Arrogant, Demanding Lawyers!

I graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in May, 2007, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Child and Family Studies. I had a blast going back to college in my mid-30s. I met some wonderful, fun, young people who have become very good friends. I helped them with projects and they helped me escape for a few hours each day. In a way I was sad to leave my "young" friends I had made and at the same time, I was excited to finally be working in a field I enjoyed.

Rewind to 1988 - I had graduated from high school and knew I needed to go to college - I wanted to go to college. Actually, I had always wanted to be a teacher, but I was also ready to get a job, make money, buy a car and get married. The option I chose was a degree I could finish in two years. The degree I chose was probably the biggest mistake I have made in my life. I chose this field because my boyfriend, who later became my husband, who is now my Wasband, had a cousin who had gone to school to become a Paralegal. She had graduated a few years prior and was making "big" money and loving her job. Okay, it was settled - EKU was close to home and they offered a two year degree program in Paralegal Studies. Decision made!

I skirted through those two years of college - made mostly C's - took most of my classes around my soap opera schedule, saw the boyfriend as much as I possibly could - got married during Spring Break my first year and graduated in August of 1990. School was okay, learning to be a paralegal was okay, actually working for lawyers --- not okay! The majority of lawyers for whom I have worked have been arrogant, demanding and major procrastinators! The job took many hours from my day and added lots of stress and sleepless nights. Now, not ALL lawyers that I worked for acted this way and I'm not saying that EVERY lawyer has these qualities, but in my experience, more were like this than were not.

Even though I was young, I was good at what I did! Nothing gave me more of a high than to be reading someone's medical records from 20 years earlier only to discover that they had seen a doctor for a back injury but failed to mention they had ever had a back injury in the past but were now trying to bleed some poor person's insurance dry for a settlement because of a back injury they alleged to have received in a recent minor car collision. Although I enjoyed finding the "dirt" when I worked as an insurance defense paralegal, I was sympathetic when I worked for the Plaintiff. There are lots of people who have legitimate claims for injuries and a right to draw disability benefits and I worked hard to help them get what they deserved. My favorite part of the job was listening to the clients and trying to encourage them through the drawn out process while they struggled through their pain and money loss and as they tried to hold out for a settlement. I liked my jobs - I didn't like the stress of deadlines or the arrogant people for whom I worked, however, I suffered through 10 years promising to stick with it until my student loan was paid in full.

Once my student loan was paid in full, I took some different jobs - I took part-time paralegal jobs, I worked as a Kindergarten Assistant, I worked as a Victim's Advocate and finally got the opportunity to go back to school to major in what I loved most - family dynamics! I loved learning all about children and families and family interactions. I enjoyed learning about family stress and resilience, child development, communication, psychology, diversity, marriages, sexuality, families, etc. Two weeks from graduation, in May of 2007, I accepted a position as an adoption caseworker with A Helping Hand Adoption Agency. I was going to work in the adoption field - an area that many social work majors and child and family studies majors dream of. I had landed a dream job. Not only did I begin learning all about the adoption process, 4 months later, I began my own adoption process...that story will follow in a few days...