At least, that’s my opinion, but I know it’s not one shared by probably anyone else in this firm other than me. Not even my dad would have my back on this one.
I look across The Pit to my dad’s office. He’s a partner here at Knight & Payne and rates one of the coveted perimeter offices made of glass. I can see the charismatic Cary Peterson sitting behind his desk, leaning back in his chair and talking on the phone with his hands moving animatedly. I have this job for no other reason than my dad is a partner, and I wasn’t offered a job anywhere else after I passed the bar exam. This is a fact that has gotten me a bit down, as when you get rejection after rejection, you start to doubt your abilities. But my dad assures me the market is flooded and there are plenty of new attorneys who aren’t getting offers, and that perhaps I should just give Knight & Payne an honest try since no other options are presenting.
My dad’s a great attorney and a wonderful father. It’s no wonder I wanted to follow in his footsteps to become a lawyer, but I didn’t exactly want to be the type of lawyer he is. No, I get my passion for legal prose, research, and a knack for reading the fine print of contracts from my mother. She was an attorney too, but a much different type of attorney than my dad.
My dad is filled with this fiery need to work with people. He likes being in the middle of a scrappy fight, and he defends the common man with a vengeance that’s almost surreal. He’s a free spirit, a bit kooky—just like this firm—and is a huge risk taker.
My mom was his exact opposite, and yet they loved each other deeply. I had a special bond with my mom, definitely deeper than what I had with my dad, and that only strengthened as I got older and started really paying attention to what my parents did for a living. Early on, I was fascinated by the law… whatever type of law. I listened to both my parents tell their own personal war stories. But as I got older, through college and finally law school, I realized my passion was identical to my mom’s. We had an appreciation for the written legal word. We had a knack for interpreting it. We had a special ability to wade through lines and lines of legalese and be able to make sense of it all.
I shared that with her throughout almost my entire time in law school. I’d call her up after having read a particularly difficult case, and I’d pick her brain. She’d give me advice, and then we’d argue some of the finer points, just to be sure I understood everything. We did that several times a week, and that was my most special time with her.
She died almost a year and a half ago, just a few months before I finished law school. She didn’t get to see me graduate. She didn’t get to see me pass the bar.
She didn’t see me land a job that I just don’t like. I can’t talk to her about the fact I’m completely unhappy with my career at this point. I really can’t talk to my dad about it either, because he loves it here at Knight & Payne and thinks I should too.
My gaze travels around The Pit, which is a classic example of how very different I am from the core being of this law firm. Knight & Payne is probably the most watched law firm in the state of North Carolina. Currently up to sixty-eight lawyers, the tagline “Come any poor soul needing help” pretty much says it all. This is a firm that gets down in the trenches and helps the common man.
I find that to be very brave, very inspiring and it’s what I respect most about this firm.
But in taking that stance, Midge Payne, the only surviving original partner, decided that her firm would be as unique as her open arms policy. The firm takes up the twenty-seventh and twenty-eight floors of the Watts Building, also owned in its entirety by Midge. I’m on the twenty-seventh floor in the civil division, and I work in what’s called The Pit. It’s a large open area taking up the very center of the floor with nothing but rows of desks grouped in sections of four with no dividing panels or cubicles. This is a collaborative design, with the intent to foster discussion and promote teamwork. Lawyers work right alongside secretaries, with nothing to distinguish the two from each other except the educational degrees earned. You certainly wouldn’t be able to tell people apart by the state of their dress because Midge Payne has no dress code. People are allowed to wear whatever they want, which means most people dress uber casual.
I look down at my own crisply tailored Anne Klein black crepe suit with silk stockings and sensible black pumps. This is what an attorney should wear in my opinion.