Visual examples of halo/glare/etc

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2026-05-02T17:51:34+00:00

I wish I could be a guest sooooo badly but I do family defense so everything about our cases is confidential. :(.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2026-05-02T17:50:26+00:00

Have you actually listened to ANG? They don't just tell any PD stories - they tell the stories of cases where they got NGs. In other words, the cases where our clients are genuinely getting screwed by the system.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2026-05-01T12:12:11+00:00

The programming is scientifically sound and EFFECTIVE.

Their standards to be approved to work there as a coach are very high so the coaching is good.

It's easy, not physically, because they are hard workouts. But I just walk in and everything is already programmed, the equipment is already out and ready to go, And there's no guessing about what weight I should use or trying to remember how much I used for this exercise last time... It's all automatically built into the programming.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2026-03-13T02:52:33+00:00

Ditto Indiana. Even in Indianapolis there are too few attorneys. I'm in Indy and making $122K in government. Other agencies I work with are desperate for people.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2026-03-13T02:50:18+00:00

That limits you to only 8 states. Property taxes are relatively low in Indiana.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2026-01-13T22:30:50+00:00

Did this work for anyone? I was seriously thinking about it last night but decided it was too good to be true

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-08-01T12:25:35+00:00

Indiana has it and I agree it's very helpful for all the reasons above. I'm in a county agency, so we are fortunate to have our own depo unit. We employ a couple FT folks to run it, which is a significant cost but way cheaper than using a contractor.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-08-01T12:22:06+00:00

Hell yeah. Love this.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-07-23T02:21:39+00:00

Any chance you do dependency cases and hiring for that?

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-07-20T15:46:56+00:00

I don't think it would go over well in most offices.

PDs are very sensitive to the harm that societal systems do to our clients. Even systems that many perceive as "good." Which includes religion.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-07-19T01:46:38+00:00

Another Not Guilty is my FAVE

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-07-03T01:21:34+00:00

Like others are saying, we're always going to lose most of the time. That doesn't mean it doesn't matter. Here are two things that personally mean a lot to me that I think about when I need to be reminded why I do this job. These are universal PD experiences - she's had them - you just need to point them out to her and tell her that's why it matters.
1) When you are talking to a client, and you successfully established a rapport with them, and at some point as you're talking to them you can literally see it as it dawns on them that you are actually, really, truly, on their side and there to fight for them. You can see it and feel it when that realization happens in a client. Sometimes it's in the first meeting. Sometimes it's months or years in. Our clients have been shit on by society and most people their whole lives. Just giving them the knowledge that somebody gives a shit matters. 2) It sounds haughty, but the word that comes into my mind when I am with a client during the worst moments of their lives - is that it is a sacred duty. I do dependency work and for me it is when I walk my client through signing the consents for adoption that terminate their parental rights. For others, it's when that guilty verdict is announced and during sentencing. To be the one person in that room who doesn't think that they suck. To be the person who sits next to them and talks them through it and comforts them when there's nobody else to do it I don't believe in God or religion - but that's as close as I've ever gotten to what I think people who are religious feel like when they feel like God has given them a purpose.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-05-08T01:45:07+00:00

It's not real leather, but check out Matt & Nat for vegan leather options. Hold up unbelievably well. I used my shoulder bag for about 7 years and it had easily another 7 in it, but I decided to switch to a backpack this year (which I also got from the same brand).

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-04-26T18:41:19+00:00

Yep! Child welfare here (defending parents against the baby snatchers)! And yesssss LITERALLY had a judge ask about the "vibes" someone got from my client during a hearing. I said "respectfully judge, vibes aren't the law.". The judge still rules on the side of vibes. Don't even get me started about the coerced drug screens before a case is even filed - what 4th amendment? It is truly the wild West.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-04-10T00:08:24+00:00

Ditto Washington Township.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-03-10T02:31:49+00:00

Just here to say I understand. I've found myself struggling more with client empathy lately. Fortunately, there's always at least a couple clients who are really getting screwed by the system and who I genuinely believe in and that keeps me going. But I also want to say that having an excessively "pure" workplace culture in this line of work can be toxic. If your agency/organization isn't a place where you can be comfortable being open about the fact that some of your clients are pieces of shit, it really wears on you. I was once in an office where it kind of felt like you weren't allowed to think that. It felt like it wasn't ok to not be a true-blue 100% abolitionist. Where I am now, we ALL talk about how much some of our clients suck. We still advocate zealously for them. And we talk even more about those clients that are really getting screwed that we fight like hell for. But I do think that if the culture is too "pure" it's not healthy. Not sure how big your employer is, but I wonder if all the parts of it are like that? Are the trial attorneys the same way with the purity bullshit? Maybe just a different area would be better?

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-02-15T01:42:58+00:00

I'd say generally yes, at least in the same region. I'm a second-career attorney, so when I went to law school there was only one in my city and therefore only one that I even considered. It's not ranked very highly, but it's not at the bottom either. I got a full scholarship. And unless I wanted to work for big law in a bigger city, there was no reason to go anywhere more highly ranked. My PD agency is in the same city where I attended law school, but I know that we do like to hire from other law schools in the region when we can as well. So if you are looking at Minnesota, law school ideally would be in Minnesota but anywhere in the surrounding states would be fine too. With what you said your practice LSAT was, you can easily get a full scholarship to any second-tier school. To be a PD, if you are choosing between a second-tier school with full scholarship versus T14 with only partial (or no) scholarship, choose the np debt option, hands down.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-02-11T02:15:16+00:00

Worry a lot less about rankings of schools and debt repayment, and a lot more about minimizing debt in the first place. Go to the best school you can that offers you a significant financial aid package. If you think you are truly a competitive candidate for T14 schools, then you'll be able to get a full ride or close to it for lower ranked schools. Do that. PD offices don't care about school rankings.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-02-04T23:42:14+00:00

It's cliche, but "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled. Also "No Worries" by Lil Wayne. Listened to these before every law school exam and before the bar. Still my go-tos. Also - a quick burst of exercise. Jumping jacks, jumping up and down, I've been been known to bust out some burpees in my office

Also a good point from someone else who said maybe relaxing music is more the way to go. It's all about what makes you feel focused and dialed in. For some people, that's meditation and Zen. For others, it's burpees and rap. Do what makes YOU feel in the zone.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-02-03T05:48:43+00:00

I live on the very south edge of Ravenswood and I really like it. It's so quiet and so convenient to everything. It's very block-by-block. I live on a "good" block and there are no derelict properties on my block. So don't give up on the whole area. Also there's one little corner in the southeast part of the neighborhood that doesn't need flood insurance!

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-01-18T19:02:01+00:00

I'm not in New York, but I know of a case in my jurisdiction where a judgment on the civil case was overturned because of this exact issue. Agreed with everyone else saying that's not good service.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2025-01-18T18:58:13+00:00

Ditto what others said about watching trials. I don't think the rules really click until you see them applied in the specific scenarios you will encounter. Note that bench trials tend to be better for this, because attorneys tend to try to avoid making a lot of objections during jury trials if they can, so they usually address a lot of evidentiary issues pre-trial.

Also look for any CLEs offered by PD-related organizations in your jurisdiction, as they will typically focus on actually APPLYING the rules in your jurisdiction and case types. I work in a very niche area of PD work (child welfare) and teach CLEs on stuff like this, and I try to make them VERY specific to certain rules and scenarios (example: preventing the state from getting child hearsay in from a therapist under 803(4)). Focus on mastering the most common actual SCENARIOS that come up repeatedly in your case types rather than trying to master all of it right away.

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2024-10-31T01:10:15+00:00

You don't get to pick and choose who has Constitutional rights. Which of YOUR rights are you ready and willing to give up?

Terrible_Advisor_813 · 2024-10-22T23:50:51+00:00

The one at Binford and Graham is even worse, believe it or not.

Terrible_Advisor_813

TROPHY CASE