Blog post #1 my workplace

My workplace is called Traback Du Bois & Ikuma Attorneys at Law & they are client-oriented law firm they represent people who are being accused of committing a crime.  I would consider them a medium sized business because they have two buildings one in Oakland & one in Pleasanton.  I am currently at the Pleasanton office it's in a larger building in a suite it have five different rooms but i have my own desk there where i do what ever work is given to me usually filing.  Right now it seems as only my mentor , Rose works there because the lawyers are all in trial so they're very busy.  I've only seen 3 Lawyers at this firm. I only really know Mr. Du Bois he's a very hard working man, he is actually a well known as one of the Bay Area's foremost criminal trial lawyers he takes his job serious but he also has a playful side to him.  Most of these lawyers have been in school for longer then just four years I know Mr.Du Bois has been to a couple different colleges & UC Berkeley was one of them.  I can tell that they really care about the people at my workplace. They understand that people make mistakes and being charged with a crime is different from being guilty. I don't believe that they have any weaknesses.

Blog post #2my mentor

My mentor's name is Rose Hennigner. She is the firm's receptionist but it seems as she keep everyone organized at the office. She makes appointments, answers the phone, files, she does just about everything there except go to trial. She told me she loved working at the office because she feels she give's the attorneys her opinion because their minds are only set to "attorney mind" & she gets to be the "jury" so they can have stronger counter arguments.

Blog post #3 my role

Right now my main resposibility is to help Rose with the filing and redacting clients' cases. Redacting a case mean that I read through the whole report and cross out any witnesses names or other peronal information like addresses and numbers to send to their clients. As of now I'm going through a very long case so I've been doing a lot of reading. As soon as I get there I go to my desk, yes I have my own desk ! Once I'm at my desk I check the file cabnits next to my desk for the "to file" box. If there's anything in there, I file it. After that I start redacting the case left for me at my desk.  That pretty much takes up my time there.

Blog post #4 project brainstrom

For my project I was thinking of seeing how an atterny prepares for trial, and how they know what type of evidance to find and how this can be apllied to socratic seminars at school. I thought it would be cool to see how a defence atterny prepares, since they are defending client who are usually considered "the bad guys" what type of evidence do they need to find? Like in academic seminars or debates when your trying to prove something that is radical what type of things do you need to say.  I like to try different things and I've always been very intrested in "the other side" of the story. In order to do this, I will tak to my mentor about going to actual courts with some of the atternys.

Blog post #5 Progress on my WLE Project, part 1

Today at my internship I did my usual things, filing, redacting my case and pulled out some case files the attorney need for trial. I also talked to my mentor about talking to the attoneys about letting me go to court with them. She said she was going to let me know who will be closest to me so I can go to court with them to observe what happens in a court room. Hopefully I can start actually getting evidence for my project.

Blog #6  Leadership Skills

 I feel like out of all the skills I use Completing Projects Effectively the most because I basically file the whole time I'm there. But to make the filing faster I put all the papers in alphabetical order. My mentor on the other hand uses almost all of the leadership skills, but the skill I feel she uses the most is Communicating Powerfully. She answers the phone and speaks with clients. She make appointments, cancels them, and reminds everyone when and where court is. It's important for her to use this skill because without it people would be unclear with just about everything that has to do with their case. 

Blog #7  What I've learned, Reflection

I've learned that I somewhat like filing. I like to put things in order. And I got to see how a small law firm runs. I am somewhat still questioning if I should become a defense attorney or not. It seems like a lot of work and pressure. Your dealing with a persons life, and if you lose... you lose and that's the end.  But if you win, that person gets a second chance to do right and that's the good part about that job. Sometimes I don't know if I'll be able to do this job simply because I know how emotionally attached people can get when they're going through hard times and some cases go into trials and trail can go on for a very long time. I'm afraid that I'd get attached to a family and feel bad if there's really nothing more I can do for them. Its hard to be an attorney 

Blog #8: Professionalism

I was looking for an Internship at a law firm but I wasn't sure which one. I was at court one day for someone who is like a brother to me and I asked his lawyer if he was accepting any Interns he smiled and said sure! I called the office to confirm and it was easy as that! I found it really cool for it to just be that easy. So i believe it's important to know people and to be professional with the people you meet. knowing people can get you recommendations or references to be hired in other work places. Oh and by the way I got my first paper cut today at my WLE -___-. It was inevitable.

Blog #9: Life at my WLE

Today at my WLE, I actually didn't have much to do because I've came to the point where I've filed just about all the papers I needed to. So I told my mentor and we started going through all the cases seeing which cases were still in progress and which ones were suppose to be in the closed files cabinets.  I actually found It fun and somewhat relaxing. My workplace would be a great place to work if you liked working in science but as for me, I need to be around some type of commotion so working in an office was sometimes hard. Other than that it's great. The people are friendly and have many stories!

Blog #10: The End

Final thoughts about my WLE? Well one, This profession is definitely a lot of hard work. But me knowing the "other" side of the story (the accused) knowing I can help bring a family back together still makes me want to become an attorney no matter how much the work will be.