I'm Still Here

The last few days, I haven't really felt like posting much. Work has actually been much better this week, actually working on legal stuff, as opposed to simple clerical work. I think the best thing I did was work on a response to a counteroffer for a personal injury settlement (in the biz, we call that PI). The counteroffer cited to a couple of cases, so I got on the trusty intertubes and downloaded them. As an aside, Hong Kong has a much simpler citation system than back home. Very easy to use. Probably because they've got a very small number of jurisdictions. Anyway... I found the cited case and proceeded to demolish their points.

You know, it really is true that so much of what we do in law school is bullshit. I mean, I was asked to write a quick memo about a new case. When I asked what format I should use, the lawyer said "oh, just give me bullet points". That's funny. In school, they make such a big deal out of writing this paper with the facts laid out this way, and the rule laid out that way, and then do the discussion, and then followup with a summary, blah blah blah. And here in the real world (and this is common, from what my friends working in other law firms have told me), they just want a bare outline, simply put. Law school is such a rediculous waste.

Back to Hong Kong law. The other big thing I've noticed is that in none of the documents that I've seen is there any real deep analysis. I know this is just lawyers going back and forth, and not an appellate brief or anything, but it's interesting to see that the letters are as simple as "the guy in this case was really hurt and received $x. We think we should get the same". Am I the only one who goes through the case and debunks their point by actually stating some relevant facts? Am I going to become a monster tort lawyer in Hong Kong because of my superior analytical skills? Eh, I doubt it. I'll probably receive a response tomorrow showing how all of my supposedly clever points were just wrong.

But at least work has been much better this week. I was a little concerned last week, because it was just clerical work. Now that I'm actually doing something a little more interesting, it's much better. But I'm still not happy with that PIII 700MHz machine they've got me on. I mean, come on! 256M of RAM?!