Yesterday, I attended the LACBA’s annual wage and hour symposium, and the first thing that struck me was the amount of lawyers who showed up the millennium Biltmore, but more than that, how almost all of them dressed alike. Men in suits, and he women in business outfits with some calves showing and business appropriate beige or black low heels. A majority of them with the obligatory iPhone/blackberry, and/or laptop, the low light of the devices making it feel as I was on Krypton. Of course, there were some outliers. One wore a Hawaiian shirt, and another came with a hat, suspenders on blue jeans. I was in the middle, no jacket, business shirt with no collars and almost too tight pants (that’s what I get for eating all the chocolate I can at night). The glow of the devices filled the darkened conference room, and I only felt one feeling: Glad.
I am glad, I don’t work as a lawyer. I am glad that I am not in uniform. I am glad that I don’t have to report for duty. Yet, there was a nagging feel that perhaps, just perhaps, I was missing something. And then it hit me that I missed law school. The camaraderie, the kosher food with my friend Elias, and the nick name “The Three Wise Men” that was given to us by our class mates. Well, I was Indian, my best friend was black, and the third was an orthodox Jew. We made quite an impression when we walked the aisles. Yet it was more than that. I missed knowing the law as an intellectual exercise, but more so I regret never getting actual practice at a law firm. So I know why I was looking down at the attorneys now, I was preempting my insecurity before it got the best of me. In some ways, I couldn’t help thinking that they were REAL attorneys while I played one at my business.
Yet as my best friend pointed out, I am selling myself short. I know the basics, and been around issues at my workplace to have a good grasp of employment law as it relates to my industry. The nagging feeling left after I finished the conference, but I can’t help feeling that I missed out on some parts of being an attorney. My only consolation now is that I can learn as needed, and I don’t have to punch a clock. Some days, that has to be enough.
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