So my coop at the D.A.'s office is still going incredibly well. I thought I would let you all know that the final weeks of my coop have brought on a monstrous project! My boss would like me to create a handbook for attorneys to utilize if they anticipate that defendants will plead insanity at the time of the crime or mentally incompetent to stand trial. Okay, so I knew this project was coming and completed a lot of research preliminarily.

Now that I am in the thick of it, I am overwhelmed! Ironically and as a total aside, last night on Boston Legal, which I rarely watch, the show dealt with this issue. Sometimes it would be nice if the legal profession mimicked television shows. Everything would be much easier and shorter. Issues of mental health are very complicated in the real world and there is a lot of time spent requesting and waiting for evaluations. It's very interesting though and by the end of this project, I will have an inordinate amount of knowledge regarding the subject, so that's cool.

So that's what I'm working on...

Also, I am in the midst of researching jobs for after graduation. That is one daunting task as well particularly when I am interested in so much. Perhaps by next Wednesday, I will have my job search strategy streamlined. I will keep you all updated. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me!

Posted by Aisha at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, my third co-op is almost over and I have to say that the experience was the best one yet. I am completing my co-op at the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office in Decatur, Georgia and I have been totally taken aback by how much I have enjoyed it. Specifically, I have been working in the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit and I am hopefully coming back to work in the Child Abuse Unit.

Because I am a third-year student, during my second week, I was sworn in under the Third-Year Prosecutor Act of 1970. This allows me to perform as an attorney would under an attorney's supervision. So unlike my second year co-ops, this Act allowed me to argue in court and represent myself as an attorney in front of a judge. So far, I have directly participated in one trial and I have represented the district attorney's office in some bond hearings that were taking place. I have also helped prepare witnesses for trial and conducted investigation regarding trials that will begin after my co-op ends. It has been an awesome experience.

I must say that working as a prosecutor was something that I never even considered. I accepted this co-op because after the last academic quarter, I got married and I did not have as much time as I would have liked to establish my own co-op. So I took the job expecting to feel guilty that I wasn't representing the defense. Well, the guilt never materialized and now I am almost done with what so far, has been my best coop yet!

Posted by Northeastern University School of Law at 6:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)