May It Please the Court

27 days from now I'll be opening oral arguments before the Colorado Supreme Court with that little saying.  Gulp.  Unless my client settles.  Which seems unlikely.  I'm 70% excited, 30% freaked out and 100% frightened.  I'm lucky.  Many attorneys don't get an opportunity to do this.  I love oral arguments, so that's why I'm excited.  I'm 30% freaked out because that will help me keep my edge - and who wouldn't be freaked out?  This isn't oral argument before law school professors.  The 100% frightened - if I can't pursade the justices, my client may lose a whole lot of water.  And this isn't law school, this is a living breathing for-real client - a ranching family who I really have come to like so well.  A negative outcome could hurt them for generations to come.

I was thinking last night about writing the traditional end of the year goal update post and new goals for the future.  And I wasn't feeling all that inspired.  When I read the order from the Court scheduling oral arguments, it struck me.  This year has been less about running and a whole bunch more about work.  I just ended my fourth year of practice as a water attorney and my responsibilities grew very much this past year.  I got to write a brief before the United States Supreme Court.  And now oral arguments before the Colorado Supreme Court a few weeks away.  I was ready to write off 2011 as an uninspired year.  Not anymore.

No worries, I'll chat about my running goals for 2012 in the next few days.  I think I remember how to run...

Laura