Today we learned that I have zero tolerance for rudeness by other attorneys. I don't care that I'm new, you won't speak to people like that in my presence and not get embarrassed in front of a live studio audience.

Tax cops triple and fund public defense instead. I do more for my community than those uniformed goons playing Candy Crush in the subway racking up OT.

Taking a long weekend at this particular moment is one of the smartest things I've ever done. And prescient. I just looked at my calendar and some things exploded over the weekend apparently.

$7.50 as a restaurant host/busser/dishwasher in 1997. And when I turned 16, I was promoted to $2.13/hour.

Glad I started keeping a little bit of cash on me. You never know when you might need emergency pan dulce from a makeshift tent in front of a bike shop.

Happy to report that another one of my "interesting looking restaurants I found while taking a walk" was a hit. We were there almost 4 hours and everything was delightful.

I took two walks today and did a load of laundry. That's it. Day one of the weekend was a success.

I just heard my work phone buzzing on my desk. Given that it's midnight, I probably don't want to know. Okay, I definitely don't want to know.

The utility of local and regional adaptation/mitigation strategies in addressing the needs of "climate refugees." Essentially. Critique of international law and neoliberalism sprinkled in.

Absolute mess today. Lost my dad 4 years ago this week, which got lost in all the chaos. I don't believe in woo stuff, generally, but...having testing delayed and then getting a benign result the day before learning I absolutely annihilated the bar exam, plus court wins...dad's looking out. 🦝

I PASSED THE FUCKING BAR EXAM. ABOLISH THIS FUCKING THING.

I DO NOT HAVE CANCER. Please let this not be the end of the good news for the week.

The trial adjourned. OC withdrew their motion. Two of the pre-trial conferences are moving to settlement. Only two emergencies today. 🌟

Up for this week: 1. A trial 2. Finding out if the child finally has a job after 8 months of unemployment 3. Finding out if I have cancer 4. Finding out if I still have a job 5. And a motion hearing, a full day of training, four pre-trial conferences, at least 13 emergencies... Help.

If you see this, quote with a picture of you in glasses. (It took me way too long to find one where my glasses are on my face rather than on my head that was also safe for the children.)

Are you really a lawyer if you don't have that one client? You know the one...

Nothing like a little tree law after whatever the fuck this week was.

Update: judge signed my stip! My client is home! 💕

I don't celebrate any of y'all's holidays so birthdays are my holidays.

Arraignments today. WILD day. Felt almost totally alone. Handled it. Never got stressed. And we had some super fucked up shit come through. Felt like a real attorney for a minute. And now I'm just ANGRY.

Paralegals > Lawyers

I regret to inform you that I am still waiting for the judge to sign my stip.

I feel like politicians raping people is a vastly larger problem.

It's that time of year where my mental health hinges entirely on a few little birds running around on a beach back home. Welcome home, boys.

We are all Pippin.

I feel as though my taxes get more complicated every year. But THIS year...

I worked with Jessamyn for awhile. Fantastic (and hilarious) human, and I'm very excited to read this. Every law office needs a resident scientist. (Also, someone remind me to text her in the morning.)

Got caught up in the Artemis hype and watched the splashdown. Honestly, everything is so unbelievably fucked, but this kind of reminded me that humans can do cool things.

I was in the kitchen when I heard what I thought was a mourning dove. For about 5 minutes, calling and calling. Walk into my office and sure enough. What are you trying to tell me, buddy?

My client's child ran at me, full tilt, to give me a bear hug and said "thank you for keeping my parent safe." Y'all...

Something I have decided is desperately overlooked in my absolutely grueling public defender training is negotiation. We are in court A LOT already. If I can get counsel to stip to something and spare my clients the trouble of coming in for every little thing, great. We should discuss this more.

el oh el. el em ay oh even. Fucking Thursday...

I had one virtual appearance and 6 hours blocked off for trial prep today. I worked almost nonstop for over 9 hours and have yet to start trial prep.

It's the Chicago way.

I WON!!

If the gov't is going to do dumb shit on weekends, courts should be open on weekends. Also, if the gov't promises to not do dumb shit on a Saturday evening but then turns around and does the dumb shit later Saturday night, we should skip litigation and go directly to street fighting. I AM TIRED.

Today went exactly as expected. And when I was on my 20 block march up Broadway, fully in my own head, wondering why everyone was still following me about half a block back if they were so over it and wanting to get out of the city, I was at least glad that I got some churros.

Doing a thing tomorrow that I've been looking forward to for a month and already starting to debate canceling. I know someone is going to ruin it for me by noon. At what point does a rational person give up on trying to enjoy things?

Absolute bullshit. They should be getting TWO cats.

I am on PTO this week but went in to litigate an emergency hearing anyway. Why? Because the current state of affairs is putting me in a bad mood and maligning state agents for sport puts me in a slightly better mood. Now I will get coffee and await a decision.

There are two wardrobe signals that I don't want to be in court and that I am going to make it the government's problem.

I've been in court every day for about a month. Send suit money.

Finally. Breaking out my celebratory booty shorts to mark this historic occasion.

a second delivery bot has destroyed a CTA bus stop

I don't think I have ever used my laptop to purchase anything. I also did a few years of college on my phone. Sometimes, I forget I have a laptop.

How bad do we think my education is affecting my part time job search?

I am not trained as a court reporter. I would make a lousy court reporter. The fact that I have to do a court reporter's job while simultaneously litigating is, honestly, absolute bullshit. Clients deserve better.

Sometimes, when my child goes out, she'll pick up a random gift for me and leave it on my desk. Sat down to get some work done this morning and found a new pin for my court bag.

Shout out to all my siblings in the shit alongside our clients every damn day, holding the state to it's burden. Happy Gideon Day, y'all. ❤️