Clerking at Rice Law: by Jessica Farmer

I recently finished another round of final exams (Insert sigh of relief here). Fortunately for me, Larry and Nick Rice, having once been law students themselves, are very understanding and cooperative when it comes to my school schedule. They allowed me to take a couple of weeks off work to prepare for and take my final exams.

While preparing for final exams, I tried to wrap up all of my assignments and make sure that there were not too many outstanding tasks while I was out of the office. While doing this, I learned something very interesting: that is NOT possible! There is no “stopping point” in an ongoing case. There is no good time to take a couple of weeks away from the office because cases, much like people, do not stop.

Attorneys have to walk a fine line. They have to balance being available for their clients, whose cases have continued movement and are often unpredictable with taking a mental vacation to recharge their batteries. Attorneys need time to recharge if they are going to be available for their clients who need them.

How do you strike that balance? Well, that is something I am still learning. However, I have really good teachers who seem to have mastered the art of balancing, and I look forward to my years of learning from them.