lawmummy

Yep, I ain’t too proud to beg.

I have a story on digg right now - and Bloomberg just submitted the same story (after me, mind you).

Give me a little digg love?

http://www.digg.com/football/JoePa_s_salary_made_public

It’s all about PSU, Joe Paterno, college football and taxes.   Yep, I swear.

I know that Madeline will hate me for this… it’s addictive… but you must check out this site.

(hat tip)

I discover this every day.

And for those people who say that kids just “can’t resist” the taste of fast food, they’re wrong.

You see, today I took Charlie for his shots.  He had three.  He was not in a good mood.  None of us were in a great mood, having stayed up far too late with coughing, hacking and various ailments.

Just before we got to the store (a side trip after the doctor), Amy and Charlie were on the fringe of sleeping.  Aha, I thought.  Maybe if I drove them around a bit, they’d fall asleep.  Amy doesn’t nap on her own anymore so I thought this would be good for all of us.

We had not eaten lunch yet and Charlie’s eyes were almost closing.  I saw the golden M down the street and thought “Perfect, we’ll splurge on McDonald’s - we don’t even have to get out of the car - and then I’ll drive around, thus putting the kids to sleep.”  Foolproof.

The last time that I went to a McDonald’s drive through, I ended up with six drinks because I had an order panic.  I don’t like the myriad of choices and 15 second time limit.

This time, I came prepared.  I asked the girls before we got to the menu what they wanted:  Katie wanted fish and Amy wanted chicken.  Well, there is no fish happy meal.  This wouldn’t have been such a big deal except that the happy meals come in these cute little boxes (Halloween houses, according to my girls) and the result would be that Amy had one and Katie wouldn’t.  So, at the last minute, I switched to two happy meals with chicken McNuggets, one with fries and one with apples (thinking that they would share).  Amy got milk.  Katie got water.  Apparently, you don’t get water with your happy meal as a choice which resulted in a confusing bottle versus tap issue and one fewer straw than we needed.

But I digress.

In the car, Madeline tried to sort out who got what.  It was not an easy task.  It turns out that nobody wanted the nuggets.  Katie tried them and hated them and attempted to pass them off to her brother - he cried and threw them on the floor.  Amy told me that she ate hers but I found them in the seat.  Most of the fries landed on the floor.  What was eaten?  The apples (which, by the way, in keeping with the marketing oversaturation of Shrek included Shrek packaging on the apples).  Katie drank most of her water, which she later declared to be her favorite part of lunch.  Philadelphia tap water, go figure.

So I paid far too much to have a big pile of food and wrappers all over the floor of my car.  Next time, I stick with my gut and I don’t stop at McDonald’s for lunch.  I really don’t get the attraction.

At our firm, we do a lot of pro bono. A lot. I don’t say that to pat us on the back or call us out but to give you a little context for my rant.

I know that people don’t like to pay lawyers. It annoys people that they have to pay to fix a situation that they don’t feel that they should be in the first place - even when the situation (like not paying taxes) is self-inflicted. I get this. It’s not fair, ya-da,  ya-da.

But this is the thing: I don’t, as a general rule, work for free. My free services are reserved for clients who have been vetted through services like the Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts; Senior Law Project; and Philly VIP. But otherwise, if you have a legal problem and you choose to come to my office, there is a fee associated with your visit. And if your matter is particularly complex or requires more time than one visit, it will be necessary to pay a retainer.

Similarly, I am headed off to the doctor shortly for my son’s appointment.  Do I think it’s fair that he is sick?  No.  Do I want to shell out more money to the doctor?  Of course not.  Do I understand that my doctor is taking time away from other patients to see my child?  Yes.  Do I understand that her time has value?  Definitely.  So, am I going to write out a check to her today? Absolutely.

And I’d venture to say that most of you would not even think of asking your doctor to give you a consult for free.  Your lawyer?  Another matter altogether.

Lately, I’ve had a string of sob stories come through my door, all wanting legal advice and not wanting to pay. Anything. They just want free advice - for complicated and sophisticated matters.  Many of these people have incomes far in excess of my own but feel that their situation merits my time for free or on the cheap nonetheless.  One professional went so far as to ask me in advance recently to “renegotiate” my consultation fee, which had already been discounted by more than 25% as a favor to the attorney who referred him.  He advised that he was not prepared to pay for my services beyond that meeting - he was on a fact gathering mission so that he could do the work himself.  And he wanted me to help him, for practically nothing.

To clarify, the fees at my office are not high - they are lower than most attorneys in the City with similar qualifications. I try to be affordable. I try to be fair.  So you tell me what’s fair about not paying me for my time…

Just because I am no longer at a fancy Center City firm does not mean that I do not have expenses. I do. And in some instances, my costs are actually higher per attorney than in Center City because insurance companies and other vendors understand that I don’t have the leverage of say, a Pepper, in the form of bulk sales of office supplies or multiple employees for coverage.  I still have to pay salaries and buy copy paper.  I have to pay rent and utilities - I don’t get a discount on electricity for having few employees.

And on a personal level, while I understand that you’re in a jam, I have children to feed and send to school.  I have a mortgage to pay.  I have heating to pay for.  I have student loans to pay back (I went to school to get those fancy diplomas, you know).  And yes, I’d like to buy my kids some Christmas presents once in awhile.

So it is with great annoyance that potential clients feel that it’s okay to nickel and dime me with respect to my services - and ask for free services.

The answer is no.

Internet shopping.

I love my readers. I really do. And I appreciate the emails. And usually, I try to respond fairly quickly.

All of that said, I have received a flurry of advice about moms or moms-to-be entering law school or the legal profession. I really do intend to respond to these - probably via a post due to the number of requests. I know that at least one reader felt that I was simply not responsive and for that, I apologize. Life has been crazy as of late with appointments, work, blogging and oh yeah, having 13 people for Thanksgiving dinner (some of which, little munchkins, trashed my home office). That means that I haven’t had the time to personally respond to a number of emails.

Please don’t take my lack of response personally. My husband will tell you that he doesn’t get answers to half of his email lately. I’m working on it, I swear.

Target has announced plans to move into the old Strawbridge’s facility on Market Street.

As you were.

Cough medicine.

Continuing my plan to try and think of something to be thankful for every day through November, I’m adding “late shopping hours at Kohl’s.”  I hate to shop, but boy is it much easier without the children.

Charlie has shoes now.

Super Nanny needs your support!  It’s week #2 of the Project Runway challenge and she’s (gasp) in third place!  Vote!  You can vote every day while the poll is up - so, yes, that means more than once if you can spare the click.

The poll is here.