As stated by the title, it has been a very busy week! My internship has provided me with plenty of work getting rid of my routine of bothering them for work to do. Which is as much of a relief to me as it is to them! What have I been doing? Well I can't wait to tell you! This week I called people to schedule deposition preparation. Which means that people from the Districts department are being deposed. We prepare them for depositions so that way they do not get stumped by a question or say any unnecessary information. There are also some tricks that the opposing side can play on the person they are deposing. One of them is asking them questions about their family and home life lulling them into answering without thinking and quickly, then asking them a question that is really important which can prevent the defense to make an objection and the depositionee from saying something that shouldn’t be said. Another reason we prepare people for depositions is because by the time these lawsuits are in place 2 or 3 years could have passed since the original allegation occurred. For someone to remember what happened 2 to 3 years ago is kind of blurry the first time you ask them but when they have time to think and deliberate on it they can remember and tell you what happened in great detail. Also this gives a lawyer an opportunity to learn more about the workings of a case from the people involved and not just the complaint. Today, I went to one of the deposition preparations that I went to. It lasted for 3 hours which is actually not a very long deposition. I was a little bored because the lawyer kept repeating his questions. Although, the opposing council who was questioning our witness was not very happy when the lawyer I was with started her cross exam of our witness. I mean obviously they would not be thrilled but they looked visibly angry, they huffed and sighed, frowned and ran their hands over their faces. One of the lawyers was texting under the table at one point which I though was very rude since I resisted my urge to doodle. However, switching gears I also completed an exhibit binder. An exhibit binder sounds, a little boring since I didn’t get to pick out the exhibits but putting the binders together is an important aspect of trial because if your case goes to trail you do not want to be flipping through a mass of paper looking like an idiot in front of the jury. The fun part was my little field trip to go deliver the binders to the opposing council. The original address they were at was on Vermont Ave. but when I got there the floor was filled with a podiatrist office. It turns out that his law office had moved to another building on Connecticut Street. So I brought the exhibit binder to his new office. Which happened to be one of the nicer offices I have been in while in D.C. I felt really proud of myself for being able to think on my feet and find the new law office. The advice to be flexible is something I have really taken to heart this week. This weekend I went to the zoo! So exciting I have been waiting for the shutdown to be over so my roommates and I could go. As an animal admirer I was so happy to see so many of them running around and playing. As you can see below the zebras in the first picture and the otters in the second are having the time of their lives. I even saw a mammal I had never seen before... A maned wolf! As seen in my slightly blurry picture below it looks like a giant, long, legged fox. I always enjoy myself at the zoo except when I go to the ape house the animals there always look sad. I think apes are smarter than your average bear, and want to live wild and free but then that argument could be made for most of the animals in the zoo. However, on a happier note my best friend from home's family came to visit on Sunday. I was there tour guide all along the monuments. Which was tons of fun because even though my best friend wasn’t here her youngest sister Christina was and this girl is a hoot. As seen in the picture below she was fascinated with all of the marble columns so when we went to the National Gallery of Art she couldn't help but running to the pillars and giving them a giant hug. Although, when I took this picture she ran and hugged the pillar a little too hard. But in true Christina fashion she rebounded quickly and ran off to hug the next pillar. So between work and play I believe I had a well-balanced week and stayed busy as a bee.
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AuthorMy name is Shannon McCullough. I have Political Science and Legal Studies degree at Nazareth College of Rochester. I have previously interned at the Office of the Attorney General for DC. Currently, I am studying my Masters degree in International Relations at Shandong University in Jinan, China. Archives
September 2016
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