Jan 11: Reflections On Week One

So, the first week of my internship has come to an end. So far, it’s been an excellent learning experience, and none of the things I was worried about have happened (so far…). Before internship, I was worried that the expectations put on me would be too high, and I wouldn’t be able to do all the things that people expected of me. When I arrived, though, I found that wasn’t the case. Everyone there knows that I’m a high-schooler, and while they expect me to learn and keep my ears open, they don’t expect me to know information they only learned in law school. Asking for help is welcomed, even if I have to ask Elijah for the third or fourth time how to connect to the office drive, a task I should definitely know how to do by now. I take notes on everything I don’t understand, and look things up when not preoccupied.

One thing that’s surprised me so far is how many cases are being handled at once. I’d assumed that the firm would work on one case at a time, take it to court, and get a paycheck. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Right now, over four different cases are underway, none of which seem to share any sort of commonality. In addition, I found that some cases can take ages to resolve, or come up again in reference to another case entirely. Personally right now, I’m researching a case that began with a settlement in 2015. It would seem to have been resolved, but one party didn’t perform their side of the deal, and now I’m tracking down what happened. My job has also been a lot of hopping around, from general law research to specific case research to researching other coworker’s cases in order to get a better understanding of what they’re doing. It can get confusing to follow, but it’s a good insight into the world of law.

Another thing that surprised me is how lax the schedule is for the office. We don’t have any strict time to show up to work, and I can leave the office when I choose. Normally, I come in to work around 9:30 and leave close to 5:00, but this can vary from day to day. One of the staff, Daniel, said this is because the office pays them depending on when they’re working (billing hours), not when they clock in or out. Also, there’s no set lunch time, and no real policy on snacking, something that actually worked in my favor today. I went out with the rest of the staff to get lunch at Carnitas Snack Shack, and we were out for an hour and a half, a fact that our employers didn’t seem to find unusual (they did, however, mention they were leaving soon and would have to lock us out of the building if we didn’t get back in time).

Overall, it’s been quite the experience. I think I enjoy office work, and the freedom that the firm gives me in terms of arrivals and departures. Yesterday, I checked myself out earlier so I could walk home and watch the sun set, something I couldn’t do taking classes at HTHI, or working for a more regimented internship. As for next week, I don’t know what it’ll bring. I’m being asked to do more important assignments, and I overheard Mike Aguirre talk about me giving a presentation to a client, a definite step up from labeling binders. I guess, like everything else I’ve done so far here, I’ll just have to go into it with an open mind and learn all I can. That’s all for this week!

(Photo attached: a sneak peek into the amount of case work i've done this week)