OwenTrittHawkenProjects2023

 Today, on my second to last day I used all the depositions I read to create an application. There is a fund called I believe the John Morrow fund that gives money to lawyers to cover for people unable to pay for lawyers. I am not sure if it is just for personal injury, workers compensation, and employment discrimination, or if its for all cases. Well, because the case was about the client losing their job, it meant they were unable to pay for Ms. Miguel-Courtad's services so we filled out this application. I had to provide a summary of the case based on the depositions and initial complaint Ms. Miguel-Courtad submitted on behalf of the plaintiff. I also had to request a certain amount of money, and describe the positive impact this case would have on the larger population.  Before today I also had to read up on the Family Medical Leave Act because it was pertinent to the case. It basically ensures that people unable to work for various reasons still have access to the benefit...

 Today I went through just a bunch of depositions for a single case. I went through a few hundred pages of answers given by the plaintiff, witnesses, doctors, and the various people associated with the Defendant. Now that I have read both trial transcripts depositions and discovery depositions I can notice some differences. Trial depositions are questions and answers given in an actual trial, while a discovery deposition is questions and answers in order to get information for each side and occurs without a jury or judge. If a lawyer has something that they feel should not have been allowed then they need to get the court reporter to tell the judge later on to look it over and choose to strike it or not. This enormous stack of depositions I just looked through was from a discovery deposition. There is clearly a difference in the type of questions the lawyers ask in each type of deposition. In discovery depositions it is just for more information, so there are a lot of clarifying qu...

Today I think I really started to get comfortable in the office. I was able to go through a lot of my duties without needing clarifying questions or constant support. I did some tasks that I had completed before so I knew how to do them. I put together a binder full of depositions, sorted the depositions, and put a label sticker on it. I faxed a fire department to ask for some information without any hiccups. It feels strange to me to be comfortable with faxing as an 18 year old. I called a client and went through some questions and felt comfortable doing so because I knew his case a lot better now, and I felt more at ease calling someone as a representative as Ms. Miguel-Courtad than I had before. I then also have to document everything that I do in a program like summaries of depositions, requesting and sending reports, or calling a client. I then also have to make a checklist to make sure that we get everything requested because after seven days it becomes easy to forget that they d...

On Thursday I had the opportunity to go to the industrial commission in Akron to listen in on some hearings for workers compensation. I went with Terry O’Brien who is another lawyer in the office that Ms. Miguel-Courtad works in. I got a little lost on the way to the building, but I ran into Terry so we made our way into the building. I had to show my ID twice and go through a medical detector in order to get into the waiting area. All the lawyers wait in the same space and it was really interesting to see how they all interacted. I’d read some trial depositions earlier in the week, and I’m not sure if it was those two lawyers specifically but it got pretty heated between them. I don’t know if they were playing mind games with each other or if they just genuinely did not like each other. The difference in demeanor between those lawyers I had read the transcripts of and the lawyers in the waiting area was stark. The lawyers were mostly quiet and subdued while they worked and only paused...

 Today, I read a deposition done by a doctor who testified that a client had a concussion. It was so interesting to see the tactics the opposing attorney used in attempts to discredit him. They tried to first say that in the doctor's initial report, he diagnosed the patient with postconcussion syndrome and not a concussion. The doctor then explained that the concussion had happened four months previous to the appointment, and you cannot have postconcussion syndrome without an initial concussion. The attorney also tried to argue that because the client didn't report dizziness and memory loss on the date of injury when they went to the doctors, it must mean that the client could not have had a concussion. The doctor, who specialized in head trauma, the explained that there are no "hallmarks" in concussions, as in there is not a symptom you need to exhibit to have a concussion. Something I found funny was the tension between the two attorneys during the deposition. There...

Working in a law firm for just a few days has helped me understand everything that has to be juggled simultaneously. Almost all of the tasks I have worked on have dealt with informing others, getting information from others, or organizing information. I have faxed fire departments, called clients, and emailed lawyers. Everything needs to be carefully scheduled because once you contact someone for a certain client, you then have to move on to another client which makes it very easy to forget to follow up with the first person. So, there is a to-do list for each client in the system that has dates for reaching out for getting a form or records back, or to make sure that a client submits certain documents.   The methods of communication are not what I expected. I thought I would be sending a lot of incredibly detailed emails to other lawyers and clients, but almost all communication has been done through phone calls and faxes. I didn’t think that fax machines really existed anymore,...