Sam Braddock.'
'Yes sir.'
'And I have your resume somewhere in here.'
The lawyer leafed through a short stack of papers on the corner of his desk.
'Have you met Vince and Julie?' he asked as he continued to search.
'Yes sir.'
'And you already know Zach Mays?'
'Not really. I met him a few weeks ago when I stopped by the office on a Saturday. He's been very helpful in helping me acclimate to the firm.'
'Good, good. Zach is an earnest young man who isn't afraid to ask hard questions. Here it is,' Mr. Carpenter announced, holding up a sheet of paper.
I watched while he skimmed the one-page summary of my life.
'That's right. You worked for Oscar Callahan. It's the reason I pulled your resume out in the first place. Oscar gave you a glowing recommendation. If he'd stopped representing mill workers for petty injuries and crawled out of the mountains, he could have been one of the best litigators in the state.'
'Yes sir,' I said, not sure if agreeing with Mr. Carpenter would dishonor Mr. Callahan.
'His grandfather was a preacher, wasn't he?'
'Yes sir.'
'If I recall, he was the leader of some kind of obscure religious sect that wanted to turn back the clock to the Dark Ages.'
I swallowed, not sure if this was a time to defend the faith or accumulate more information.
'Is that what Mr. Callahan told you?'
'How else would I have picked up that bit of trivia?' Mr. Carpenter slapped his hands together. 'Enough of that. Let's get down to business. Your summer at the firm will be a good mix of work and pleasure. I hope your experience will be intellectually stimulating. Law school prepares you to take tests, not practice law. We'll have plenty of projects that will involve research within your comfort zone, but there will also be practical opportunities to broaden your experience.'
'Yes sir.'
'I'm glad you had a chance to hear my side of the opening salvo in the Folsom divorce case. I don't handle many divorce cases, but our firm is deeply involved in J.K. Folsom's corporate dealings, and he doesn't want another law firm to know his business. J.K. pays our top hourly rate for representation. Using you to assist with research and deposition preparation, I can keep his bills lower.'
My stomach went into a knot. I'd wanted to avoid domestic practice. Mr. Carpenter continued. 'Have you taken a domestic relations course in law school?'
'No sir.'
'That's not a problem. We'll see how fast you can get up to speed in an unfamiliar area. We have a couple of treatises in the law library. Read them to get a foundation and dive into the fray. Divorce work is exciting because the emotions of the parties run wild. It's key for the lawyer to keep her cool when others around her are losing theirs.'
Even when talking to a summer associate, I could tell Mr. Carpenter utilized dramatic pauses.
'Sounds like Kipling,' I managed, remembering a poem I'd memorized in homeschool.
Mr. Carpenter nodded approvingly. 'Yes, it does.'
He buzzed his secretary and gave her instructions about giving me access to the file. He stood up, signaling an end to our meeting.
'I'll see you at the luncheon. Until then, the library is your home.'
The secretary spoke as I passed her desk. 'I'll have a packet on the Folsom case ready for you by early afternoon,' she said. 'In the meantime, the case number is 207642.'
'Thank you,' I replied without much feeling. 'Where is the firm library?'
'On this floor at the west end of the building.'
Not being able to see the sun in the hallway, I wasn't sure which way to turn, but I guessed the opposite end from Mr. Braddocks office. I didn't want to walk unannounced into another lawyer's office. When I cracked open a wooden door and peeked inside I saw bookshelves. Sitting at a table with papers spread out before her was Julie Feldman.
'Are you alone?' I whispered.
'Not now.'
I sat down on the opposite side of the table. Even with the advent of computer research, the firm still maintained an extensive library of books. Several computer terminals for online use were in a row along one wall.
'How's it going?'
'I'm shuffling papers and trying to understand what they say.' She looked up. 'I haven't taken a course in secured transactions. I know a few terms but none of the principles. I'm completely lost.'
'I loved my secured transactions course. It was taught by one of the best professors at the law school, and I enjoyed figuring out the different rules. But Mr. Carpenter has assigned me to a big divorce case. I've not taken a domestic relations course, and the only thing I know about divorce is that God doesn't like it.'
Julie's eyes opened wide. 'That's unreal. I spent last semester doing research for one of the best divorce lawyers in Atlanta. She handles a lot of high-profile breakups and knows all the tricks of the trade. Reading her files was more interesting than most of the novels my mother keeps on the nightstand in her bedroom.'
The irony of our predicament made me smile.
'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' Julie asked.
'What? That we're both being pushed out of our comfort zones?'
'No. We should switch projects.'
I shook my head. 'Mr. Carpenter knows I haven't studied domestic relations. He wants to see how quickly I can learn a new area. It's part of the summer experience.'
'But we could help each other.'
Julie's suggestion surprised me. Law school was competitive, and a summer clerk opportunity raised the competition to a higher level because a job, not just a grade, was at stake. Even if we didn't talk about it, I'd expected jockeying for a permanent job to affect all my interaction with Julie Feldman and Vince Colbert.
'How would we do that?'
'Talk about stuff. You can help me with these documents, and I can give you pointers about the divorce case. Where is your file?'
'I won't have it until this afternoon. I'm supposed to be reading a treatise on divorce law in Georgia, but I'm not sure how many there are or which one is the best.'
Julie looked at her watch. 'Here's what we'll do. It will be just like my study group at school. Help me figure out what I'm supposed to do for an hour and a half. Then, I'll take you through a domestic relations treatise for an hour. I know which one to use. After lunch, we'll spend time identifying your specific issues. And we'll end the day in the guts of article nine of the uniform commercial code.'
I felt a weight lift from my shoulders.
'Okay.'
I took my chair around to Julie's side of the table. The next hour and a half flew by as I organized the documents, located the key language in each one, and showed Julie the important dates.
'Which company are we representing?' I asked when we took a break. 'I've been treating this like an exam question to unravel, not a case to win.'
'This one.' Julie pointed to a stack of documents. 'I didn't want to influence your opinion by letting you know in advance. Later, we can try to figure out how to make our case stronger.'
'You're going to be a great lawyer. You have something law school can't teach.'
'What's that?'
'Wisdom.'
Julie rolled her eyes. 'Whatever. I'll get the divorce book. Do we represent the husband or the wife?'
'Does it matter?'
