I apologize in advance for the short blog post.
Last Monday, a Superior Court judge and former attorney at Dickinson Wright offered to let me watch his trial and see his office/talk to him. This was the first time I went downtown to the courthouse alone! I had to find which court building it was (I definitely did not park by the right one) and then I had to find the judge's office and buzz him. This whole process was honestly pretty nerve raking.
However, when I got there the judge was meeting with the attorneys from the trial and they actually came to an agreement right before the trial started. So the trial basically got cancelled and all I got to see was the two parties agree to their new contract under oath so it would be binding/enforceable by the court. This was a child custody case in which the mother wanted to relocate the kids to Minnesota, but the father did not want them to move. What happened is that the kids are relocating with the mother, but they made a contract for visitation to guarantee that the father gets to see his kids.
Anyways, I was supposed to go back for a different trial on Thursday, but I got very sick and was unable to go to my internship for the rest of the week.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, April 18, 2016
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Bankrupcy
Yesterday I took a trip to Arizona Bankruptcy Court with an attorney, Katie, from the firm!
This was a hearing in front of Judge Ballinger, not a trial.
The case was all very complicated so I'm not even going to try to explain it, but for basics:
- A lady (Katie's client) invested money in a property, but was not given the second position power she was promised.
-There was lying involved where after the company filed for bankruptcy, the manager made a new one with the same name (LLC vs Corp.) and claimed it was the same company.
This was very interesting, but I was pretty confused since there were so many aspects to the situation at hand. However, I saw quite a few attorneys get yelled at by the Judge. It was pretty funny. It shows how different judges really do make a difference in how you should present your case. Katie told me that the attorney she was going against was really experienced and bills at about $600 an hour!!
After the hearing was over, Katie (who used to be a clerk at the courtroom) took me to the back area. I got to meet some clerks and assistants and see their offices and talk to them about their job! All the clerks seemed to really enjoy their jobs! I also got to meet Judge Sala and see his chambers that connect to the courtroom!
On Monday, a judge who used to work at the firm has offered to show me around the court and let me sit in on his trial. I can't wait to experience this and tell you all about it!
This was a hearing in front of Judge Ballinger, not a trial.
The case was all very complicated so I'm not even going to try to explain it, but for basics:
- A lady (Katie's client) invested money in a property, but was not given the second position power she was promised.
-There was lying involved where after the company filed for bankruptcy, the manager made a new one with the same name (LLC vs Corp.) and claimed it was the same company.
This was very interesting, but I was pretty confused since there were so many aspects to the situation at hand. However, I saw quite a few attorneys get yelled at by the Judge. It was pretty funny. It shows how different judges really do make a difference in how you should present your case. Katie told me that the attorney she was going against was really experienced and bills at about $600 an hour!!
After the hearing was over, Katie (who used to be a clerk at the courtroom) took me to the back area. I got to meet some clerks and assistants and see their offices and talk to them about their job! All the clerks seemed to really enjoy their jobs! I also got to meet Judge Sala and see his chambers that connect to the courtroom!
On Monday, a judge who used to work at the firm has offered to show me around the court and let me sit in on his trial. I can't wait to experience this and tell you all about it!
Friday, April 1, 2016
Mediation
Last week I got to experience part of a mediation!
Mediation: "intervention in a dispute in order to solve it"
Basically, the two parties in the dispute came to the firm with their lawyers (not necessarily from Dickinson Wright who was hired to do the mediation). The parties (there ended up being about 20 people there total) are placed in different rooms and the mediator (an attorney) goes from room to room trying to negotiate for them and settle at least some aspects of the dispute. I cannot give specific details of the case since it is all confidential unlike a trial. The mediator is a completely neutral party (the Switzerland of the case) that just tries to make the two sides agree. This is very similar to an arbitration. The difference is that an arbitrator acts as a judge and makes a decision if the parties do not agree. If a dispute is not settles in mediation it often moves on to arbitration before trial if it comes to that. I thought that this was very interesting and that being a mediator would be difficult. Personally, I think it would be hard for me to stay neutral, especially if I agree with one side more than the other on the matter.
Anyways, I never thought I would say that it is hard for me to watch a lot of TV, but it is proving very difficult. I am way behind on my shows and am thinking about watching less than 4. Furthermore, the shows are proving less important to this project than I thought they would be.
I am going to a fascinating bankruptcy hearing tomorrow and can't wait to tell you all about it!
Until next time,
Isabelle
Mediation: "intervention in a dispute in order to solve it"
Basically, the two parties in the dispute came to the firm with their lawyers (not necessarily from Dickinson Wright who was hired to do the mediation). The parties (there ended up being about 20 people there total) are placed in different rooms and the mediator (an attorney) goes from room to room trying to negotiate for them and settle at least some aspects of the dispute. I cannot give specific details of the case since it is all confidential unlike a trial. The mediator is a completely neutral party (the Switzerland of the case) that just tries to make the two sides agree. This is very similar to an arbitration. The difference is that an arbitrator acts as a judge and makes a decision if the parties do not agree. If a dispute is not settles in mediation it often moves on to arbitration before trial if it comes to that. I thought that this was very interesting and that being a mediator would be difficult. Personally, I think it would be hard for me to stay neutral, especially if I agree with one side more than the other on the matter.
Anyways, I never thought I would say that it is hard for me to watch a lot of TV, but it is proving very difficult. I am way behind on my shows and am thinking about watching less than 4. Furthermore, the shows are proving less important to this project than I thought they would be.
I am going to a fascinating bankruptcy hearing tomorrow and can't wait to tell you all about it!
Until next time,
Isabelle
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