Fear of the unknown, it will get you every time

My biggest reason for not wanting to leave my beloved IP (Intellectual Property) department for the Advocacy department was, I will confess, a fear of the unknown. I went into the IP department at the beginning of my articles aware that I knew nothing, really, about the practice of law, but confident at least that I had a sufficient background in intellectual property law, such that no huge new concepts would be leaping out at me. And I was pretty much right. Obviously there are always little issues within any law to learn about, but I had the background down. So nothing was scary and new and foreign. After 7 months in that department, I knew where to look for information and sources. Searching took very little time, generally, unless there was so obscure issue that hadn't really been decided yet.

However, a move to the Advocacy department was a completely different concept. First of all, unlike the IP department which (obviously) deals with one area of law, IP, the Advocacy department deals with any other litigation which may occur in the context of a large firm. Any area of law can potentially involve litigation, pretty much, and having focused so entirely on IP in law school as well as in my first several months of articling, I had pretty much forgotten about any other area of law, if I had known anything about any other area of begin with. On top of that, I didn't even know how to search Ontario law, as all IP law (or at least the vast majority of law relevant to IP) is federal.

So far, in my first week of Advocacy, I have dealt with an employment issue, a criminal issue, a government suit issue, and a small claims court/accounting issue (I have to confess I particularly enjoyed that one, as it involved a lot of math!). None of these are necessarily areas in which I could see myself practicing for the rest of my life (although let's be honest, I'm not going to practice anything for the rest of my life - akademia here I come, once my loans are paid off!), but they are enjoyable. It's interesting to do something entirely new and foreign, and a nice (albeit scary) challenge. I'm definitely using my brain much more in this department, if only because I have to figure out entirely new areas of law (not because IP is less challenging than any other area!). I miss the IP department, I miss the people, and I miss being constantly surrounded by science and scientists every day. But I will go back to that (with any luck - anyone hiring?). In the meantime, I am woman enough to admit that I was wrong, that I am enjoying my 'Advocacy' time, and that even employment law can be interesting.

On another note, also in relation to fear, my cat is now so scared of Adam when he disciplines her (note: 'disciplining' her means clapping hands and saying 'no' very firmly when she does something bad, like hissing and swiping at him when he walks by her to go to the bathroom - it does not mean the use of force whatsoever), that she is apparently pooping on-the-spot when she does get in trouble. She's only done it once so far, but that is one time too many, especially since Adam was the one who had to clean it up since I was at work. Since I think I can be fairly certain that he's not secretly abusing her while I'm at work, that means she's getting more and more scared of him for no reason, and I am at my wit's end. Luckily yesterday she pooped in the small area of tile in the entrance hallway, and not on the carpet, but what am I going to do if she starts going on the carpet? It's not reasonable for Adam to not be able to discipline her, because if she does something like jumping up on the counter or playing with wires, which she is fully aware she's not allowed to do, and he doesn't discipline her, then she'll start to think she can get away those things. But apparently, if he does discpline her, she'll crap her pants - literally.

Am seriously considering making an appointment with the local Humane Society to give her up. I hate the idea of having her live in one of those little cages, essentially abandoning her. But if she's so scared of Adam that she's pooping in fear, can it really be any worse to have her away from him and hopefully, potentially in a home where she is not living in permanent fear?