It Didn't Work Out So Well for Caesar

Last week, I had probably the third worst week that I have ever had in law school.  The first worst week was just a few weeks ago, when I was feverishly working on a case for a terminally ill client.  (Though, of course, I should also say that attorney-client privilege absolutely applies to bogs written by disillusioned law students and that I will adhere completely to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct in my posts.  I have been known to have a little bit of a big mouth, and I promise that I will keep my client's confidences here.)  The second worst was my first week of classes, where several terrifying professors shamelessly put the fear of God in me. 
After these ridiculously terrible weeks, my last week seems relatively tame, but, I have to admit, it leaves me contemplating armed rebellion, though of course I recognize the dangers latent in such a course of action.  In my two years and seven weeks in law school, I have had several very good, and a few very, very bad professors.  Only once, second semester of my second year, did I ever think about complaining to administration about the quality of education I was receiving because of a professor, who although undoubtedly a previously brilliant man, was a stroke victim who spent every single one of our class periods reading in a droll, slurring monotone.  I didn't say anything. 
But now...  Now I have an even worse situation on my hands than the rambling, miserable classes and a final exam so ridden with typos that it was practically indiscernible.  Now, I have Professor Umbridge, who I have renamed both for her own protection and, more importantly, for mine.
Last week, I was revising a letter I had written several weeks ago closing a client's case.  I had a lot of problems with it, because for one thing, both of my supervising attorneys had, at one point, "sent" me the revisions, without actually attaching any documents.  When I told them about this, it took them BOTH several days to re-send the revisions.  Without revisions, of course, there wasn't much I could do, so I waited.  But then, I got the following email (minus, of course, changes that I made to take out information that is sensitive to my client's confidential case):

I suggest you add more information, including the statutory cite, to the new paragraph on guardianship.  Also, I don't understand what the last sentence in the paragraph means re: a suitable plan etc.  I suggest you explain what that means.  These are minor changes -- can you please make the following revisions today so it can go out today? 

So, I did.  But to attach the actual draft of the letter is not very important here, because, for one thing, it would violate confidentiality.  The real problem you can see, even without knowing anything about what my letter says.  I made the changes, and sent a new draft.  I got the following email back in response:

Actually, the letter doesn't address my two comments.  First, it needs to specify that __ can petition for guardianship -- I think if I recall correctly that I asked for that specific language  vs. "can be appointed" because "can be appointed" implies that it is automatic and it is not.  Second, I asked that you summarize the statute and you didn't include a summary.  Please look at that statute and summarize how it works.  That would mean at a minimum that you would include what the act is for.  It means you also have to show why ___ could bring this proceeding as an "interested person" -- which is a defined term.  Also, you need to include the overall test that the court uses -- which is "best interests".  So all in all, you will need another paragraph to accomplish this.

 

This is taking a very long time.  Can you please work with ___ today to iron this out?  Think about the information you would want to know as the client.  Also, you should point out that appointment is not guaranteed -- especially if.....as guardian fo the child. 

Notwithstanding the typo at the end there, which does not relate substantively to the letter and that I preserved just for funsies, I found this letter very frustrating because the two concerns that were indicated by my professor in the first letter were NOT the concerns that she addressed in her second email.  So, although I was informed that I did not address either of her two concerns, the email DOES show that the concerns she wanted addressed changed from one email to the next.  Am I supposed to be a mind reader?  There was also a dig at me for taking so long to revise the letter which, I admit, it has taken a lot longer than it should have, but, at the same time, there were times in which the revisions were out of my control. 

I have to admit, I cried after I got the second email.  And I probably let it affect me more than it should have.  And ordinarily, I could withstand a negative review or two, but this is just another example in a series of things that have really, really upset me this semester.  It's so frustrating to feel like I'm putting so much time and energy into research and drafting only to hear that I am doing everything completely wrong.  I'm worried about the impact that negative episodes like this one will have on my grade.  I'm a grade grubber, I know, but this is one of my first experiences working with real clients and I desperately want it to go well.  It's an important line in my resume, and an important grade in my transcript.  Plus, at this point, I just need to prove to myself that I can do this at all. 

I understand that my professors know a lot more about the practice of law than I do.  Of course they do.  I've never been alone on a case in a courtroom, and I have never been solely responsible (read: liable) for a person's case.  But still, I didn't make it through two years and seven weeks of law school by being a complete and total idiot.  I have the ability to read and make some choices and I don't appreciate being told to do one thing and then yelled at for not doing something completely different.  It makes me wonder if I should try to talk to someone about what's going on.  I'm also worried that saying something will hurt my grade, or else I would have done it already.  Besides, rebellion generally doesn't work out so well for many of the parties involved.

So.  The question is...to rebel, or not to rebel?