Arrrrgh!!

I just finished my freelance project and e-mailed it off to the attorneys. It was crazy. They called me night before last and asked me to do a project then we agreed to talk in the morning. We talked yesterday morning, and they told me they have a trial starting next week and the judge wanted “points and authorities” by Monday on the plaintiffs’ theory of the case. They only have one theory, and it’s kind of iffy. One of the attorneys told me he never wins on this kind of case.

So I started my research yesterday and picked it up this morning at 9:00, thinking that I would write something and e-mail it toward the end of the day. I think I found everything there is to find, and it’s not great. All of the law on this subject was established in the 1940s through 1960s, and there are almost no reported decisions since then. It’s hard to make an argument based on such old cases – you feel like you must be missing something, and you don’t know if those cases are consistent with the way things are viewed today. A lot can happen in 50+ years that calls into question law that is technically still good, and it’s hard to figure that out when you have only a short time to do your research. So this project was tricky.

Around 11:00 they called me and said they have to serve the “points and authorities” today. That was news to me! I said I would have it done by 2:00 or 3:00, and finally finished at 4:00. I wish I had another day to spend on it. I’m waiting for the phone to ring with angry lawyers on the other end, telling me I’ll never work in this town again.

Think I will watch Oprah to keep my mind off of it. One of the pluses of working at home.