Exposed (Rosato & DiNunzio #5)(38)
“You’re serious?” Judy burst into laughter.
“Totally. That’s why my client base is so important, that’s what I tried to tell her. I don’t get the big cases, but I get the volume and they keep coming. Everybody has contract disputes, wills drafted, construction disputes, slip and fall, basic med mal, and now special education, which is a wonderful practice.”
“The stuff you’re doing lately, for kids with special needs?”
“Yes, I love it, and you would too. These kids are not being served, getting the interventions they need, and you get to do some good.”
“Really.”
“You make a difference in a kid’s life, just like Rachel. It’s not a special needs case, but it’s the same feeling for me, inside. You see the good you’re doing. You actually effect change.”
“Really,” Judy repeated, though her tone turned positive, if not excited.
“Yes, and from a business point of view, it’s awesome because in Pennsylvania, if you win a special-education case, your fees get reimbursed by the district. That’s true for the Philadelphia School District and for the suburban school districts. You never have to worry about getting paid. And they pay your going rate. It’s truly doing good and doing good.”
“It sounds win-win.”
“Exactly,” Mary said, getting excited herself. “And how much better is that than no-win? Litigation can be so no-win. Even if you settle, both sides are unhappy; that’s even the mark of a good settlement.”
“Honestly, yes!” Judy brightened.
“Sometimes you get tired of banging your head against a wall, don’t you? Bennie loves to fight, but I don’t. I thought I didn’t like being a lawyer, but that wasn’t right. I just didn’t like practicing the type of law I was practicing.” Mary felt her heart lift, hearing herself say aloud something she’d been thinking for a long time. “And I’m happy now. I’m happy at work for the first time ever.”
Judy’s expression darkened. “So why blow it up?”
“I don’t think of it that way.”
“I know.” Judy made a face. “But everyone else will. Bennie does, Marshall does. I told her, and she started crying. And wait’ll Anne and John get back. They’re going to freak.”
“I know and I hate that.” Mary felt the weight of guilt, but reminded herself of her purpose. “But I have to do what I have to do. Right?”
“Right. So what will I work on, if I came with you?”
“Well, the types of matters I said.”
“How about the special-ed cases?”
“I don’t have a lot of them yet because I’m just starting in the practice and that bar is pretty tight. But I’m starting to get referrals. I feel like in three to five years, that will be the majority of my practice, but it isn’t yet.”
“Are you ever in federal court?”
“Not really, no. There’s more state-court issues, contract issues, or arbitration, and it’s a lot of horse trading. In fact, I don’t really get into court that much. In fact, I avoid it.” Mary could see Judy’s shoulders deflate. “Look, I admit, it’s not really the kind of work you’re used to. But you would like it.”
“So there’s no appellate work or anything like that.”
“Federal appellate, no.” Mary knew that Judy loved the intellectual rigor posed by federal questions that went up on appeal, like cutting-edge constitutional issues, but Mary’s clients didn’t present and couldn’t afford that type of litiga tion. “But if you brought in that kind of work, that would be great.”
Judy hesitated. “That’s the kind of work that comes to Bennie, and she gives to me.”
Mary shifted forward. “I know, but Judy, with your credentials, you could attract that kind of work.”
Judy looked at her like she was crazy. “Mary, take a look at me. Do I look like the kind of person people want for a lawyer? I dress crazy and I like it. I don’t want to change. And I’m not a business getter, I never have been. I don’t like schmoozing people, going to the bar conferences and the cocktail parties. It’s just not me.”
Mary listened to her without interrupting, for once, because she had never heard Judy talk about herself this way.
“I finally found my niche, too. I wrote three briefs for the Supreme Court last year, a petition for certiorari, and two amicus briefs, which is probably more than any associate in any big firm. And the cases come from all over the country, on the sexiest legal issues ever. Important issues. Voting rights. Election funding. Intellectual property. Antitrust. Environmental cases.”
“Wow,” Mary said, because she hadn’t realized, too busy with her own work.
“Right? It’s great. I know I look great on paper. I’m the girl behind the scenes and I love that. I just want to be left alone to write and research.” Judy smiled briefly. “I told Bennie she should think of me as her brain-in-a-jar. That’s my niche.”
“But I don’t attract that kind of work. That’s the problem, right?”
“It kind of is.” Judy heaved a big sigh, then slumped against the wooden back of the bench. “I love what I do and I don’t want to stop. And I know you love what you do, and believe me, I don’t think one type of practice is better than the other—”