You Know You're a Lawyer When ...

Yesterday at 6 p.m. the lights went out. And then the fire alarm started going off. Most people would have taken that as our cue. But not us. We gathered under the emergency light and discussed whether we would lose the work on our computers, or heaven forbid ... the billing that we had just entered. The lights flickered on then off again. The alarm continued. We chatted in the dark about a case that we are defending in which the plaintiff didn't leave a building on fire right away because she thought that it was a false alarm. Then the lights came back on. There was a mad rush to reboot computers and save documents or close billing. We helped reset the copier so that one attorney could get his motion ready for the 7 p.m. Fed Ex pick up. Um, all the while the fire alarm continued. We looked out the windows as firetrucks raced by, lights and sirens blaring. After we had saved our work and closed our billing, several of us left, commenting that it was too hard to work with the alarm blaring. Something is seriously wrong with this scenario.