Work Report

I began working at the law firm on Monday. I'd been offered (and accepted) the position two weeks earlier. The two week wait was so they could find me some office space. Their current office is positively busting. They ended up converting a conference room into half of an office for me. I have my own desk (wood), my own phone line extension (with phone), and, hopefully soon, my own computer. (Didn't arrive yet.) So far I've been using my laptop and flash drive. The worst part is that since I'm not on the network I can't print anything without someone's (a paralegal's) assistance.

Okay, enough with the objective. So far, after two days of work, I love the firm. Everyone there that I've met is very warm and personable. My first day no less than 4 of the other agents/attorneys stopped in, of their own accord, to say hello and briefly chat a bit. The paralegals/secretaries are all very nice and helpful. The two main partners are excellent too. I've been working fairly heavily with one of them. I only met the third, not-so-main, more-recent partner today. She stopped in to say hello and see how I was doing. So all the people I've met are terrific.

The work? I'm doing work. Work as in real work. So far I've drafted 3 responses to office actions for the partner. Tomorrow? Tomorrow I can either begin drafting my first patent application or I can work on my first unguided response to an office action. I'm learning a ton and the partner is actually working with me to help me learn. This is awesome.

Now, at times I do find some of the work to be pretty boring and unengaging. However, I suspect some of that will diminish as I get accustomed to the work. For crying out loud, I haven't had a real 8 hours+ a day job in over 3 years, let alone one that required significant amounts of brainpower. I know there's going to be a certain level of acclimatization involved. Plus I haven't even finished my first week here yet. Hell, I don't have a computer! So let me report back on my happiness-level/work contentment in a week or a month. We'll talk then.

Other cool thing. Once I pass the patent bar, my name goes on the letterhead. Whoah. Yeah, once I get my first paycheck and can afford the patent bar fee, I'm signing up. I need to pass that bad boy asap. I've already registered for the Feb. NY Bar Exam. The CT registration isn't due for another month so I can wait for a paycheck on that. Paaaaaaaycheck. Paaaaaaaaaycheck. I need one (or more) of those. T'would help a great deal.

By the way, my billable hours requirement suggestion isn't too bad. I can easily find the daily billables I need, provided I get in to work a little early and stay long enough. Not too bad, especially if I like the work. More on that as time passes.

I think that's it for now. Anyone have any questions for me? If so, leave them in the comments and I'll respond.

Cheers!