Wow. So my friend works for Paul Hastings and actually forwarded me this reply from the firm...
Some of you may have seen or heard about a widely distributed email sent by a former PH associate in our San Diego office. For the obvious reasons, the Firm plans no response at all.
However, since you may be asked questions about the email, we wanted you to have some background information. Greg Evans was an associate in our San Diego office. He left the Firm by mutual agreement. He is obviously very angry about that outcome. The wide distribution of the email is unfortunate, but its just the nature of the email culture in which we live...people have a taste for the sensational (the email that is, because the circumstances surrounding his departure were very unextraordinary) and the means to distribute it widely. Nonetheless, we wish Greg well.
Jim Owens and Elizabeth Noe
Co-Chairs, Attorney Development Committee
posted by phat tony 1:02 PM
As many of you are aware, today is my last day at the firm. It is time for me to move on and I want you to know that I have accepted a position as "Trophy Husband". This decision was quite easy and took little consideration. However, I am confident this new role represents a welcome change in my life and a step up from my current situation. While I have a high degree of personal respect for PHJW as a law firm, and I have made wonderful friendships during my time here, I am no longer comfortable working for a group largely populated by gossips, backstabbers and Napoleonic personalities. In fact, I dare say that I would rather be dressed up like a piñata and beaten than remain with this group any longer.
I wish you continued success in your goals to turn vibrant, productive, dedicated associates into an aimless, shambling group of dry, lifeless husks.
May the smoke from any bridges I burn today be seen far and wide.
Respectfully submitted,
Gregory Evans
ps. Achilles absent, was Achilles still. (Homer)
Mmm, so I guess this is what I have to look forward to? I mean, atleast he still has his sense of humor.
posted by phat tony 11:32 AM
Okay, so far, so good. I've been working as a summer associate for about a week now (started on Monday, it's now Friday)... I feel positive about my choice. The firm I work for is composed of folks who pride themselves on not being assholes. No, really. They actually have a published "no asshole" rule. Also, while I realize that the summer is not an exceptionally busy time for law firms and that the attorneys are trying to sort of fool us into thinking that life at a firm is amazing and fun and wonderful, I'm thinking that I really am liking the work, however mundane or intense or crazy it can be. I know it's far too soon to tell, but I think law school was a good decision for me, despite the fact that I've hated myself every moment in it... I mean, it brought me here.
posted by phat tony 11:23 AM
Today was an amazing and a horrible day.
I started my summer job. It's great. I'm going to be doing really good work. And by some bizarre turn of events (or just because that's the way it's done), I have a secretary. The people in my "class" (i.e. the other summer associates) are really dope, and I think I have a good chance of getting an offer.
The bad news is that I just got a horrible grade in a class and I'm worrying about it like I can do something about it, which I can't. I know I actually deserved that grade, too. Ech.
I have 5 active e-mail addresses and 1 e-mail address that forwards e-mails to one of the 5. Is that excessive?
Went to the gym today for a split second. Am already feeling better.
Decided that I do need coffee every morning.
Goodbye.
posted by phat tony 10:43 PM
So I came to the conclusion that it's probably better to have a pet before you have a child. And actually, it's good to have a plant before you have a pet. I'm not saying this in response to all my friends who are having/currently have babies, because a) they are amazing people who will make great parents and b) they don't have the obnoxious responsibility issues that I have (i.e. any sort of responsibility freaks me out). I'm just saying this because I dog-sat my friend Chau's beagle-chihuahua Jasminh for 4 days this week... and she might be the perfect dog. She's SO obedient, you can talk to her (and she'll listen) like she's a human, you only fill up her dog bowl once a day and she eats whenever she finds it necessary, she only goes to the bathroom outside (apparently no matter how long you leave her inside), and she really likes to cuddle. I mean, all good things... but EVEN THEN, I felt a little stressed. I guess I need to buy a plant.
posted by phat tony 1:59 PM
A dialogue I partook in tonight:
Girl: "Yeah, I don't go to [random club] on Wednesday nights. It's so diverse there, and I don't do 'diverse.'"
Me: "Uh-huh. Well, that would explain why we have never met. And also why you're completely uninteresting."
posted by phat tony 4:34 AM
So apparently friends of a friend of a friend (yes, really) have this theory. They think that they can start a successful consulting business telling people what their "number" is. Confused? Think of it this way... "Damn, homegirl is workin it like mad in that club, I'll give her an 8." Anyway, they have this theory (and I'm clearly using the word "theory" loosely, here) that a problem of epidemic proportions is that people over-estimate their looks, and this over-estimation leads to a variety of problems, not the least of which are people who are headed for certain disappointment when meeting someone they think is "lesser" or "greater" than they themselves think they are. It's (apparently) like this... Christina Aguilera (known hereafter as "X-tina") is an altogether average looking girl (okay, so she's not girl, but not yet a woman), but some people would give her a 10. Where is this number coming from? Blonde haired, blue eyed women don't seem to factor in the killer-voice factor when comparing X-tina to themselves. So they say to themselves, "Oh, I'm almost as attractive as X-tina, that means I'm a 9.5," when really, they're closer to a 3 or 4. So these people who want to start this consulting firm (did I tell you that these people are all male models? no, not a joke. They watch Zoolander and RELATE.) think that they can appropriately assign numbers to everyone, and then sponsor locations where individuals of only a certain number (or range) can attend... so no one has to worry about being disappointed. It's a bizarre theory, and for a brief, amstel-induced haze, I thought it made sense. Shoot me now.
posted by phat tony 4:21 AM
I hate when you love someone for no good reason, because you can't talk yourself out of it.
posted by phat tony 4:20 AM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAMMY!!!!
posted by phat tony 3:07 PM
Finals are over and I'm in the first good mood I've been in since... well... last year. Seriously, I had no idea it were even possible for school to bring you down to such a high and intense degree... But whatever, that bullshit is over for the summer. Other than this random 30-page paper I need to be writing (supposedly/actually due May 21st), I have nothing but my summer associateship to worry about, and I'm even really looking forward to that.
Right now, I'm in SF... I'm here for 5 days because my dad has some medical conference here and he figured, very appropriately, that I probably wouldn't be coming back to Ohio anytime soon... so if he were to have a meal or anything with me at all, it would have to be in another city. I was hoping the trip would be this time for us to catch up on all sorts of stuff... For far too long, our dynamic, while altogether healthy and friendly and all those good things that parent-child relationships can be, has been... I dunno... boring? We have conversations along the lines of "hi dad, what's up?" "Oh you know, nothing much. How's school?" "Fine, how's work?" "Fine." "Okay." "Okay.""Bye." "Bye." So I figured that this trip would be somewhat more social... lots of questions, lots of answers, all that sort of junk. Parental-DDT, if you will. And while this has been somewhat successful, I've found the two of us spending all our time together debating... It's weird. I think he just thinks that law school has made me arbitrarily argumentative. Maybe he's right.
Regardless, I've been having a good time... not only with dad, but also with Stef, Jon, Paul & Victor. They've taken me under their wings, basically... taken their own precious time to make sure I'm not bored. I love them for that, even if they're already sick of me (which I think they are). We've done some drinking, some chatting, some movie watching... Saw Van Helsing with one of them (I don't want to say who it was... I think they'd want their identity protected)... I have nothing to say about it... it was just too... awkward. I also saw New York Minute with Stef, and I love Mary-Kate & Ashley Olson (note: do not call them the Olson twins... apparently, they hate that). I just do. I also love that Bob Saget makes a cameo. Hmmm... I think one of my friends is friends with Ashley's (yes, first name basis) boyfriend... Maybe we could be friends.
I'm bored with myself. Must go outside. Victor takes long showers, and Paul gets distracted easily by that little peg game. Stef helped me make a wallet made entirely of duct tape, and Jon doesn't feel the need to chill with us anymore.
posted by phat tony 2:52 PM
My last final starts in about 5 minutes.
I want a new phone.
posted by phat tony 2:45 PM
Hi Alison!!!
Hey all, check out Neighborhoodies.com ... a few little pics of Got Soul are up on it!
My last final is tomorrow... it's been so SO hard to focus... but this is the final stretch...
I'm so excited about my SF trip this weekend... more on that later...
posted by phat tony 7:43 PM
Clefs concert tonight! If you're in NYC, get to the upper west side now by 9pm!
Got Soul NY performs at Bustagroove in D.C. tonight. I wish I could be performing with them. It sucks that I'm not there, but they're gonna do so well, I know it... I just hope there's another chance for us to perform next year.
Administrative Law final on Monday... I don't even know what "Administrative Law" means. This is a problem.
posted by phat tony 5:37 PM
