Change of Venue

Having taken the California Bar exam for the first-time in Feb. 2009, I am now beginning to slowly gear up for the Feb. 2010 bar exam. It has been quite a life's journey during the past year since graduating from law school in May 2008.

On the one hand, I now have one year's experience as a solo paralegal. I have written motions and settlement conference statements, I've been in court. I've scheduled hearings, filed motions, served notice and even written a respondent's brief in appellate court. I've dealt with staff attorneys in family court. I've photographed experts do their work. I've reviewed case files and done discovery. In short, I've gotten a taste of what it is like to be an attorney, all the while mentored by licensed attorneys who have exhibited tremendous faith in my abilities. I am not perfect; I am learning, but I am surprisingly good at what I do. I've taken to the law like a duck takes to water.

Moreover, some firms are beginning to take a chance on me, at least as it relates to interviews. But, the hue and cry is that I am "over qualified" to be a paralegal (but not being licensed, I am not qualified to be an attorney.) One particularly interesting interview was with the partner of a law firm (to remain nameless) whose firm name was displayed on an 8" x 10" piece of paper and taped to a glass door. The neighborhood in which the office was located was "iffy." While the partner seemed gentile and his office was surprisingly tasteful, his business seemed one notch up from Grisham's portrayal of ambulance chasers. Even to this partner, I was "over qualified." But, then, I got a feeling in the pit of my stomach viewing his office from across the street, that something was wrong, and that this was not a firm that I would feel comfortable working for. So, as a result, I am beginning to feel that "over qualified" means "too old" for our firm, or company. And, that it is only with my own firm that I can really make a go of it.

Having recently downsized from a nice apartment to a 10' x 10' room, and surrounded by my computer, printers and bar exam material, I found myself too uncomfortably close as a first-hand witness to foreclosure. Heretofore, and having dealt with a case concerning foreclosure equity fraud, I had a more remote understanding of the process. Unsettling to the homeowner, it is also unsettling to me as a renter. I need a basis of stability to study for this upcoming bar exam; this includes where I live. I need to know that the rug isn't going to be pulled out from under me, too.

I may need to go home to reside with family and leave the mountains and the sea behind; these elements of nature restore my soul. Can I find peace again by drinking a cup of hot cocoa while all around me the world is encased in snow?

Can I make it here in California?