Thoughts on the Upcoming WA Bar Exam

The first day of the Winter Washington State Bar Exam began today, and my best wishes go out to the poor dumb bastards everyone taking it, especially a friend of mine from UM. Good luck! You'll do fine.

I thought I should come up with some encouragement, so I present this:

The Story of Wajahat Ali, a terrified young attorney who saved his very first clients from foreclosure at the hands of Wells Fargo. His writing captures exactly what it's like to be a new attorney.

My favorite part:

Despite being equipped with some—some—knowledge, I shared the quintessential trait of all young attorneys: unrelenting, paralyzing fear. It overwhelms everything we do and contaminates the first two to three years of our law jobs. The thought process goes something like this: "I know nothing. How the hell did I get this degree? How the hell did I pass the bar? Law school didn't teach me anything. Do my employers know I'm incompetent? How long can I fake this before they figure it out? Are my peers like this? How come everyone else knows what they're doing? What if I never learn? What happens if I get fired or fail? Will I get disbarred? I bet I'll get disbarred! Damn, I'm getting disbarred! Please, God, don't let me get disbarred."

I had all these thoughts as the Lipkin family sat on my friend's office couch and told me that they were about to lose their home. These people trusted me more than I trusted myself. God help us both.

It's a great read, and also a timely view into the current state of the legal job market and the workings of the housing crisis.