Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironic Mustache
As an employer would you ever rely on a brief if you didn't trust the associate to include everything relevant? Further, how long would said associate work for you if they gave you briefs that were nearly as long as the cases?
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I'll go ahead and answer this anyway. DON'T EVER CONFUSE WHAT YOU'RE DOING IN LAW SCHOOL WITH WHAT LAWYERS DO. -----NEVER.
We don't do case briefs. You will do your last one probably this semester. After that you'll just start taking a few notes. Then when you get lazy, you'll write in the margins of the book.
I'm more likely to give a clerk/baby lawyer a file with a sticky note on it saying what to do and how much time to expend. It would say "prep an answer to the lawsuit and add a motion to transfer venue on this. See the 'Robinson' matter from 2003 as a guide."
Then it will get more and more involved gradually to the point that I'd take a new file and say "here, take care of this." To the point that it becomes "do you have enough work to keep the new guys busy?"
Being the lawyer is knowing what to do and when to do it. It's harder than it sounds. I get asked by individuals for a form for this or a form for that all of the time for people who are going to try to represent themselves. Sometimes it's like telling an engineer you want to build a suspension bridge and asking what kind of pencil you need to use.
And this thread should be moved over to the hall of fame.