Anonymous Lawyer

I received an e-mail this week from a real go-getter. I'll reprint the e-mail below. I wish I could help him, but ever since an incident with the Labor Department a few years ago, we've been unable to secure work permits for anyone under 16 years of age. There was a whole problem with working conditions and language used around the office and the lack of a real system for making sure people don't impale themselves on sharp objects installed around the office for disciplinary purposes. We could have corrected some of the issues and made the building more child-friendly, but there's just something about a working guillotine in the corner of the big conference room that makes people pay just a little bit more attention when you're talking to them. And the invisible spikes coming up from the toilets are a lot of fun too.

You'll see why I wanted to post this once you read what's pasted below, but I do want to stress that I do think this kid's impulse is absolutely right. 14- and 15- year-olds should absolutely be looking for work experience at any big law firm that will hire them, and this kid is right to be proactive about paving his road toward indentured servitude at a young age. I really do feel bad that I have no ability to help him. I also want to stress that this is an actual e-mail.

Dear Jeremy
I am a 14 , 15 year old to be student.
I have always been interested in becoming a lawyer or barrister.
I am writhing to request work experience in your law firm during the easter holidays, i want to see if this is what i really want beacause i dont want to study something that im not too sure about.
after this experience i will be pretty sure about whether i want to study
law futher or not.
please contact me on this email address as soon as possible. i will be really happy if you could possibly get me work experinece
thank for your time
your sincerely,
[Name Withheld]

A couple more like this and maybe it'll be worth it to try and start that youth camp again. We secretly tried a few years ago, floated the idea internally and externally, but apparently calling it a "work camp" was a turnoff, and there was some negative reaction to the possibility of turning one of the attorney break rooms into a bunk where the campers could sleep.