Superhero Status*

Watching the Incredibles, I learned that superheroes shouldn't have capes.  Capes are an occupational hazard that can lead to traumatic consequences.  However, now that I have reached superhero status in my own personal life, I have to admit, a cape seems like a necessary accoutrement.  If I were a superhero with an outfit appropriate to my station in life, I think I would still choose to have a cape.  Also, I would like thigh high boots, and lots of spandex.

As a matter of fact, after my day today, lady suits and high heels seem somehow anti-climactic.  Why, you ask?  Well, I had my first real hearing today.  Okay, so it lasted less than 30 minutes and I only spoke very briefly.  In fact, I did much more talking with the other lawyers in the hallway before the hearing than I did in the actual hearing which, as it turns out, has a lot to do with how law is practiced in real life.  Still, I stood up, in front of a judge, and asked for something.  And I got it.  The fact is, that as a result of my involvement in this particular case, at this very moment, a little girl is at home with her mother after 377 days in foster care.  There is still one more child who has not yet been returned to her mother but, because of my speech to the judge this morning, she will have more contact with her mother than she has been allowed to have before.  I have to say, I feel like a major success.

I did have a new outfit.  I have to admit, I looked pretty awesome.  Thanks to TJ (Maxx, that is), I had a brand new lady suit.  Still, I feel the more appropriate way to dress a world-changing dynamo like myself is in figure-flattering spandex and thigh highs.  And whether or not a cape is an occupational hazard for people who are swinging from buildings and saving people from crimes, I think that, in my particular circumstance, it is appropriate.  I just go from courtroom to courtroom, reuniting families and generally changing this sad, sad world for the better.  Today, when I stood up and asked the judge to return a child home to her mother and to ensure the well-being and eventual return of the second child, I changed the world.  Because of me, because of all the hard work I did and the fourteen hour days I put in to prepare for this, a family is much more whole than it has been for more than a year.  And hopefully they will have the tools to deal with each other better than ever, and they will thrive.  I have to say, I feel like I definitely had a role in making things better for all of the people involved.  And I need a costume that reflects my new-found role in the world.  Maybe if the costume had a little glitter, too.  I like glitter.

*Disclaimer: Although I am telling this story from my own perspective and this narrative centers around my role in these proceedings, I do not wish to cause offense to any of the other people who were involved in making this hearing successful.  I have a clinic partner and a supervising attorney, all of whom worked very hard in this hearing and made the end result possible.  As I have mentioned before, blogs (as well as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter and any other internet networking source) are inherently vain, self-absorbed things and I do not mean to infer that I was the only person working on this case although, admittedly, I do spend the majority of my time focusing on myself.  Just to be clear.