This past week was my first full week juggling class and my internship. It was not as easy as I thought it would be but most certainly do-able if I plan better for the up coming week.
For starters I had my first full week at the Attorney General needless to say I was SUPER excited. To explain what I currently do at the Attorney General I work in the Civil Litigation Unit in the third division of the department. Usually interns work under one lawyer one on one however, I am currently working for all the lawyers in the division. So how is that possible? My day usually starts arriving at work around 8:45 am, swiping my name badge and walking through a little security sensor. Thankfully I only set if off once this week much to the amusement of the security guards. Then I wait about 5 to 10 mins for the elevator (it really takes that long to come down to the lobby). So I am up in my cubicle by 9 am. Then it is the waiting game for the first lawyer to come in so I can get my first project for the day. Most of the lawyers are pretty busy with case work so they look a little bit like dear in head lights when I come in to their offices asking for something to do. After a couple of mins of them shuffling around the massive stacks of paper on their desks they give me something to do. Obviously I cannot tell you the nitty-gritty details of the cases but I can stay the names of the things I have helped write so far. My first day I wrote the draft of objections for a employment case and drafted questions for the cases deposition. This made me really excited because the deposition was scheduled for Wednesday (of this week) and I was asked to sit in. I have also written two answers to complaints. A complaint is when someone sues the district of Columbia or one of its workers relating to their service at the district. So if the district cannot get the case dismissed right off the bat, then usually they have to write an answer to the complaint. The answer explains why parts of the complaint are not true or the district does not have enough information to prove that the claim is true. The district asks for specific proof that the claims are true in the answer for anything that the district can not prove with its own records. The other thing I have done at the office was scan and organize the files from a case that has been going on for the past 20 years into the computer system. Which kind of took me a while. Okay so my deposition story!! I got to work on Wednesday morning very excited because this was going to be my first deposition ever. I was singing before I left the Paramount much to the amusement of my suite mates. I worked on one of my answers until a half an hour before the deposition. That is when the lawyer was doing the deposition (his name is Alex) told me that due to budget cuts we did not have enough money to have a court reporter to hold the deposition. He then proceeded to go home early for the day while I sat and finished my answer until 5:30 pm. I was kind of bummed out that the deposition fell through which explains why I was a little bitter about Alex leaving the office a little early. I did go to my first deposition today! With another lawyer named Denise. Which was really exciting! I can not tell you what it was about but I did learn some very important things about depositions. 1) It is very important to keep a straight face during the entire deposition. 2) You need to ask the Who, What, When, Where and Why even if the client doesn't give you a straight answer keep asking questions! 3) It is always what people do not say that is the most important So that was my first work week but what did I do this weekend? The most interesting thing I did this weekend was help out at a food pantry called Bread for the City. WII because they are so wonderful made it possible for 10 people to go to the pantry and help out. Basically we helped bag fresh produce into individual baggies. This was so when individuals came to the clinic they can grab the food and go in a quicker line. This also prevents one person from taking too many. My favorite part about the clinic was after we bagged vegetables we had a tour of the facilities. They do so much more than just food. They have a medical center, social workers, financiers, and lawyers. I was really excited about the lawyers working for the non-profit. My goal is to go back and volunteer again some point during the semester and pick a lawyers brain about working for a non-profit and the type of work they do. That has been my week not to hectic and crazy. I hope everyone got home safe and sound. Have a wonderful evening!
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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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