The Phantom Lawyer

There are many characters in our office. Mostly the clients, but sometimes the lawyers themselves. There's

"Abby" - our director. Sweet and charming to infinity! Has owned over 50 pets in her 50+ years. She doesn't mind being called a cat lady. Or maybe THE cat lady. Sometimes I cannot believe she worked as a public defender for almost thirty years.

"Raina" - the managing attorney. Also sweet, but a lil' more hardened due to her extensive career as a social worker. She's half-mexican and half-jewish. WHAT? Yeah, that's what I said. She laments her lack of latin street cred since she cannot speak Spanish. Raina adopted a baby girl from China years ago with her partner. Said daughter is starting high-school soon, hence this topic is on replay during convos with Raina.

"Brady" - the staff attorney, who still looks like a teenager. The sole male lawyer (next to "Randy" whose brief description is forthcoming) in the office that mostly keeps to himself but isn't unfriendly. He enjoys rock-climbing, traveling to South America and his pet iguana. I discovered all of this when we went out to an office lunch the other day. Several months from now, on another lunch outing, I'm certain he'll reveal he's leaving the law and planning an expedition to Mount Everest. With his pet iguana in tow.

"Pam" - only a couple of years elder to me but she's pretty good at displaying her legal knowledge. Pam is nice, and mostly quiet except when you ask her a question. Once that occurs, it isn't a bad idea to prepare for the LONGEST-WINDED ANSWER YOU'LL EVER GET. I don't mean to offend, but it's somewhat difficult to navigate out of a conversation with her. For example, I may ask her a quick question about child custody, and she'll begin responding with a heavy sigh, an experience she had with another legal agency she worked with, her mother's second cousin's stepson's guardianship hearing, the alphabet soup she ate the night before, and THEN the answer to the question. Mind you, I'll have a client on hold the entire time. She's devoted to her work though.

"Randy" - our part-time attorney. Comes in at 7 leaves at 2. Cancer-survivor. Nice guy.

"Akiva" - Our volunteer attorney, I dread Akiva's visits. I think she's sincere deep down but she comes off condescending. The first time I did intake with her she asked me if I knew what the word "incompetent" meant. She also whispers these things, as if nobody in our 10X10 office can't hear her. Akiva loves Israel. LOVES LOVES LOVES Israel. She can't wait to go back. This sentiment is expressed every time I see her. I suspect she thinks I'm Hindu or Muslim. I suspect this because she didn't understand how the Catholic Church worked after reading an article on the Pope and assumed I didn't since I was in her words "neither Catholic or Christian." I was wearing my cross necklace that day. She means well, right?

"Andy" - our part-time paralegal. Sweet guy. Andy's stuck with tedious tasks that nobody wants to do, like alphabetizing our fundraising donor list.

"Richard" - our three-week intern from Harvard Law. Painfully quiet but very cordial. I managed to find out he's engaged. His fiance is a librarian.

"Sam" - our part-time paralegal/law-clerk/tech guru. Sam is quadriplegic. The daredevil injured himself several years ago after falling off his mountain bike while riding. He's in law school now. I've met him twice and I'm pretty sure he must be claustrophobic of our tiny office and [possibly] Akiva.

And then there's Tom, the phantom lawyer. The only name here that is real. He used to be the executive director of our clinic, but left for New Mexico and a new wife before I showed up. Tom's name comes up so frequently that I believe I know him better than some relatives. At times, it feels like the office is grieving his loss. Case in point:

Abby: Hey Brady, can you make some coffee please?
Brady: Sure.
Abby: Tom used to make the best coffee. *sigh*

Pam: I can't believe these files are missing.
Raina: I thought I organized this section years ago.
Pam: Oh wait, here they are. Tom must have stashed them secretly for a reason.

I wouldn't be surprised if each member of our team had a big ol' crush on Tom since I've never seen a group of people speak about a former employee with such affection. And it's not just our staff. With the ten clients I speak to on average per day, at least three mention his name and how wonderfully helpful he was. Apparently, the man's philanthropic heart was open to handling unnecessary cases. At our staff meeting before Christmas, Abby passed around the holiday card he sent featuring his new baby and his dog ( Abby, of course, cooed over the dog and not the baby) and everyone was just gushing. I couldn't help but smile.

I hope I can impact a person or group of people the way Tom has. Imagine how gratifying it must be to feel that others are so appreciative of your work! Lawyers get such a rap for being sniveling and greedy. It's nice to know that there are people like him and like the other lawyers at the clinic who haven't lost their goodwill in the muddle of this profession. They remind me of why I'm in this other world in the first place. And that is incredibly refreshing.