Life as a Lawyer: My Personal Contributions
It is very hard to believe that in a few short weeks I will be finished with my internship. I chose to do “personal contributions” as my final blog post so I could encapsulate every project that I have gotten the privilege of working on. This goes without saying, but my experience was greatly altered due to COVID-19. However, I was still fortunate to learn a lot about myself, the company I am working for, and the process of being a lawyer. There are two things I would like this blog post to touch upon: ways I contributed and ways I hope I can contribute in the remaining two weeks at the Law Offices of Haytham Faraj.
I have had 4 major projects that I have gotten to do all by myself. It is different doing things alone versus in a team, but I knew I had people to help if I needed them. The two tasks I was most proud of were creating indexes of discoveries for an injury case and a civil rights case. These have both impacted the greater good for many reasons. The injury case was about an autistic boy and could potentially set a precedent for many other disabilities. The civil rights case was about mistreatment by police for racial minorities and is clearly pertinent to the world right now. Both of these indexes required fine tooth combing of upwards of 4,000 documents a piece, making the final completion elicit both a feeling of pride and being a huge help to the company. By doing this, the attorneys were able to work one on one with the clients and help find new cases. I also got a task of answering an interrogatory, something usually reserved for legal clerks. This helped grow my confidence and assured me that my supervisor has faith in me and my abilities.
In my remaining two weeks, I would like to see the completion of a case that I have worked on. I do not know if this is possible, but I hope in the least that I can Skype in or attend an in-person case. I think that would teach me a lot and help me experience things that I could take on to help impact the greater good of the world.