- My fabulous co-law clerk moved to the Big Apple. I miss her! We do have a very nice guy who replaced her That, however, does not make her departure any less sad.
- I got to attend my first mediation! Very interesting - not sure that I can envision Alternative Dispute Resolution as a future career, though. The case did not settle. I hope I didn't jinx it!
- My dad sold his house - my childhood home. This is also very sad - the closing is on the 30th of August. For his sake, I hope everything goes okay! But for my sake, I am more than upset at losing the only home I ever lived in, before John and I got our apartment. Dad's freaking out about the home inspection - apparently the results of that are expected today or tomorrow.
- John and I took an impromptu vacation to Norwood, North Carolina, where his family has a camper on Lake Tillery. We took the dog, and a good time was had by all during the Big Bad Heat Wave of 2007. I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the second time, I engaged in my usual Sunscreen Nazi antics, and we got to go out on a boat! I love me some boats. Regarding all things maritime, my love for boats is rivaled only by my love for the beach. The deal between John and me had been that I get a 1 day trip to the beach this summer since money is tight - however, John hates the beach, so we compromised. We went to the lake for the weekend, and maybe next year we can take a longer trip to Pawley's Island. Hear that, John? The deal is immortalized on the internet! We have to go to the beach next year! Jellyfish, crowds, sun, sand, and all!
And the big thing that has been eating up my evenings...
Big Bad Credit Card Company's Evil Collections Agency has been threatening to sue me. I am pretty sure they violated the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act several times over, but I didn't record the calls, so I can't prove it. The thing is, we do happen to owe a lot of money to a lot of different companies (Parents, never let your children have credit cards!), but we're going through debt consolidation to try and take care of everything. But this ONE company - Big Bad Credit Card Company - is being a total...hmm, well, any names I would like to call them is not very ladylike. They still own the account, but they have Evil Collections Agency trying to collect for them. They started this lawsuit nonsense several weeks ago, I talked to a lawyer, and everyone assured me it was all scare tactics to get me to pay. They never said anything quite incriminating enough to warrant a FDCPA claim, but they stopped calling once our debt management proposal was sent to Big Bad Credit Card Company. We had about a two week reprieve.
That lasted until Monday! They started calling again, and I asked them not to call me during work hours. They agreed. They call back FOUR TIMES on Wednesday at noon - and then I finally answered when they called at 6:45 that night. This is when Evil Collections Agent said "This call is to notify you that we will be serving you with a summons and complaint on Friday at your workplace through your HR department." The jerk said he was a paralegal (he isn't - he is a collector) and refused to give me the name of the local attorney. He told me the court date would be on August 20. I started panicking when he starts mentioning work, and I asked why they don't serve me at my apartment. He said that the sheriffs always choose to do it at work.
So, my issues with these people are 1) calling me during work hours after agreeing not to, 2) threatening to serve me at work through my HR department, and 3) threatening to sue me at all! My interpretation of the FDCOA is that you're not allowed to threaten legal action unless you INTEND TO TAKE IT. Even if they do intend eventually to sue me...they pretty much threw that argument out the window when they said they would be suing me on FRIDAY. And they didn't! Isn't that prima facie evidence that they never intended to do it? I was on vacation on Friday, but that's beside the point...they didn't know that. No one tried to find me at work. No work people emailed me to tell me that sheriff's deputies were looking for me, no messages were on my voicemail at work or on my cell phone, and no one near my cubicle saw anything. No one left any papers for me with anyone (not that they could have). I don't even have any reason to believe they even know where I work. Is there any way that they can find that out?
We're still being yanked around by the Big Bad Credit Company regarding whether they're going to accept our debt consolidation proposal or not, and for how much money. But at least the Evil Collections Agency hasn't called back since Wednesday! Those people always leave me in hysterics...and then I look back and realize that they just want money, and their tactics worked like a charm on me.
The moral of the story: debt collectors are the scum of the earth.
On a somewhat related note...I cry at the drop of a hat, and I think some people think this makes me less capable of being an attorney. Yes, I despise criticism and mean people. There is just absolutely no excuse for rudeness! I might be a delicate flower with tender feelings, or whatever, but I hate it when people are mean-spirited and nasty. I am usually a very polite person - I was a GREAT cashier and waitress. I have my bulldog moments - I usually get my way. But if you're mean to me in the process, I'll hang up the phone (after you give me what I want) and BAWL. Does this mean I'll be a bad lawyer? I tend to think I am perfectly capable of separating work and my personal life - and I think there's a difference between crying at a debt collector in the privacy of my own home and at a judge. I did mock trial for nine years, and I never cried while the timer was running. Sure, I don't think anyone's ever used the words "easygoing" and "laidback" to describe me - I'm definitely not either of those things! But I am learning not to take things as personally as I have in the past and not to get as worked up about the little things. It's a process, people! But I don't think it means I'll be a bad lawyer. I always thought being passionate for the things for which I cared deeply would make me a BETTER lawyer, back when I wanted to defend death penalty clients. I have changed my mind on the issue of passion as a prerequisite to being a good advocate - but a little passion never hurt.
