Va. Beach woman invited to sit with first lady during speech

Posted to: Federal Government Politics Presidential Election Virginia Beach
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By Meredith Kruse
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 24, 2012

VIRGINIA BEACH

A lawyer who's working as a waitress because she's been unable to find work in her field has been invited to sit with first lady Michelle Obama tonight during the State of the Union address, the White House announced.

Amber Morris was chosen after she responded to a White House query asking, "What does $40 mean to you?" She replied, "Forty dollars a paycheck means that I'll be able to pay my bills, but most months it'll be a tight squeeze. It means that I'll have no spending money which means I can't do my part in encouraging my local economy. Forty dollars a paycheck may not seem a lot, but it could mean a steady job for me and my coworkers or unemployment.”

Morris graduated from Northeastern Law School in 2008. After failing to find a job with a law firm, she began working for a nonprofit agency in Boston, but after it lost funding, she lost her job and moved home to live with her parents.

Although her job at a local restaurant is less than ideal, she told White House officials that she feels lucky to have a paycheck to repay her student loans and that she is preparing for the Virginia bar exam.

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The Washington Post describes her this way

Submitted by GolfbytheCupful on Tue, 01/24/2012 at 7:11 pm.

The Washington Post describes her this way and doesn't say she's a lawyer:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/what-michelle-obamas-guest-list-tells-us-about-the-state-of-the-union/2012/01/24/gIQAJw4COQ_blog.html

yep, says she is a lawyer.

Submitted by Doug Knack on Wed, 01/25/2012 at 8:54 am.

Graduated from law school, couldn't get a job, worked for a non-profit, lost a job and moved home.

Stop slaming someone that you do now know!

Submitted by merletrutledge on Tue, 01/24/2012 at 7:06 pm.

What would you rather a drug dealer get a call from the White house to come to the State of the Union address. This is a honor to a hard working law abiding citizen and unless any of you that make negative comments or naked assertions further devoid of the truth about this woman have any facts than anything else said out of your mouths is "nonsense." Their is nothing in this article that includes foul play and anyone asked to sit with the First Lady has been vetted to avoid any fabrications in the story unlike when Michelle Bachmann took someone story for the truth about a child getting cancer from a vaccine.

Yoy said it very well.

Submitted by GolfbytheCupful on Wed, 01/25/2012 at 3:31 pm.

Thanks. It would be an honor to get that call, and I'd be thrilled. I didn't see what all the negativity was about, either. I thought the Washington Post article was pretty descriptive of all the guests. People nit-pick the living doodle out of everything these days. I don't get it.

When I get the call to go to the White House for ANY reason from ANY president, you can bet your bippy I'll be headed up I-95/North so fast heads will spin. Were I to get the call from THIS current president it would just be icing on the cake.

Insufferable

Submitted by camper on Tue, 01/24/2012 at 5:25 pm.

The Obamas are insufferable! They'll do anything and exploit anybody for political purposes. If this woman is really serious about being a lawyer, I hope she will develop better judgment than to fall for this political scam.

You are not a Lawyer until you pass the bar exam.

Submitted by sonores on Tue, 01/24/2012 at 5:13 pm.

When you graduate from law school you usually are required to take the bar exam. You can't practice law until you do. Did this person attempt to pass the exam and fail in another state? Has she come home to VA to try to pass one of the toughest bar exams in the country? You can be a para-legal with a juris doctorate but having the degree does not make you a lawyer. This young lady can not be given the title of out of work lawyer until she becomes one by passing the bar exam. This story has some information holes in it regarding the background and circumstances of this young lady. I wish only great success for this young lady who I am sure will be a full fledged lawyer very soon.I wish the pilot would get their story and facts straight.

The article does not tell us

Submitted by Mary Bagley Saville on Tue, 01/24/2012 at 6:11 pm.

The article does not tell us if this young lady passed the bar exam in another state in which case she would be required to take the VA bar to practice in the Commonwealth. The exception would be if she had years of experience practicing law elsewhere, and the article does tell us she has never been employed as a lawyer!