The Green Line by E. C. Diskin Page A

music?”
    Sarah was obviously confused, but Abby turned her attention back to Nate. She was not up for a trip down memory lane and changed topics.
    “You can’t be a new associate then, right?”
    “No, actually, I’m here to present to all of you. I’m running a legal aid clinic these days and I’m on one of my recruiting missions to get all the fine big-firm associates to do some pro bono hours for me.”
    Sarah interjected. “Haven’t you heard? We don’t really do much pro bono around here. It was good recruiting talk, but we only get fifty hours of credit toward our billing minimum for pro bono. I did a pro bono matter a few years back and it required about two hundred hours of my time. I had to do the work, of course, but it meant that I didn’t hit my two-thousand hour target that year. Advisors weren’t too pleased. And now we’re expected to hit twenty-one hundred a year, so it’s hard for associates to get excited about doing pro bono.”
    “Well, not to worry, Sarah. It’s Sarah, right?”
    She nodded.
    “I’ve got a way to deal with that. These are major litigation pieces, not so much small matters that associates handle on their own. So I just need the help. Warm bodies. I can rotate people in and out once they’ve hit their fifty.”
    Abby and Sarah were nodding with some enthusiasm. This sounded promising.
    “And,” he added with some more excitement, as some of the younger associates listened in, “I’ve got it on good authority that if you’re getting exposure to some good skill-building, like depositions or trial prep, you can get more credit toward your minimum billables. And this is really interesting stuff. A little more scandalous and intriguing than some negligence case for a spill.”
    “Like what?” one of the young men nearby asked.
    “Like police brutality. Like immigration issues, sex discrimination.”
    “Nice,” the kid offered with a smile.
    Sarah chimed in. “Okay, so maybe we will be doing some work together.” She and Abby knew it wasn’t easy getting trial experience at the firm as an associate. They did all the prep and the partners swooped in and did all the fun stuff.
    “Anyway, that’s why I’m here.” He looked at Abby again. “Jeez, Abby, I just can’t believe I’ve run into you after all these years. How’re your parents doing these days?”
    “Oh, they’re great. Dad’s actually contemplating retirement and Mom’s still busy trying to save the world.”
    Nate smiled. “Your parents are awesome.”
    Sarah looked intrigued by all this new information. “So, you and Abby’s brother were tight? Does that mean you saw our little Abby as a pre-teen study bug?” she asked, laughing at her friend.
    Nate smiled Abby’s way. “Well, I certainly knew Abby back in the day, but I’d never call her a study bug. She was the cool one. Friends, parties, singing in a band.”
    “What? Abby, what happened?!”
    Abby just shook her head in embarrassment, hoping the This is Your Life would end.
    “Yeah,” Nate added with laughter. “Denny and I were the geeks. All about grades and college. We were ridiculously focused little goof balls.”
    “And where did you go?” Sarah asked.
    “Yale for undergrad. University of Chicago for law. Denny and I were going to room together at Yale, actually. In fact, I credit Abby’s brother for getting me in to Yale.”
    “Why?” both women asked.
    “Abby, you must know.” Nate turned to explain more to Sarah. “Denny was the one with all the big ambitions in high school. I didn’t know what to do with my life. He talked about law, and getting into an Ivy League, and actually kept us both pretty focused. I was lucky to have been his friend.”
    Abby was getting a headache. She downed her drink and looked around for a quick exit.
    “Nate, it’s so great to see you. But I’ve got to run to the ladies’ room before they round us up. Excuse me.” Nate didn’t have a chance to respond before she had walked