having an intern is work

when i was in law school i remember working my butt off at any type of clinical or internship. you never knew what law firm would offer you a job or give you glowing raves in letters of recommendation or even direct you a place that was hiring. as if law school wasn't hard enough. before i hear a rant of people groan and tell me there best why i hate lawyer jokes, just know that going to law school will numb you to those jokes. i realize people hate lawyers just like they hate doctors. i never hated lawyers, but i did hate law students, especially my classmates. ok, hate is a strong word. i just didn't dig any of them.  

think about it. college is filled with different cliques. it is diverse. you have the brains, the musicians, the artists, the drama freaks, etc. in law school, you have all these alpha dog personalities and you have intelligent people who are used to being right and smart. that all changes in law school. law school takes your ego and everything you know and beats it out of you! but i digress. i did well in law school and although i never was the alex keaton type, i see no reason why people who tote leather briefcases and people who still sling a backpack can't get along. despite our choices in carrying our files, we all ended up with the embossed business cards with watermarks or seals.

just as law students are an odd mix of hope, pride and inflated self worth. all those emotions and factors really come into play with legal interns. dressed in their new suits, french cuff sleeves and new leather briefcases (most early graduation gifts). they are all preoccupied with finding a job or figuring out how so and so even got a job! which leads me to my title of my blog. having an intern is work. more work for me. i used to think having an intern would decrease my work load. nope. not the case. far from it.  instead, i have to find research projects or interesting field trips. all of which, between a heavy caseload and maintaining my own sanity is usually the last thing on my outlook to do list. i can't ask them to file stuff into redwells because that is not a learning experience. i can't take my intern to every court event because i need to show them a variety of events.  they certainly do not want to sit at depositions and motion court all the time. (although as an attorney you do spend a lot of time doing the mundane).  so here i sit, my dayplanner color coded so i know where i need to be, and my list of things for my intern to do remains blank. too bad, i can't ask them to bring us all coffee.

let's hope i come up with some work for my intern. either way, don't believe the hype. interns=work. i hope i get an intern who wants to work because then the equation could be intern who doesn't work=mo' work for me.