–From McClurg, University of Florida College of Law, Date of event: circa 1980
Here’s one of my funny law school memories, which I hope stimulates you—the loyal website visitor—to send in your own stories.
Legal job interviews, I learned in my very first one, are not always the best time to audition your sense of humor. In my third year of law school at the University of Florida, I interviewed with a Tallahassee firm that had split off from a firm in Jacksonville where my older brother, Doug, was a partner. Unfortunately, the interview essentially ended before it started.
I entered the interview room and one of the two lawyers stood to greet me.
“Andrew McClurg? McClurg? Don’t tell us you’re related to Doug McClurg.”
“I am,” I said, happy to have this “in.” “He’s my brother,” I added proudly.
“Well, your brother must have told you all about our firm.”
“Yeah,” I said, “but I decided to come anyway.”
This was intended as a joke, but I knew I was doomed even before I finished the sentence. Dead silence. No smiles, and certainly no laughs. The interview proceeded perfunctorily and I received a perfunctory rejection letter–which I deserved–shortly thereafter.
Read McClurg’s Top 10 Dos and Don’ts for Using Humor in a Professional Setting in Andrew J. McClurg, The Risks of Being Funny, GPSolo, Apr. 2003, at 60 (magazine of the ABA’s General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section).
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