Sworn in

So, yes, yesterday I was sworn in by Circuit Court Judge Joyce Draganchuk, and she issued an order that I be admitted to practice as a Michigan attorney. My sponsor (who made the motion to have me admitted) was a local attorney I know named Brian Laxton. Judge Draganchak had me recite the entire oath, certainly the longest oath I have ever taken. Technically, in my case it was actually an affirmation, because for religious reasons I make an affirmation whenever asked to make an oath.

I then rushed across the street to the State Bar to complete some more paperwork. They should be mailing me my "P-number", until I get this I can't practice as a lawyer in Michigan.

Until then, I am working on a business plan for my law practice. This is a document that I will take around to banks when I apply for a loan. Among other things, it involves finding the prices for all the things I still need to buy for my practice.

And in my ongoing adventures with Fifth Third Bank, (and I swear, I mean affirm, that when I started this blog I had no intention of focusing so much on Fifth Third Bank) earlier this week a banker from Fifth Third phoned me to try to convince me to use Fifth Third's credit card processing services instead of Midwest Transaction Group, who have partnered with the State Bar of Michigan to provide credit card processing at very reasonable rates. Fifth Third tried to convince me that the only way Midwest Transaction Group could be offering such reasonable rates is if they were some kind of scam. I explained that it was highly unlikely that anyone would be able to scam the State Bar of Michigan, since the State Bar of Michigan includes every practicing attorney in the state. She didn't seem convinced. I also explained to her that I when my business was turned down for a a measly $1,000.00 limit credit card it rather disinclined me from doing business in the future with Fifth Third Bank. When she eventually figured out that she wasn't going to make a sale, she started ringing off by saying "Let us know if there is anything else we can do for you." I told her Fifth Third could issue my business a line of credit.

Fifth Third's ads say "working hard to be the only bank you'll ever need". But in my case I certainly need more than just Fifth Third Bank, because they don't give lines of credit to startup businesses.