I know some of y’all think it’d be cool to be a lawyer, but this is sure one of those days when I think about my creative writing teacher, Clay Lewis (a really great guy) who said to me as I tried to choose between a master’s in the English Dept. and law school “John, I know you’d like to BE a lawyer, but do you want to DO what a lawyer does?”

If I’d listened to him, I’d at least be starving doing something I liked doing.

Today is a draft documents day. I’m trying to compose: a covenant not to compete, a non-disclosure agreement, and an Order Allowing Final Accounting in a probate.

Yawn!

A big piece of the action is getting a computerized form and filling in the blanks. Another part is throwing out the parts that don’t apply and also altering parts that do apply to fit the exact situation of my clients. Another part is finding the info to fill in the blanks. It CAN be challenging and, at times, as I’m considering competing values like flexibility and certainty, it can be mind bending. Mostly, however, it’s just a big bore.

I keep telling people that if this job were fun and easy, then everyone would do it and we couldn’t charge so much per hour.

And, when my clients get the bills for $400 or $500 per form, they will scream bloody murder about how it’s just look it up in a book and fill in the blanks, anybody could do it.

Of course, knowing which book and which form and how to alter it, that doesn’t count.

And, it’s not my clients’ fault that I have to type the damn things myself since I don’t own a paralegal like the big time guys, so I don’t charge them for the time I put in just typing.

Which means, I’ll charge an hour or two but actually put in three or four of my time.

And, about every third paragraph, someone calls with their “emergency” and then it takes me forever to find where I left off and … boo hoo! I’m feeling sorry for myself now, you betcha.

Good thing it’s Wednesday Paseo dinner and movie night.