O'Melveny & Myers

Over the last month or so, as I embarked on this little adventure, I've been told by so many people that my quest to beat down cancer and the attitude I've adopted for the beat down is inspiring. I've been told by friends and strangers alike that this very blog has been inspirational. The quick study that I am, I'm starting to believe that maybe I've been inspiring folks lately.

So what inspires me? 

Plenty of things. My wonderful family, my incredible friends, the love I feel for my city of L.A. and my sports teams (GO DUKE!) and art and music and my favorite actors (Meryl Streep, Laura Linney, Anthony Hopkins) and athletes (Kobe Bryant, Nolan Smith), and...the list goes on and on.

But one other thing that inspires me on a daily basis, and is one of the things I can't wait to get back to when this cancer is a distant memory: working at O'Melveny & Myers. Today was "O'Melveny Day," a celebration of our 125 year anniversary where current and former OMMers gathered together and bonded over our shared history and good memories. Of course, I was in attendance and had a great time.

Simply put, I love my firm. I've always wanted to be a lawyer (I'm pretty sure I made that decision when I was about 11 or 12), and O'Melveny is a place where passionate lawyers thrive. In my three years of practice, I've been presented with incredible learning opportunities and have loved every second of my job. Even when work is crazy and I'm balancing a bunch of things at once and giving up nights and weekends to work my butt off, I'm a happy camper because, most of the time, it doesn't ever feel like work. Working at O'Melveny is, for me, "living the dream."

It's not just the practice of law that I love, and it's certainly not the only reason I love O'Melveny. The people at my firm are some of the most wonderful people I've ever encountered. Brilliant, fun, giving, and good hearted. Ever since I spent three months as a summer associate at O'Melveny, way back in 2006, I've called the firm "the family," because that's what this group of talented, good people felt like to me. Yes, this is a large corporate law firm, representing huge clients, filled with hundreds of attorneys and staff, and I'm calling it "the family" with no sense of irony. It's an incredible thing, I realize, but you've gotta believe me.

I've been particularly blessed in my O'Melveny experience, I'm sure. I've been staffed on exciting cases on which I took on lots of responsibility and learned a ton. I've had interactions with wonderful clients and -- for the most part -- pretty pleasant opposing counsel. I met my partner in crime and best friend, Tim, at work -- just knowing that he'll be at the office each day makes work incredibly fun. And on top of that, I've got the greatest mentors ever: incredible, seasoned attorneys who have taught me how to be a great lawyer and a great person, and have cared for me and looked after my progress as if I was their own child. I am so proud of the fact that so many of my closest friends are also my colleagues. These people make O'Melveny a family. They make the office feel like my home. And they are the reason why I've spent more time at the office post-diagnosis than pretty much anyone in the history of the world diagnosed with Stage IV cancer (I spend quite a good chunk of time at the office, just FYI).  

If there is one thing that I miss more than anything since being diagnosed, it's going to work every day. And if there's one thing that motivates me to work hard to beat cancer's ass and heal as quickly as possible, it's getting back to O'Melveny. What can I say? It's an inspiring place.