If you told me when I was in law school what my daily workday would like in 20 years I would have told you you were crazy. I always knew I would be my own boss, but who knew I would be well-versed in so many languages?
These days, almost everyone speaks Starbucks-ese (coffees don’t just come in small, medium or large anymore – they have fancy sizes like “grande” and elaborate beverage titles like “caramel cloud macchiato”). You have to be in the know in the “secret society.” No one ever wants to be THAT person (cue the eyeroll) on the Starbucks line ordering a medium coffee, light, with 2 sugars. It’s the same with other industries. Essentially, that is what per diem is – it’s an industry.
Not only do I have a working knowledge of Spanish and of Italian, both the verbal and non-verbal (everyone knows the way to silence an Italian is to immobilize their hands!), but I also know medical-legal terminology from my days of being an associate at a medical malpractice defense firm for years (how many people outside the medical field can really say they know that “A & O x3” means alert and oriented times three that a patient is awake and responsive, and oriented to person, place and time). Sometimes, a person is oriented only to himself or herself (I often feel this way when covering 20 cases on a given day!).
For the past 6 years I have been adding a 4th language to my arsenal, “Per diem-ese.” As with most languages, if you don’t use them you lose them. I have the benefit of being in the company of many others fluent in my language every day (in any given county one will see the “regulars” – per diem attorneys who appear daily to cover cases there) and engage in the written and spoken per diem-ese daily. It is also for this reason I actually go to Court to cover my clients’ cases – not just own the business but roll up my sleeves and work so I don’t get rusty. As the retro Hair Club For Men Commercial said, “I’m not only the President…I’m also a client.” Well – I’m not only the President, I’m also the employee.
Let’s take a test and see how many of these Per diem-ese abbreviations you can guess correctly (I thought about marketing flash cards or teaching a course for the future generation of per diems). Guess 15 or more correctly, and please send me your résumé! You may be hired!
FSNO – fully submitted no Opp
FS – fully submitted
DNAM – denied no appearance movant
ADJ – adjourned *
W/D – withdrawn
MONAM – marked off no appearance by movant
STIP – stipulation
SOS – so-ordered Stip
NO PAP – no papers
NFA – no further adjournments
JT – joint trial
CONSOL – consolidation
PC – Preliminary Conference
CC – Compliance Conference
IPC – in person Conference
DISC – discovery
DEC – decision
Fin (T) – Final for Trial
NAP (D) – no appearance defendant
Fin – Final, second time on
Fin (D) – case may be 325d’d
325 d – transfer to civil court
MSJ – motion for summary judgement
P – plaintiff
D – Defendant
3PD – third party Defendant
MTN – motion
NOI – Note of Issue
RJI – request for judicial intervention
1x on – first time on
2x on – second time on
APP – application or appearance
NO APP – no appearance
MVA – motor vehicle accident
NJ – non jury
NJT – non jury trial
MJFS – motion for a judgement of foreclosure and sale
MO NO PAP – marked off no papers
AOS – Affidavit of Service
CONF – Conference
EBT – examination before trial AKA deposition
AIS – Affirmation In Support
NOM – notice of motion
ANOM – amended notice of motion
