Dana Street Roasting Company

Phew. I have to admit I've been feeling pretty unbalanced in the last week or so. I think it's partly because of a legislative project I am working on at clinic that has been on my mind a lot lately. It's an employment-related issue based on the experience of one of my clients, which has led to a bill in California. (I'm purposely being kind of vague for various reasons, icluding client confidentiality and a little bit because of the political stuff.) We were hoping my client would testify in favor of the bill, but she seems to have decided not to do it, partly because the very protection we are trying to create for people in her situation doesn't exist yet. I've kind of come to terms now with the fact that she won't participate, and I'm actually not really sure how much it will affect the process, but for a while it was really stressing me out. And of course, it also raises questions as to whether I was really putting her interests first, as well as whether that should always
be the only (or primary) goal as a "community lawyer."

I also spent one night this week up until dawn (literally saw the sun rise at the library) going through cases and articles to try to come up with a tighter standard for part of the bill because I was afraid it might be so overbroad in its present form that it could be derailed. The bill in any form would really be an uphill battle, and I am actually starting from the assumption that it will not pass. (I've also been advised by two more knowledgeable people that that is the likely outcome.) Still, it is good to have gotten this far, and I would hate to see it derailed when it could maybe have been tightened up instead. The other thing that is tricky is that since the bill has now been introduced (email me if you want the bill number), if it *doesn't* pass now, that could ostensibly indicate legislative intent in the record *not* to create this protection, which could theoretically be used by opposing lawyers in future cases throughout the whole state. How much that would really happen in practice (e.g., how many lawyers would even be aware of the existence of this bill or its defeat) isn't really clear. But it does add another incentive to tread very carefully. Anyway, the hearing on the bill is at the end of March (during spring break, unfortunately, but of course I will make sure I am there), so I guess we will see how it goes then. My clinic supervisor will be testifying, so I will have to help her prepare a lot for that.

So, obviously this has been on my mind a lot. In the meantime, I've been fighting off a cold, getting behind in other work, skipping a few classes, and just generally feeling more and more stressed out. But it is nice to type this as a little release, and I am doing so while sittting at Dana Street Roasting Company, another coffee shop in Mountain View (see my earlier post on Red Rock), and drinking a warm beverage. And not reading the casebook in front of me. Which may lead to more stress eventually, but actually it is nice just to reflect on what's been stressing me out. The other part is that the work is piling on just as I'm starting to feel kind of burned out. (I think this always happens in the middle of the semester.) The good news is that my business school classes are ending soon, which will definitely lighten my academic work load. But in the meantime I will need to go to San Francisco next Friday to help a client appeal the denial of his unemployment insurance benefits, and the same client is also facing a possible eviction, which could potentially go into litigation the following week. Not to mention I am still doing some work for LIIF on their legislative project to create a partnership with the state that would support community development finance, plus the regular stuff like a final project due next week and a couple extracurricular things I need to handle.

Wow. Jesus. No wonder I feel stressed sometimes. The one good thing is I do feel I'm prioritizing the right things pretty much, but juggling it all does feel like a challenge sometimes. Kinda makes me wanna escape to a hidden island someplace, or just go drink. In the meantime, Dana Street Roasting Company is a pretty chill coffee shop (with their own big roaster in the window that smells amazing when it is running), and at least it is not in Palo Alto. :)