DAY ONE PART TWO

An employee of the firm arrived at the lobby to eager smiling faces. She and the Staffing Professional huddled near the reception desk and then the Staffing Professional left. The firm employee introduced herself to us and told us that she was a paralegal. Then she explained the agenda for the day. First we would go to a conference room to sign some employment documents and for training. Then we would be taken to our work area to begin working on the case. I was insulted that the firm would send a paralegal to give any kind of instruction to attorneys and I hoped to understand later why they had done that.

The paralegal referred to the matter we would be working on as a project and informed us that the project was expected to last over a month. I was satisfied with that because it gave me a reasonable amount of time to get myself back on track professionally and figure out how to adjust my budget so that I wouldn’t lose my condo. It was a great place in the center of downtown overlooking a beautiful park. It was located at the end of the building and there were large windows that let in lots of sunshine, which I loved. The building was also surrounded by great restaurants, stores and entertainment venues. Although I had little time to spend at any of those places it was nice to know that they were there. Thinking about my condo made me think about my ex-fiancee and the way that things had ended between us. I wondered if she would ever speak to me again. Under the circumstances it is doubtful. I wish she could have seen my point of view. What I was doing with Katia was not interfering with our relationship and all of our plans. Why couldn’t she just let it be? I never found out who told her about my affair with Katia but I think it was my rival at the firm. She would have liked nothing more than to see anything in my life go terribly wrong. She probably thought losing my fiancée would send me in a tailspin and interfere with my ability to produce large amounts of quality work but the opposite was the case. I worked even harder and longer hours and became the darling of the firm. I could do no wrong. Of course, that’s what I thought before I learned that all associates are dispensable.

We followed the paralegal into a large conference room and we each took a seat. Of course I sat at the head of the table. Sizing up the rest of the bunch I could tell that they weren’t law firm material. They all looked like they were losers who had barely made it out of law school or rejects who couldn’t cut it at law firm. Not like me. I had made a choice. If I wanted I could still be an associate at my old firm. I could still be a rising star headed straight for partnership and that great corner office. I had a choice. For me, this was just temporary.

The paralegal made rounds around the huge conference table handing out confidentiality agreements, policies and procedures, internet use policies and a stack of other documents for us to read and sign. While she did that I continued to size up the competition. I smoothed my hair back and feigned tightening the knot on my tie. Then I lifted my jacket sleeve to expose my designer watch. All moves to put the competition on notice that I was the Alpha male in the room. I’m more confident than you, I look better than you and I’m smarter than you. Having clearly established my position of leadership I assessed everyone else. There were about an equal mix of males and females. About three quarters of them were black and the rest were white except one Hispanic. I quickly identified the only other person who appeared confident. He was a black guy around my height, good looking and also well dressed. I wasn’t surprised that he had taken the seat at the other end of the table. He seemed pretty unimpressed by the entire process while the rest of the group pretended to be engrossed in what the paralegal was saying. I knew that before the day was over I had to make it clear to that guy that I was in charge. There could only be one Alpha male, and besides, historically, it should be a white male.