“As far back as elementary school, I dreamed of going to law school and becoming a lawyer. As far as I knew, none of my school friends was even remotely interested in the law or becoming a lawyer. Years later, after gradu-ating from law school and while working as a young lawyer at a firm on the East Coast of Florida, my best friend since high school called me and, quite unexpectedly, said, “I am thinking of going to law school!” Fast-forward three and half years and my best friend’s law school graduation was scheduled for a Saturday afternoon on the West Coast of Florida. My husband (who is also a lawyer) and I were both working on the East Coast and had made plans, along with my mother, to attend graduation and the after-party at her home.

A few days before the graduation, the head of the firm at which I worked announced that he was planning a Saturday meeting that required the attendance of all attorneys. … Much of the meeting would revolve around pending cases on which I had never worked and which were not part of my caseload.

My heart fell into my feet. The meeting was scheduled on the day of my best friend’s law school graduation and I did not want to miss it.”