On Monday, I wrote up six more affidavits (finally finishing the whole batch of 23). Though the affidavits were somewhat exhausting, it was actually really nice to get so connected to a case. I feel as if I know the client very well, despite the fact that I have only met him/her one time. Most of the letters that I was transforming into affidavits were character references from family friends, coworkers, counselors, etc. It was a very worthwhile experience. As I am new to drafting these legal documents, these six affidavits took occupied my time for most of the day. For the remainder of the day, I helped mostly with organizational tasks: hole-punching the documents to be filed and scanning some paperwork.
On Tuesday, I stayed a little bit longer than I usually do. I had been working on a very specific task and I wanted to finish it before I left. I helped the paralegal with subpoenas for medical records. Sometimes, my on-site mentor works on personal injury cases and, in this case, we asked several different facilities for medical records and billing information. I used the typewriter (which was exciting because I've never used one before) to type parts of the letters being sent out to the medical facilities in question. I used the online stamping program to print out the addresses on the envelopes and I packed the letters into the envelopes so they would be ready to send out in the morning. In addition to this, the paralegal walked me through the e-filing system and taught me how to file important documents online. It was nice to get a feel for the system. The documents that we filed were intended to be sent out to a commissioner (in place of what would usually be a judge), so we also packaged the documents up to be sent to him/her directly for approval. It was a good day; I always love when I get to shadow our paralegal. She's very helpful and smart. And most importantly, she does not mind (or at least she does not seem to mind) when I ask questions.
Side note: my day ended with free pancakes so that was pretty exciting.
On Wednesday, I did a lot of work perfecting my abstract for the Senior Research Project. I decided to pull up the template and color-code each individual sentence to the topic/section being discussed. I then sent my abstract to my faculty advisor and my on-site mentor for advice and approval. All turned out well. Once I sent my final copy to Dr. Duffy (who works very hard to ensure that everything we present for the Senior Research Project is, well, presentable) and Ms. Mitrovich (our college counselor who guides not only me but also my classmates through the SRP process), I was eager to work more on my research. My on-site mentor had mentioned to me an ethics packet from 2013 that she remembered very specifically. This packet contained, from what she remembered, several ethical guidelines regarding social media and technology. I plan on incorporating these ethical rules within my presentation. It was very exciting to discover actual rules about social media. As far as I knew, the rules mainly applied to attorneys themselves; but in reality, one of the most important rules pertains to something that clients cannot do without breaking the law. I do not want to spoil too much, so more on that later. At this point in time, I have discovered ethical rules regarding social media along with a case (one of Mr. Levine's) that shows what can happen when a party in a legal case carelessly posts on Facebook. I will soon be drafting a survey to pass out to family law attorneys (with some networking help from my on-site mentor). All is going well.
See you soon!
Megan, this is so cool! Is there any particular reason they use a typewriter?
ReplyDeleteThank you Daria! Yes, we use the typewriter to send out subpoenas for medical records, billing information, cell phone records, etc... Basically, my on-site mentor has clients sign a certain number of documents signing off permission for their information to be shared with our office. Usually we have them sign several, but sometimes up to ten of these documents are signed. We keep them on file and when we actually send out the subpoenas, we must use the signed document. We then use the typewriter to add in information about the organization/company/hospital that we are sending the subpoena to, information about due dates for the requested data, information about medical record numbers, and information about the client. We must also add in a date that this information is usable until - usually we set the date one year from the date we send out the subpoena. To sum it all up, the typewriter is used to send out copies of signed documents without having to get the client to come in and sign a piece of paper every time we need to gather information for a case.
DeleteA survey sounds like a good idea. I used SurveyMonkey to make mine and it's working out well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael! I was planning on using SurveyMonkey as well. I'm happy it is working out for you, thanks for the tip!
DeleteHave you thought about maybe getting a job as an assistant at this law firm over the summer? It seems to be that you would already be fully qualified after this internship.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dylan! They have already told me that I'm welcome here as long as I'd like as an intern. However, I'm not entirely sure that they require the help of an assistant. They have a wonderful paralegal here who is good at everything and she pretty much keeps the place organized and running at a good pace. If they needed the help, I might consider that, but I really don't think they do. I'm just eager to learn and soak up as much information as possible for the sake of my education and for the sake of my Senior Research Project. Thank you for your vote of confidence though, that's always nice. :)
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