2007 Year in Review
It seems like the year just flew by. As I look back over the past twelve months, I am encouraged by some of the things that happened, and I am very glad that I don’t have to do some of them over. 2007 was a year of "firsts" for me and kept me very busy and extremely stressed out all year.
As many of my readers know, my boss (a practicing attorney for almost 30 years) took a leave of absence shortly after I began working for him. That left me in charge of a caseload of over 225 cases varying from drafting simple wills, trying contested divorce issues, contract disputes, and of course representing people before the Internal Revenue Service. Not to mention the other stresses of running a small business such as generating revenue, "selling" clients on using a young attorney when they were hoping to meet with an older, more experienced one, paying bills and making payroll each week, and managing my employees. I am extremely glad that the "trial by fire" is over, but it pushed me to new limits in my personal and professional career that would have taken me years to reach otherwise.
As a result, I feel that I have several years of experience and I am very comfortable managing my office and staff. Of course, it makes it easy when you have great people to work with. It also gives me confidence that I could go out and start a law practice of my own and be successful very soon rather than the usual rule of 2-3 years before a practice becomes profitable.
This August, my first son was born. He is an inspiration and a joy. I wish I was able to spend many more hours each day with him so I could watch him learn new things. As my professional life was extremely busy, his birth made me reevaluate my priorities and the importance I place on many other things in my life. While there is a long way to go, I hope that I will be a great dad and teach him how to prioritize his life.
I have really enjoyed writing this blog as well as the newspaper column that I write each week. I hope that my writing opportunities will expand in the new year as well as many other personal and professional opportunities.