I used to have it all, at only twenty eight I was a great lawyer and was on my way to make partner. I worked my butt off to become one of the top lawyers at the firm and to be given the best cases. I now work at McDonald’s and I go to rehab or AA on a daily basis. It all started last June, it was my fourth year working at The Law Office of Pearson Specter, and I was really hoping to make partner by the end of the month. I acted professionally and put my best effort towards all my cases, so sure I thought I could definitely make partner. It was a great time for me to make partner because I was about to move in with my boyfriend and wanted to help pay the bills. It was June 19, 2016 and my best friend Katie was having a party with all of our old friends that night. The morning started like any other normal morning, I got up, got dressed, grabbed my briefcase, ran out the door and caught a cab. I did my hair and makeup in the cab, and then got dropped off at Starbucks to grab a quick coffee. I then walked three blocks to The Law Office of Pearson Specter. I made it just in time! My intern Jess texted me and told me there was a new, secret case that my boss wanted me to take on. I wonder what the case is, maybe the Matt Greene case?, I thought to myself. The Matt Greene case was the biggest thing happening in the news at the time. Matt was a widow, accused of killing his wife, Sarah because she was cheating. Personally, I believed that Matt was innocent, and that Sarah’s secret lover was married, and the wife killed her. Of course, I was right about what case it was.

“Jennifer I’m so happy to see you,” said Laurie, my boss. “We have been given an amazing new case” “The Matt Greene case?,” I asked.

“Yes, how did you know?...well anyway, I want my best lawyer on it, and that would be you,” said Laurie.
I happily took the case, and since I was so excited I had to tweet the news on my twitter account. That is where all my work problems began, I kept tweeting information about my case, which is against the rules and eventually cost me my job.

Jess and I met with Matt Greene about the prep for his court date, which was the next day. We talked for about three hours, and when we were done, I went home to get ready for Katie’s party. I put on my little black dress and my red pumps and then my friend Michelle picked me up, and when we got there the party was crazy.

“Oh my god, I didn’t think it would be a banger” said Michelle

“Yeah this is really crazy, what is wrong with Katie?,” I said.

But we decided to go anyway, which was a big mistake. We walked in and immediately smelled marijuana and after that all I could remember was that last shot of fireball.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of my alarm going off for the seventh time and had no recollection of what happened the night before. I immediately went on my phone to see if I had any pictures or videos from the night before, and I had plenty. I had posted several videos on Twitter of me taking shots, and snorting cocaine. Oh my god my coworkers and boss follow me what am I going to do? Maybe they didn’t even see the pictures and won’t know if I delete them now, I thought to myself. I then realized that I had the court case that day, and I needed to hurry up because I couldn’t be late. I got out of bed and had a pounding headache. I went to the bathroom to start getting ready, and after five steps I threw up everywhere! I eventually did make it to the bathroom to clean myself up, and I looked in the mirror and noticed how pale and dehydrated my skin looked. I had no idea how I was going to make it through court, but I knew I had to try. I ran outside and it took me twenty minutes to get a cab. I arrived at court late, but luckily Jess had taken the lead and began the case for me, I looked around and saw Laurie, she looked so pissed. Damn, I completely messed up and ruined my chances of making partner, I thought. I presented my case and followed my routine, which was extremely hard considering how hungover I was. Halfway through the case, I felt the need to throw up again and suddenly the vomit came up into my mouth. I tried so hard to hold it down, but I threw up all over the floor anyway.

“Are you ok Ms. Friedland?” asked the judge

“Yes, I just ate some bad eggs this morning,” I said.

Other than the vomit and lateness I thought I killed it. I was wrong, the prosecutor, Will, who I hated by the way, presented his case and ended up winning, it was the first case I had ever lost. Matt Greene ended up serving a lifetime sentence in prison for the wrongful murder of his wife all because I went out and partied the night before. To make my day even worse the judge called me over as he was standing with a member of the board, and Laurie. I approached them and saw printed pictures of me partying from the night before. How do they have them? I haven’t even seen these pictures yet, I thought to myself. There were pictures of me snorting cocaine and taking shots of whiskey, rum, tequila, you name it, I drank it. Oh god, I am going to lose my job, I thought, but I was wrong.

“What were you thinking, you can’t post or do illegal things like that” “If you think I am letting you keep this job, you’re crazy because you’re fired!,” said Laurie.

The board member Kevin, convinced her otherwise.

“Laurie, I think you’re being too harsh. It is Jennifer’s first offense in her four years of working at the firm. We’ll let her keep her job, but only if she agrees to go to AA meetings every night, get a drug detox, and get drug tested weekly.” said Kevin.

“I am so sorry about everything, I promise it will never happen again. And thank you so much for letting me keep my job.” I said.

I met with Jess and Matt, we briefly talked about our next course of action, and decided that we will talk more the next day. We finished early so I decided to go home and do some work. I tweeted updates about the case, such as; how we lost and how we would fight the system. Then, suddenly, it all hit me, everything that had happened. I was the reason we lost the case, I did cocaine and my boss found out! I was so angry and upset that I grabbed a bottle of vodka and finished the whole thing within an hour. After that, it was all a blur and I passed out for the night.

The next morning I was hungover again and I prayed that no one at my job would notice. I went to the jail to meet with Matt and Jess, and when I showed up Jess wasn’t there. Hmm that’s weird, Jess is never late, I thought. I walked over to the holding cells to talk to Matt, and the officer wouldn’t let me in.

“I think you’re confused, I’m Matt’s lawyer,” I said.

“No you’re not, Ms. Friedland. Matt has a new lawyer as of this morning” said the officer.

I went to the firm to talk to Laurie about the mix up, and as I walked in Laurie said, “Can you explain this to me?”. I looked down and saw a bunch of tweets from my twitter account from the night before, they were all about Matt Greene.

“Why would you tweet information about a client’s case?” said Laurie.

I had posted every single detail of that case and had no memory because of how drunk I was. After, I realized that I must’ve hit paste into the tweets, since I had information about the case already copied from when I texted Jess.  Damn, how stupid is that?, I thought.

“I am so sorry Laurie, I truly am. I was going through a rough night and I guess I had too much to drink”  I said.
“Alcohol is not an excuse Jennifer, you have a serious problem and I thought you agreed to go to AA meetings, so then why did you drink last night?” “This is your second offense in two days and it is not a tiny mistake, it a huge mistake. You’re fired,” said Laurie.

After that I found out Matt Greene was suing me for all the information I drunkenly tweeted about him and his case. I had no job, money, or a place to live, since my boyfriend broke up with me after he found out I had been fired. I ended up living in my car and working at McDonald’s. Ever since I always had the thought in the back of my mind that if I really tried I could be a bigshot lawyer again. I was never able to get a job at another law firm, or work as a lawyer ever again.