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CHAPTER 1
LAURA
“M
s.Bennett? It’s nearly ten,” the paralegal said, and Laura looked up from her screen, where she’d been checking the Excel spreadsheet yet again. Outside, the sky was a sort of glowing darkness that she’d gotten used to since moving to the city.
“I see that,” Laura replied. “But Mrs.Stevens’ estate doesn’t really care about that.”
“I know that, ma’am,” the paralegal, a pretty redhead who was a little younger than Laura herself, said. “It’s just that… never mind.”
She left, and for a moment Laura was tempted to call her back in. Clearly, she had something on her mind. But the demands of the case soon took over her attention, and she went back to poring through the pages and pages of items in the binder. So obsessed was she with trying to get through her work that she didn’t notice when the next visitor came to her office, and only looked up when there was a knock.
Laura looked up, seeing Irene Valenzuela, a junior partner at the firm, and her de facto mentor. “What’s up, Irene?” she asked. “I’ll have the analysis of the estate done?—”
“Go home, Laura,” Irene replied, coming in and closing the door behind her. “I already sent everyone else home, and you’re the last hanger-on.”
“I’d love to Irene, but you know how the probate courts are,” Laura said. “I’ve got to get every item squared away or else Judge Edwards is going to be on our butts.”
“I already talked with all of the parties involved, and filed a motion for continuance with Judge Edwards.” Irene sat down. “Good Heavens, do you really think that anyone involved in this case wants to try and push hard on this through the holidays after we discovered another fullwarehouseof stuff? It’s par for the course when you’ve got a client like Ophelia Stevens.”
Laura sighed, and set down the highlighter in her hand. “Irene, the work needs to get done.”
“Of course it does,” Irene replied. “But the work always needs to get done. But this sort of grind stuff is for first years and paralegals. And there’s always more work, especially when you’re a senior associate who’s looking to get her invitation to become a junior partner. Do you know when’s the next partner meeting?”
“January,” Laura said automatically, and Irene nodded. Leaning back in her chair, she tapped her finger on her desk as Irene’s comments sank in. “I’m messing up, aren’t I?”
“You could say that,” Irene said. “Look, Laura. I get it. You came out of law school with a fire in your belly to do some good legal work, maybe change the world. But more importantly, you came out with your feet to the fire, looking at that massive pile of student debt you picked up getting your degree. Am I right?”
“I was,” Laura said proudly. “I just paid my student loan off.”
“Really?” Irene asked, surprised. “How?”
“I got some really good scholarships during undergrad, so I was almost debt-free going into law school,” Laura said. “And since then I’ve used every spare cent the firm’s paid me towards paying things down in advance.”
“Which means you’ve barely got two nickels to rub together, and really, really want that junior partnership,” Irene observed. “But how are you going to pay for your buy-in?”
“I don’t know,” Laura admitted, thinking of the investment that the firm required for a share of the partnership. Sure, partners would make that investment back in less than two years. But it still required a big chunk of cash. “With my good credit, I’ll figure something out.”
“Yeah well, figure this out,” Irene said a little harshly. “Right now, you’re in line for not getting an invitation for partnership. Do you evenknowwhat the senior partners are looking for in a junior partner?”
“Apparently not,” Laura replied. She thought that she did, that she’d done her best to read the layers of every interaction she had with any of the senior partners. “Want to fill me in?”
“Sure,” Irene replied. “They’re not looking for a grinder, they’re looking for a leader. Look, when you’re a new associate, the partners want you to prove yourself. They want to see that you’re all-in. Since you don’t have any money or experience, you prove it by working your backside off. Long hours, billing every minute you can. When I was a first year, Iaveragedseventy-four billable hours a week.”
“Seventy-two,” Laura said, shaking her head. “Guess I was lazy.”
“Bull, and that’s not the point.” Irene rolled her eyes, and leveled Laura with a look. “You know, you surprise me with this. You’re usually insightful as they come, but you’re blind as a bat here. As associates progress, they’re given jobs that aren’t billable, right? Mentoring the new first-years, overseeing theinternships, stuff like that. Those are all opportunities to show that you haveleadership, Laura. And a leader doesn’t have their foot on the gas, doing grind work on a case like what you’re handling when we’re going into the holidays.”
“Why not?”
“Because, like I said, nobody cares if this probate gets wrapped up by the end of this week or not!” Irene exploded. “You think that the Stevens kids care? She was worth fourbilliondollars, Laura. The blind trust her husband put each of her kids on years ago when he died is already taking care of them. They’re all livin’ the high life, and have been their entire lives. The charities don’t care, they know the check will come in the mail eventually. Sowhatif we have to take an extra month because a woman who was, shall we say, eccentric?”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Laura admitted. “After her husband died, by all accounts, she got to be nuttier than a squirrel.”
“My point exactly,” Irene said. “I mean, we just found that warehouse what, two weeks ago? An entirewarehousefull of stuff. Sure, most of it is junk unless you’re a collector of old school baby food jars and half-built wood birdhouses, but I’ve seen a few of the basics. There’s millions of dollars’ worth of actually sellable things in there that evenwedidn’t know about. And she’s been the firm’s client since before you were born. And yet, you’re acting like if we don’t get this case settled out with the probate court by the end of the week, that children are going to be starving in the streets.”
“There are children starving in the streets,” Laura snapped back.
