Life with Zak and Rachel.: Rachel the Legal Assistant

So my new job is pretty great, albeit overwhelming still. But I made it through this week, so that's good news! Let's see, let's start off with the basics...The lady I work for is Susan Wilson, she's probably in her early 30's, has 2 little girls and her husband Sean works around the corner at Latah Realty, they often have lunch together. Katie is the other attorney, but she mostly works from home and I don't know that much about her, but she's married and is probably in her late 20's. Annie was Susan's assistant for 2 years and now works at Latah Realty, I think. Jenny was the most recent longtime assistant (it sounds like the last gal they hired only lasted a week or so), but she recently got on the 911 Dispatch. She and Annie trained me the first two days, and hopefully will be back soon -- Jenny can only come in on Monday & Tuesday and Annie's been sick. So I've been on my own for the past three days!

The basic stuff is fine, and I've gotten it almost all down. Come in, turn on the heat and computer, check the voice mail and email Susan the messages. Check emails, calendar, answer phones, copy, scan in documents. I'm great at that stuff. It's the legal terminology and all that entails that is the hardest/scariest part. Oh, I forgot to mention that Susan practices several types (?) of law, except for Criminal and Bankruptcy. But anyways, there are so many types of forms and documents, cover letters, things that need to get recorded or filed at the county courthouse that the first day was really overwhelming. I was writing notes down like crazy! My first day on my own, I typed up my notes, which has really helped. I've been going through documents on the computer and hard copies, to try to get a feel for the differences between family law, probate, real property, etc. Or like, what a warranty deed is and a how that's different than a quit claim. I still don't really know, but after a week, I am starting to recognize some of the things that go with a certain probate case or one woman's divorce trial.

Susan is really nice, but very professional and get 'zoned in'--I'm sure she forgets that I don't know what she is talking about as she dictates what needs to be in a cover letter regarding an Order to Continuing Trial. Or something. But I take notes and ask for her to slow down, ask questions and so far it has taken two drafts before the final one is signed and sent out. I'm doing well, I can have music on if I want, so I made a bunch of Pandora radio stations and go through them during the day. Also, downtown Moscow is 'pedestrian friendly' so that means we have to move our cars every 3 hours, so that's what I get to do. It's not a big deal, but something I have to constantly remember because the tickets are like, $25.

I like it, I have a good feeling I'm doing well; I heard Annie talk to Susan about me and the initiative I've shown, etc. So that's nice. I spent an hour or so reorganizing the drawers with all those fun office supplies. I'm pretty happy. Fridays are casual day, so I wore jeans and my Tom's with a scarf and a simple shirt. But the rest of the week I wore black pants, dressier shoes and a nice top, usually with a little bolero type mini jacket. But it doesn't seem like if I wore jeans on a Tuesday, I'd be fired. I wish the office wasn't so cold, it takes a few hours for it to warm up. And that we weren't in an obscure location, we're the first room on the left after these weird old steps that you have to search diligently for on S. Main Street. But whatever! I took some pictures with the forethought that at least my mom would like to see pictures of the office.