After the Bar, I went back to work. Things went along as usual for a while until I made the mistake of mentioning something about the wait on the result to one of the court clerks. She then told me the precise dates the court was scheduled to get the results from the Bar. I could have lived very happily without that information. The three-day weekend before the result day, which was the Tuesday after Labor Day, was particularly harrowing. Finally, the day arrived.
So I waited. And waited. And a bit more waiting. I definitely did not want to bug the clerks (never, ever bug a court clerk, JA, or anyone else in a court—consider them extensions of the judge), but my boss went ahead and asked. Apparently, it wouldn’t be until late that the results arrived, and possibly they were delayed until the following day. Not the funnest.
By about 1:30 or 2:00, I figured that even if the results came in that day, they wouldn’t go out until the next day. You see, in our jurisdiction, the Supreme Court Clerk personally calls every person who passes to let them know. The rule is, if you don’t get a call that day, you’re getting The Letter. I wasn’t sure how long it would take to call everyone, but I was fairly certain that our clerk didn’t want to be calling at all hours of the evening.
So, having resigned myself to another night of not knowing, I went back to work. That is, until about 3:30 or so when the clerk poked her head into my office, put a Snickers bar on my desk, and said, “Congratulations.” I’d passed. I gave her a hug and shared my good news with everyone else in chambers and with the court. I was offered the rest of the afternoon off, and I took it.
There was a little flurry of phone calls that afternoon, what with everyone seeing if their friends passed and all. In my case, it was a little hindered because the people sitting in both Colorado and Wyoming had about another month to go before they learned whether they passed either.
But it was still a nice occasion. That evening found me relaxing on my front covered porch with a glass of wine and some brie and crackers. It was delightful.
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