Sunday, March 18, 2007

 
I received an e-mail this week from a real go-getter. I'll reprint the e-mail below. I wish I could help him, but ever since an incident with the Labor Department a few years ago, we've been unable to secure work permits for anyone under 16 years of age. There was a whole problem with working conditions and language used around the office and the lack of a real system for making sure people don't impale themselves on sharp objects installed around the office for disciplinary purposes. We could have corrected some of the issues and made the building more child-friendly, but there's just something about a working guillotine in the corner of the big conference room that makes people pay just a little bit more attention when you're talking to them. And the invisible spikes coming up from the toilets are a lot of fun too.

You'll see why I wanted to post this once you read what's pasted below, but I do want to stress that I do think this kid's impulse is absolutely right. 14- and 15- year-olds should absolutely be looking for work experience at any big law firm that will hire them, and this kid is right to be proactive about paving his road toward indentured servitude at a young age. I really do feel bad that I have no ability to help him. I also want to stress that this is an actual e-mail.

Dear Jeremy
I am a 14 , 15 year old to be student.
I have always been interested in becoming a lawyer or barrister.
I am writhing to request work experience in your law firm during the easter holidays, i want to see if this is what i really want beacause i dont want to study something that im not too sure about.
after this experience i will be pretty sure about whether i want to study
law futher or not.
please contact me on this email address as soon as possible. i will be really happy if you could possibly get me work experinece
thank for your time
your sincerely,
[Name Withheld]


A couple more like this and maybe it'll be worth it to try and start that youth camp again. We secretly tried a few years ago, floated the idea internally and externally, but apparently calling it a "work camp" was a turnoff, and there was some negative reaction to the possibility of turning one of the attorney break rooms into a bunk where the campers could sleep.

Comments:
Shouldn't a 14 year old know that the word "I" is always capitalized?
 
A 14 year old ought to know that the personal pronoun "I" is always capitalized...and that at the end of a sentence,there should be a period or full-stop. The next sentence should begin with a capital letter...

However, electronic writings(informal emails) and text messages are a different ball game(s)
...there are apparently no rules...

So, one cannot tell if most people--including a 14 year old actually know these grammatical rules...
 
the kid does not write, he 'writhes'. Suppose if you had youth camps he would not be on proof-reading duties.
 
Work Camps for Youths, what a wonderful idea. Not only do you get them off the street but you teach them what the real world is like and they PAY YOU for the privilege. And a privilege it is to work in a big law firm. As an added bonus you could always point to these energetic youths as the person(s) who will replace the 1st and 2nd year assocaites the minute they aren't billing 100 hours a week. Its a win-win, you make money off the campers and get the associates to bill even more, so the partners make even more money. Run with it.
 
Why does it say 'Dear Jeremy'??
 
I don't feel like emailing you, so I'm just going to post a comment. In your next post, can you please write about the lawyers protesting in Pakistan. I think it is amazing - even though you probably think it is a waste of time. I am interested in hearing your thoughts on that situation and what you think of those lawyers, and their actions.

And...why DOES that email to you say "Dear Jeremy?!"
 
Goodness sakes, why wouldn't a 14 year old kid looking for his first job in the legal world address the purported hiring partner of a white shoe firm, a gentleman no less than three years his senior, no doubt, by his first name? Wouldn't that be the logical thing to do? I mean, come on fellow counselors, who among us didn't cut our teeth in the law business by jotting off a quick, sloppy, casual note to the big cheeses at the top firms seeking temporary employment on less than three week's notice? First impressions be damned -- there will be ample time to get acquainted during the weekly partners' meetings.
 
Oh, for crap's sake, people - if you don't even know who writes the blog, what use is it to tell you who Jeremy is???!!!

What are you, law firm associates?
 
I used to read this blog and enjoy it. I stumbled here tonight by accident and must ask: why the hell are you still posting? It doesn't work as admitted fiction. Sorry, it's unreadable.
 
thank you very very nıce thank you very very much....
 
Its alright if the someone wants to do work experience in law so they can have more experience and in the future they want become a lawyer
 
In actuality, these are the intellectual property law rights that implement on confidential information most of the time. This information can further be sold or licensed. Therefore, if you want to qualify as a trade secret, there are few things to which your information must comply.
 
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