Saturday, November 20, 2004

Yes, it bores lawyers, too

Yesterday, I went to an all-day seminar on employment law. It was an update, and I try to get to at least one such all-day seminar each year. Sometimes I do more than one--I do shorter ones, too, usually in the evening, but these all day ones usually are more comprehensive.

Since this (employment law) is the main focus of my work, it's important to me to stay up-to-date on the most recent court decisions and legislative changes.

So I was sitting in one part of the seminar yesterday as the speaker was discussing "class actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act." I was absorbing the information, but it took an effort not to have my eyes roll back into my head. Two colleagues of mine--excellent attorneys, in fact--were sitting with me. I looked over to find them playing a game (they'd pick a movie star and then compete to see who could write down more of his/her movies in a limited amount of time).

I'm sure they were hearing the seminar info (as I can listen and do other things very often), but it was funny to see that I wasn't the only one being bored to tears. So, for those of you who have said (and I've heard lots of people say it!), "I couldn't be a lawyer. That stuff is too tedious/boring!," I have two things to say...

1) A lot of what we do is quite interesting; and,

2) When it comes to some of it, you're quite right. It's tedious and boring, and we think so, too. It's just the price you have to pay, so you have a fair chance of not screwing up by missing something!

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