I see "organization" has different meanings...

[miladygrey]

When Anders left, he left behind about a dozen closed case files from his time here, on the assumption that I would break them down and scan them into our system. This is a part of my job--one of my least favorite parts, it's all busywork and checking for double-sided documents and pulling out staples--but I do it for Aveline, I can do it for him, sure.

While he was here, he would ask me to make a file for a new case. I would get some empty folders, label them all as "bills" or "correspondence" or whatever, add in a large folder for the pleadings, and make sure everything was in order by descending date before putting everything in a file and putting it on his shelf. He assured me from the start that he did all his own filing once the file was made, and I took him at his word.

As I have been breaking down his files for the last two weeks, I have come to the realization that "filing", to Anders, meant "throwing everything willy-nilly into the file and trusting God to sort it out". Nothing is in order. The folders I made (that he ASKED me to make) are empty except for whatever documents I put in them when I made them. I have to sort through everything, try and get stuff in order, weed out old handwritten notes and receipts, and make sure nothing from other cases is mixed in, which I have found several times.

And to add insult to injury, one of his old clients persists in sending mail to him at this address, and I have forwarded seven pieces of mail in the last seven days. I know he doesn't like this person, but writing a polite email to say "here's my new address" is common professional courtesy, and I can't do it because I am not supposed to be involved in this case, it's his damn case.

The new partner, a fresh-faced law clerk for whom this will be her first official attorneying job, begins after Labor Day. I have already told Aveline that I plan to present her with my filing system and not suggest that she has any other options. Politely, of course.

AND ALSO, while I'm being grumpy at work, telling me that you can't afford the consult fee because "all my money is being taken for no reason--child support" guarantees that we don't want to work with you. I'm so sorry you feel that supporting your child(ren) is a waste of your money! Good luck on your quest for an absolutely free attorney!


We have a second table (yes, we now have enough books and display stuff to require a second folding table!) and an awning for Dover Comic-Con next weekend, and someone who met Yeats last year has emailed him to say she plans to cosplay Idgen Marte (the POC warrior lady from the Paladin series) at DCC, does he mind and would he like her to stop by and say hello? He responded "yes, of course, so glad you like the books" with authorial courtesy, then did a dance around the den. I will either post pictures or link to his Twitter, because this is his first cosplayer!

Reading Log: Swift by R.J. Anderson; Shameless by Nadia Bolz-Weber; Deadly by Julie Chibbaro; Reading Behind Bars by Jill Grunenwald; Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes; All of Us with Wings by Michelle Ruiz Keil; Sassinak by Elizabeth Moon and Anne McCaffrey; Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice; False Step by Victoria Helen Stone