Memories

By Rich Janney

I make a lot of jokes about my time as a litigator and it probably gives the impression that I didn’t like it.  However, I spent seven years litigating for a good reason—I really did enjoy many parts of it and often overlook or fail to communicate some of the many fond memories I have. Whether it is the academic challenge of articulating case law in a persuasive manner, the thrill of winning a motion, or the satisfaction of having out-witted your opponent, there are a lot of aspects of being a lawyer that warrant celebration.  But there are other nuances to the practice that I found very rewarding, too; elements that I think get overlooked.  The following is a list of things I really enjoyed while I was a Chicago litigator:

1.      Judges with mild dementia

2.      Metal detectors at the Daley Center that wouldn’t go off even if I had a leg made out of solid steel

3.      Court calls where the case right in front of mine happens to be one of those mortgage foreclosure deals where the attorney brings eight million files up to the bench and spends the next six hours kicking people out of their houses

4.      Getting to know some really unhealthy people

5.      Putting my keys and cell phone in a dog dish before being allowed to pass through security at the Dirksen Building

6.      Waking up at 3 am with positive thoughts about all the things that could go right with my cases

7.      Martinis

8.      The 85-year-old sheriff’s deputy at the Daley Center who would simultaneously shush the courtroom and put one hand on his pistol, as if he was going to blow your head off if you didn’t shut up (no one called his bluff, though)

9.      The way a wool suit smells after you’ve panic-sweated through the jacket

10.    Putting endless hours into a draft of a brief and then getting it back from the partner covered in a bloodbath of red ink—so pretty!

11.   Technology, which has made it easier to file briefs right up until midnight and thus allowed associates to work right up until midnight, too

12.   Driving to a court call in a collar county and fantasizing about continuing to drive westward, then northward, then escaping to Canada

13.   The slovenly attorney who just can’t seem to get the whole shirt tucked into his pants

14.    Living a balanced, healthy life

15.    Counting the cigarette burns in the carpets in each courtroom in of the Daley Center

16.    Using carbon paper in the 21^st Century

17.    Redweld paper cuts

Those are just a few of my fond memories as a Chicago litigator.  I know, I know.  I probably sound like Garrison Keillor right now, idealizing my past into such a picturesque narrative.  But it’s just how I feel inside, and I had to get my insides out.  Please let me know if you have some fond experiences as an attorney that you would like to share and I’ll read them on the air.