Esquire!

Long time no update!  D and I traveled to Morocco in December with some friends from SwitzerFrancerLand, Baltimore, and Belgium.  It was great fun and I can’t wait to share it.  We went to NY for Christmas where we battled the Great Compost Fire of 2010 and survived the Crazy Blizzard of 2010.  I will share the Great Compost Fire story soon.  D and I were supposed to travel to Las Vegas to spend New Year’s Eve with my family.  However, the Crazy Blizzard was on Sunday 26 December, and we were going to fly out on 30 December but everything was still not back to normal and we finally flew here on 3 January.  

Yesterday, I was finally sworn in as an attorney!   It’s been a long road and I am so appreciative of my family and friends.  I couldn’t have done it without you all!  Thank you for all the support and love for the last three years.  

I was supposed to be sworn in on 4 November 2010 at the 1^st District ceremony with most of my friends who stayed in the Chicago area after law school.  The Illinois Supreme Court even sent the tickets to our house…in SwitzerFrancerland.  So, obviously I couldn’t go.  I figured I would just get sworn in at the Embassy.  Organizing that was a huge pain, and in the end they told me I could get sworn in at the Embassy but that no one could come in with me, I couldn’t bring a camera or cell phone, and I could only come in the walk in hours and if they had higher priority issues, I would have to come back the next day.  The Swiss Embassy is 3.5 hours away from Geneva.  I knew I was going to be in Las Vegas, so I figured I could get sworn in here.  

Scheduling that was a bit of a pain as well, the IL Supreme Court granted me permission to get sworn in at another district.  I found a list of State Court judges and called them to schedule a time to get sworn in.  I finally found a judge who agreed to swear me in, and told the wonderful woman, Jan, who I have been working with at the IL Supreme Court.  She told me I would have to pay for the overnight shipping, which was fine.  I get a call back a few hours later and Jan says that she has no record of me taking the Bar in IL.  I have a minor meltdown and realize it’s because I used my maiden name with my married name.  OK minor glitch that’s fine.  A few hours later I get another call back and Jan says that they can’t find the judge in their records – because the judge I was working with is not a federal judge.  Jan tells me I have to get a FEDERAL judge to swear me in.  OK major glitch – where am I going to find a FEDERAL judge to swear me in within the next 3 days?!  So, I Google the Federal District Court of Nevada find the judge list…and start cold calling Federal Judges.  Luckily for me, the first judge I called agreed to administer my oath.  I confused his assistant quite a bit, as they don’t normally get calls like this…

Me:  Hi, I’m looking for a Judge to administer my attorney oath.  I passed the Bar in IL but missed my swearing in ceremony in November.  I need a federal judge to administer my oath, and the IL Supreme Court Clerk will send everything necessary to Las Vegas for the oath.  Does Judge Foley have any free time to administer my oath?

Assistant:  I’m sorry, what?  I wasn’t really expecting a call like this, so could you explain it again?

Me:  explains again

Assistant:  OK let me talk to the Judge….[she comes back on the phone]  Hi, I’m sorry I’m still a bit confused, you are an Illinois attorney but you are getting sworn in here?

Me:  Yes

Assistant:  How?

Me:  Well, they gave me special permission to get sworn in here because I missed my ceremony, and I’m here visiting my family.

Assistant:  And why don’t you get sworn in in Illinois?

Me:  Because I live in Switzerland.

Assistant:  ….OK, um hold on.  [she tells the judge, I hear them laugh]  Well, we are very excited to meet you. 

Me:  THANK YOU SO MUCH!  Also, my family would like to come is that OK?

Assistant: Sure no problem. 

So the Honorable Judge George Foley, Jr.  agrees to administer my attorney oath.  Awesome.  Yesterday, we leave the house very early just in case.  We have to take 2 cars because there are 7 people coming to the courthouse.  We pop the address into the GPS and drive to 333 Las Vegas Blvd. – yes I was sworn in on Las Vegas Blvd.  We drive to the where the GPS says it is, and see the buildings for the City of Las Vegas.  We park, and try and find the Courthouse.  We can’t find it and finally talk to someone who tells us its not here, and a few miles down the road.  We run back to our cars and drive like madmen down the street.  Dave and I are in the car with Justine and her boyfriend Jayce, who is making evasive maneuvers because the GPS told us the wrong way to go again. We finally see the courthouse and Dave and I jump out of the car and run in.  The cars have to park, and FINALLY with maybe 2 minutes to spare, we make it to Judge Foley’s courtroom.  It’s locked so we get buzzed into his chambers. 

We meet Judge Foley and his assistant and they tell us that their courtroom is occupied because there is a trial going on but another Judge has allowed us to use her courtroom.  THe Federal Judges in Las Vegas are awesome.  We walk in the back way and my family is excited that we get to go into a Federal District Courtroom.  Everyone gets into the courtroom and then starts taking pictures.  Justine says “Wow I’ve only been in a courtroom when I’ve been in trouble!” (She means traffic court).   Judge Foley administers my oath, I say I will uphold the Constitution of the State of Illinois and the United States Constitution and then I’m a real lawyer!!!

 

I take pictures with the Judge and thank him for accommodating me.  D shakes his hand and says thank you, my dad introduces himself and shakes his hand and says thank you…and then introduces him to my mom, my sister, my sister’s boyfriend, and my uncle.  Hahaha!  I told my good friend Stacy about this and she says that this judge will be talking about this for the next few months because they don’t normally do these things, and that I probably should have warned him that I am Filipino and that a LOT of my family was coming. 

Mom, Dad, and Uncle Marcial had to go back to work, so Justine, Jayce, Dave, and I went out for a celebratory lunch.  Since I was sworn in on Las Vegas Blvd, we thought let’s just make it super Las Vegas-y and eat on the Strip.  We decided to eat at La Cave in the Wynn.  It is a great wine and tapas bar, and the service was incredible.*  Our server, Rafael was probably the best server I've ever experienced.  The food was so fresh and they had a fantastic wine list.  We celebrated with champagne, Justine found a new favorite wine (Kerner), and I highly recommend this restaurant if you are in Las Vegas! 

After a fun and delicious 2 hour lunch we went to Max Brenner in Caesar’s Palace.  It is a chocolate place and everything was so rich and decadent.  We had hot chocolates and hazelnut milk chocolate milk shakes.  We also had peanut butter, chocolate, and marshmallow pizza.  We also had a ‘sharing’ which consisted of chocolate fondue, chocolate bark, chocolate brownies, chocolate egg rolls, chocolate crispies, chocolate waffles, and even more stuff I can’t remember.  Then we rolled home. 

Last night we had some family and friends over to celebrate – I am very lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive family!

* Another difference between SwitzerFrancerland:  customer service is practically non-existent unless you are at an amazing restaurant, and it extends to more than restaurants: schools, banks, etc.