Still here... sort of: Laments of Curmudgeon, Esq., solo practitioner

Crisis management is in full bloom here at the Undisclosed Location.

I had an appellate brief due a couple of Mondays back -- but no client. (Long story -- which can not told because it would necessarily involve identifying client details.)

But I navigated those tricky procedural shoals safely, just in time to plunge into another appellate brief, on double-secret final extension, that in fact got filed, as required. Sadly, that is a contingent fee matter. If I ever see a payday on that one it will be at least a year -- and maybe three or four years -- down the road.

But the job was done, and I'd done it as well as I know how -- just in time to tackle an unexpected (freebie) project that took my every joule of energy during the first part of this week. Meanwhile I'd solemnly promised to assist a colleague in responding to a summary judgment motion. The response is now due next Tuesday -- and, as I read through everything yesterday and started my research, I realized this, too, is going to be a major uphill struggle. I already knew that this is a also contingent fee matter. If we can survive this motion, we have a good chance of getting a decent settlement. If.

But these blocks of not-immediately-if-ever-billable time are inevitable in my practice. While the checking account is seriously depleted at present, I took comfort in the knowledge that I had a good payday coming -- soon -- from another appellate matter that I'd handled on an hourly basis earlier this year. The attorney who brought me in on the brief assured me that the client is a 'good pay' -- it just usually takes 60 days or so.

Monday was Day 60.

Tuesday I got an email from my colleague: Could I resend my last bill? It seems she never quite got around to billing her end of the project.... *Sigh.*

So... if posting remains sporadic here... and this is likely... it is only because I have gone into grim-struggle-for-survival mode.

Again.