice that I like.

A day of eating all the things and drinking all the Belgium holiday beers! 🎄

Merry Christmas!

The best part about coming to Taylor | Anderson has been the out of town trials I have gotten to work on. There’s some special bond you form when you are spending weeks together working, kicking ass, and, when you have a little down time, exploring the local world outside the courthouse. 1/3

Christmas Miracle that the Blue Bottle Coffee I ordered on 12/6 showed up tonight along with the large Chemex. Christmas and my sanity is saved.

Managed to do our little weekend morning activity of coffee and watch an episode of TNG, clean the apartment, get brunch, get groceries, put up some decorations, do some holiday baking, and do some other chores. Very glad I have a light Monday and didn’t have to work much/at all this weekend.

I forgot how absolutely unhinged the back story of the teen girl in Gremlins is.

Finally watched the new Frankenstein and really loved the adaptation.

I really miss that brief period of time when I was caught up on my time entry...

Oh good- a Wednesday giving Monday vibes. Wordle 1,642 5/6 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

At today’s networking lunch someone pointed out that it’s the holidays and we can order insanely unhealthy dishes- so I ordered fried chicken and waffle sliders.

I've been trying to process, dethaw (IT WAS COLD), and figure out how to post about the 5-week (drunk bicyclist versus police cruiser) trial I just had in Flint, Michigan, because, boy, was this an experience. So here are my much anticipated three takeaways: 1/4

A delicious holiday cocktail at Wood & Salt Tavern!

Had a much needed FaceTime session with a college friend over booze and popcorn. Feeling less overwhelmed now.

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Coming back from a 5 week trial to an insanely busy week (big report due, two depositions, and a big set of evidentiary hearing) while falling behind on all holiday stuff is great. Feeling really overwhelmed and burnt out right now.

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Heading home! One last (and for the first time in a few weeks non-running) layover in Chicago.

When in Michigan celebrating the end of a trial and surving the weather- a #badsanta at The Laundry is required.

Cali girl dying here…

So local counsel on this case may not have ever tried a case with a woman before. Yesterday he just suddenly said- I had no idea how much extra stuff you have to do as a woman. He was referencing- specifically- me having to change shoes because dress heals can’t be worn outside in snow- but still.

Fun Fact - I have never been in single digit temperatures before this trial.

First time walking to court with snow and I managed to get road salt all over my suit pants… I think I got the worst of it off in the bathroom but like how do people do this regularly.

Worked a lot of the weekend but finally have time to post about our amazing Thanksgiving meal at Playa Provisions! 3rd year in a row and each time it gets better.

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I'll say it again -- I'm on my firm's AI committee: every canned demo has had brutal, malpractice-level errors, and every live trial has required more time and care to vet the output than to just do it, like working with an unteachably incompetent associate you'd need to sit down for a Hard Talk.

Truth. www.instagram.com/reel/DRtHBN8...

Making a home cooked meal (sized up with leftovers) so I get a good meal before heading back to Flint and the husband has something not processed while I’m gone.

Was waiting to buy a few things on sale and they are sold out now…

"I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

Exhaustion.

Every trial team develops its own bizarre team name. #trialteaminthewindow

Yoga at home this morning felt so good. Considering going back to doing reformer Pilates at a studio after this trial.

Home for less than 48 hours- so excited to sleep in my bed for two nights though.

I finally am posting pictures from my mom’s early birthday celebration! We went to the Sumo + Sushi popup. It was my first time seeing sumo and I was amazed with the educational component, the show production, and the food and drinks. Really awesome experience.

The first trial I ever did I parachuted in weeks before to second chair it. After that trial ended I remember saying that’s what I wanted my career to be- trials- and preferably ones where I came in last minute. 1/4 #norestforthelitigator

Gate and departure time for my connecting flight changed 3 times… I wish I could say work travel was glamorous- but it is just awful.

Are these hideous or cute? sneex.com/products/the...

Started the Holiday Season off right last night with a Thanksgiving Smash Burger at Hammer Burger. Complete with sweet potato fries.

Went through TSA today for a domestic flight and the lady behind me was selected for a random screening of her phone. Is this now normal?

Today my 5th trial/arbitration of 2025 starts in Flint, Michigan. I’ve never had this many cases actually go to trial in a single year in my 18+ years of practicing. Will there be 6 for 2026? #norestforthelitigator

Getting from LA/OC to Flint, Michigan for trial is already a nightmare... but with random flight cancelations... oy... literally getting to trial is becoming half the battle.

"Every six months, Meta earns $3.5 billion from just the portion of scam ads that 'present higher legal risk,' the [Meta] document says, such as those falsely claiming to represent a consumer brand...That figure almost certainly exceeds 'the cost of any regulatory settlement involving scam ads.'”

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