The Definitive Recipe For A Career and A Mental Illness

About a month after I received my law license (6 months post-graduation from law school), the presiding judge of my county assigned me a pro bono criminal case. The client in the case was in jail. So like any young, diligent attorney, I made it my first priority to visit my client so that we could start building our case. 

Unfortunately, the guards at the jail had other ideas. 

When I arrived to visit my client, they denied my entry. One by one, I watched as the guards allowed the other attorneys in without a second glance. Meanwhile, they questioned me, searched me, and demanded I prove I was an attorney. They thought I was my client's girlfriend pretending to be a lawyer.

Despite the ludicrousness of that idea, I couldn't get past them. This continued for a couple of hours until I left, frustrated and rejected. I ended up before the assignmen…