spencerl's Recent Blog Posts

My Life at a Big Firm: Week 4

Submitted by spencerl

I just finished my fourth week of work. This upcoming Monday, I will change practice groups from Labor and Employment to Environmental. I'm excited to do something different, but also a little anxious all over again. I've spent the last three weeks getting to know the attorneys I've worked with, learning their preferences and styles and basically just trying not to screw anything up. Now I get to start the process all over again! I'm excited though because it will be an entirely new area of the law, with different assignments and different issues. Also, I've met a lot of the attorneys in the group who are all really nice.

This week was a little less hectic than last week, but I still had some pretty interesting experiences. On Wednesday, Mayor Slay of St. Louis came to speak with the firm about the city and the issues going on within the community. It was great to shake his hand and meet him, but I was at kind of a loss as to what to talk with him about. Luckily, we all sat down after a few minutes and Mayor Slay spoke with us about the various programs and initiatives within St. Louis. In particular, Mayor Slay spoke about the homelessness problem in St. Louis and the steps the City is taking to rectify the situation. Also, he talked about everything affecting St. Louis from ballpark village to updating the mass transit system. I already live in downtown St. Louis and plan on staying here after law school graduation, so I was pretty interested in hearing what the Mayor had to say about improving the area for current and future residents.

On Thursday, we had our first client service group focus meeting. The firm tries to get someone from each practice group throughout the summer to come in and speak with us about what the group does. This week, Greg Willard from bankruptcy came and spoke with us. We had two hours slated for the meeting, which I thought was a little odd. As it turned out, he spent about fifteen minutes speaking with us about the group and the remainder of the time sharing his direct involvement in planning President Ford's state funeral. It was amazing to hear him speak about not only his interaction with the President as a White House staff assistant and personal friend, but also about the three years of work that went into planning the funeral. It's kind of funny because a state funeral for a former president is a pretty rare event, and even in the few that have occurred recently for both President Reagan and President Ford, I never really thought about the amount of planning that would be required. Everything from security measures to small details like the song selections are handled in secret, and the event requires coordination and notification of every major official on both levels of government. It was great to hear about this unique experience first-hand, especially regarding the traditions our nation has for state funerals and other personal attributes that made President Ford's funeral unique. It's just really amazing to hear about some of the things people at the firm have accomplished, especially the things that I never would have occured to me upon meeting them.

Topic: Internships and Clerkships

My Life at a Big Firm: The First Three Weeks

Submitted by spencerl

My name is Laura, and I recently started at Bryan Cave LLP in St. Louis, Missouri. Bryan Cave has over 800 attorneys in 15 offices worldwide, the largest office being in St. Louis with around 275 attorneys. My summer class consists of 22 other summer associates from a variety of schools. All of these numbers totaled up to one feeling the night before I started: utter panic. How was I going to fit in? How was I going to keep track of things like client matter numbers and billable hours? What are client matter numbers and billable hours?!

I was always one of those kids who wanted to be a lawyer at a very early age. I guess I saw A Few Good Men too many times back when we all still thought Tom Cruise was normal...just kidding to all you die-hard TomKat fans. However, as time went on, I began to love the law because it was challenging and I was constantly encountering something new. I've always worked hard, and I wanted to work at a place that handled big clients with complex issues. A big firm just seemed like the right fit, so I figured this was my chance to find out whether I was right or just completely crazy (or maybe a little bit of both).

My first day was kind of a blur, and I alternated between euphoria and complete mental exhaustion. The morning started with a meet and greet in the lobby, where I had the opportunity to meet my fellow summer associates and several other attorneys. They really do a great job of easing you into things, but there is so much to learn in the first week. We had a full morning of orientation, where we were given a run-down on everything from billing hours to filing tax forms to library resources...oh yes, there is a library and you are expected to at least try to use it before racking up the time on Lexis or Westlaw. I've come to discover that Westlaw is a lot like free cable. Law schools give it to you just long enough to get you completely hooked, and then you realize how much those premium channels cost you when you have to start paying for it, but you're completely addicted! Anyway, after a full morning of orientation, we were taken around to our offices. After working at a cubicle last summer where I shared one computer with three other interns, I wasn't prepared to see where I would be working this summer. My office is located on the 33rd floor of the MetLife building downtown, with a huge window overlooking the Arch! I had a moment similar to Melanie Griffith in Working Girl or the Jeffersons, where I had that rush of adrenalin and I was like, "I have arrived!"