i'm at work. actually, i guess you could say that i am frantically busy right now. i worked through lunch so i haven't left this place all day. part of the problem is that i am covering for another attorney in the office. she has a brief due tomorrow, but is at an arbitration today. because i have been semi-involved with the case that must be briefed, i am writing the brief for her. unfortunately, it came at a time that i had a lot of my own work to do.
so i'm writing this brief, reading various deposition transcripts, and downloading cases hoping to finish up the brief so i can get to my other work. but its hard to work because its so freakin' loud here. the arbitration is being held in the conference room in our office down the hall. the arbitration hearing apparently never started, instead the parties are trying to settle the case. that means that instead of all gathering together in one conference room, they keep spreading out across our law office to huddle in small groups to talk about settlement negotiation strategy. the groups probably should be whispering to each other when they discuss such things, but instead they're really loud. unfortunately, there is an empty desk just outside my office, and it seems to be a favorite place for various factions to gather and argue about what they should do in their settlement discussions. meanwhile, i have read the same page of this deposition transcript 17 times and i still don't know what it says.
i'm starving, so at one point, i get up and wander over to the food they have ordered for the participants in the arbitration. as i'm loading up my plate with illicit sandwiches, i start chatting with these other two guys who are also loitering in the kitchen. i don't recognize them so they're not from our firm or with our union client, they're obviously people from the other side. i realize i have no idea who the other side even is, so i ask.
the other side is fox news. these guys are in-house counsel for fox. they're all around me now. and they're loud. and they're pissing me off.
