Hi everyone,
As my final days as a high school student are inching closer with the end of my internship and research project, I would like to say thank you to everyone who followed along on this journey! I hope that it was both educational and entertaining. I have linked my presentation slides to this blog post so you can see my main conclusions from this project.
My presentation will be on May 7th at the Jewish Community Center in Scottsdale.
I hope to see you all there,
Isabelle
Final Presentation Slides
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Monday, April 18, 2016
Family Law
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!
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!
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
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Trial Preparation
Today I learned a little bit about trial preparation. Although trial is not very common as most cases settle before they reach trial, attorneys still have to prepare in advance.
So for a basic overview:
-The plaintiff sends exhibits/evidence to defense along with a general outline of their argument.
-There are usually hundreds of exhibits
-This outline is basically just witnesses/expert witnesses, evidence they plan on using, etc.
-All exhibits/evidence must provided to the defense and court beforehand and be approved
-The defense then goes through all the exhibits to make sure that they are correct -- mainly that nothing has been deleted or edited by the other side. In the case they were prepping for they found that something had been redacted(deleted) from one of the exhibits.
-They (the defense) then go through the strong and weak points of their case and make a general outline.
Some tips I learned about trial:
-You should try to schedule your witnesses close to the weekends and/or the end of the case. This allows the jury to more easily remember those witnesses when making their decision or thinking about the case over the weekend break.
-Courtroom software is very useful. It makes it much easier and more organized when trying to show a piece of paper/exhibit. When I went to trial, I remember that in the closing statements I saw, the attorney did not use software and was kind of fumbling around with papers and pointing to things with his pen. So I think that software really makes all the difference.
Side note:
-I'm very interested in the Jury selection process of trials and am hoping that I can experience this in one of the upcoming trials.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, March 21, 2016
What is a Paralegal?
I have had a really tough time writing my blog post for this past week! I honestly did not do much at my internship this week, as nothing too interesting was going on. As I was thinking of what to write about since I had no cool story, I realized that I get the most communication with one of the paralegals at the office.
Going into my SRP, I found myself asking "What exactly is a Paralegal?" I knew that they helped out the attorneys, but I did not know much other than that -- so I am here to tell you. A paralegal, by definition, is a person trained in subsidiary legal matters but not fully qualified as an attorney. No, a paralegal is not a secretary for attorneys - these completely separate, but both important jobs.
Basically, paralegals often do documentation, research, and writing for the lawyers that they work for. For example, they have to write audit response letters for their attorneys clients. These are letters saying how much they company owes in legal fees, and how much they have paid already for the year. One of the main things that I have learned about being a paralegal is that you have to be organized. They usually put everything in labeled binders to be easily found an accessible. Paralegals have many responsibilities that are incredibly vital to the success of the attorneys they work for.
Speaking of binders, one project I had over the week was to help tear all of the papers from a case that settled out of the binders to be shredded. This case, which I believe began in 2010, had at least 1.5 million pieces of paper in it held in huge 5 inch binders (don't quote me on that). In the end 12 trash bins were filled with papers to be shredded (I only filled about one and a half alone). This took up quite a bit of time.
Update on the TV show front:
I should be moving on to watching some of my other shows so I don't run out of time, but I am seriously hooked on suits! I definitely recommend this show! It is pretty dramatic compared to real life and the amount of time they spend in court is way exaggerated, but I find it truly entertaining. Also, I think it does a good job of displaying the difficulty of working in the legal field and how much time work takes up, especially for someone just entering the field.
On a side note, I have decided that in order to gain one more perspective into the media and the legal field, I am going to read a book or two about law. My first choice is John Grisham's "The Pelican Brief." I will write a review/comparison when I have finished it.
Thanks for reading! Talk to you soon.
Going into my SRP, I found myself asking "What exactly is a Paralegal?" I knew that they helped out the attorneys, but I did not know much other than that -- so I am here to tell you. A paralegal, by definition, is a person trained in subsidiary legal matters but not fully qualified as an attorney. No, a paralegal is not a secretary for attorneys - these completely separate, but both important jobs.
Basically, paralegals often do documentation, research, and writing for the lawyers that they work for. For example, they have to write audit response letters for their attorneys clients. These are letters saying how much they company owes in legal fees, and how much they have paid already for the year. One of the main things that I have learned about being a paralegal is that you have to be organized. They usually put everything in labeled binders to be easily found an accessible. Paralegals have many responsibilities that are incredibly vital to the success of the attorneys they work for.
Speaking of binders, one project I had over the week was to help tear all of the papers from a case that settled out of the binders to be shredded. This case, which I believe began in 2010, had at least 1.5 million pieces of paper in it held in huge 5 inch binders (don't quote me on that). In the end 12 trash bins were filled with papers to be shredded (I only filled about one and a half alone). This took up quite a bit of time.
Update on the TV show front:
I should be moving on to watching some of my other shows so I don't run out of time, but I am seriously hooked on suits! I definitely recommend this show! It is pretty dramatic compared to real life and the amount of time they spend in court is way exaggerated, but I find it truly entertaining. Also, I think it does a good job of displaying the difficulty of working in the legal field and how much time work takes up, especially for someone just entering the field.
On a side note, I have decided that in order to gain one more perspective into the media and the legal field, I am going to read a book or two about law. My first choice is John Grisham's "The Pelican Brief." I will write a review/comparison when I have finished it.
Thanks for reading! Talk to you soon.
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