Saturday, December 12, 2009

Playing Lawyer



I worked at the law firm for a total of about four weeks, and it was quite an interesting look into the world of law from my safe perspective as a temporary employee.  The two partners were constantly getting referred potential new clients from friends, relatives, and former clients, so every day I had a new and often theatrical message to take down from call-ins.  Most people needed so desperately to tell their story that they would launch into it with the first person they could get on the phone - me - who had no professional law training other than the two classes I took in college - and I would have four stickies of notes scribbled down before I could stop them long enough to tell them I wasn't the person they needed to speak to.  One woman wanted to sue the public schools because her teenage daughter wasn't allowed to play basketball; one woman wanted to sue the university for wronful termination because they let her go after accusing her of setting fires in the buildings; one woman wanted to sue for excessive force after her 14-year old son had his back fractured by the police officer who was arresting him; one family wanted to sue the county sheriff for negligence for not arresting the man who had admitted to murdering their son; and one guy needed legal advice because the 18-wheeler truck he drove had been hijacked and he had been tied up, kidnapped, and held at gunpoint.

In addition to hearing people's crazy stories, I also had to take down informational messages from the District Attorneys, investigators, police officers, and judges who would call our office.  With only a basic knowledge of court proceedings, I would have to record messages such as "Please tell Mr. Glass it appears to us that Mr. Smith failed to file a damages claim, therefore you can move for a summary judgement to dismiss the case", and hope that I didn't reverse a word somewhere in the middle that changed the meaning.

At the end of my four weeks they offered to help me out with anything I needed in the future - from legal advice to writing a reference.  I was sad to go.


The building.


The developers had big plans to create a 200,000 sq ft business center on this plot, but they only built 2 buildings out of 20 that were planned before they ran into financial difficulty, so my view was of brown fields and an abandoned prefab office.


The office was on the edge of town and I worked across the street from bales of hay.


Front entrance.


The lobby.  My desk is in the middle there.



My fun little headset!

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