i heart photocopying

One of the reasons I find my current job so intimidating is because what I do matters. Not that my actions or attitudes don’t matter in my everyday life, but for the most part the everyday stuff doesn’t matter logistically in the “you file something in the wrong place, it’s not found, and everyone gets sued for lots and lots of money” type of way. One such activity I was introduced to yesterday is calling clients, mostly to bug them to attend meetings and medical assessments set up by their insurance companies. I know you all care so much about these details. Surprisingly, I found this whole “interacting with the clients” thing really saddening.

Background: When I have nothing to do, I read files. Straight through. The clients I’m assigned to, I know everything about them, from their addresses to exactly what time of day the injury occurred, to what the settlement offers are at the preliminary mediation sessions. (I know, more details, sorry.) Truthfully, after a few weeks I became a bit bitter and cynical towards the idea that all of these people are wasting years and thousands of dollars chasing after those whom they hold responsible for their injuries.

But when I actually spoke to the clients, just hearing real-people voices made their predicaments all of a sudden seem real to me. Some of these people are hurting, physically and emotionally. Many of them truly deserve compensation for all the things they won’t be able to do because of someone else’s negligence. The dates and times and housekeeping expenses and physiotherapy sessions and assessments all really do matter.

At the beginning of my time at the firm I was a bit disappointed with myself, because I felt I was doing something for the summer that wouldn’t “make a difference in the world” by helping people or leading to some improvement, somewhere, even a small one. Now I feel that I am—being part of the process, even the paperwork part, really is helping people.