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IN SARAH'S BLOG

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Sarah, 2L

« April 2008 | Main | June 2008 »

May 15, 2008

Wrapping it up

Within the next week, I will officially be in my third year of law school. I can hardly believe it.

Transitions are always a bit hard for me - the last week of co-op I sort of lose my focus, start looking to where I am headed next, and generally feel a little "in between." With about a week left here in Puerto Rico and at the Federal Defenders, I am wrapping up some minor projects, saying good-bye to friends, and wondering when I will be back next. I head back to Boston next week and have a little time off before starting my summer co-op on the 2nd of June. Even though being out of school for six months sounds a little crazy to me, in reality it doesn't feel weird at all, since my co-ops are guaranteed to be different from each other, and I have already learned so much at the Defenders. This summer I will be at a mid-sized firm (25 attorneys) that does both civil and criminal litigation. I haven't worked at a firm before, so I'm excited to see what the "culture" is like, how they divvy up work, the case load of the attorneys, etc.

In addition to my upcoming co-op, I'm excited to be back in Boston. Co-op is good for helping you appreciate what you have back home - I'm thrilled to get back to my law school friends, a city I know and love, and an apartment filled with my stuff! The hard part is leaving behind cases that are still in the works, co-workers I'm used to seeing every day, new friends who I don't know when I will see again, and an island I've come to love. What's neat though, is that the closest friend I made on my first co-op in California, is here visiting me in Puerto Rico now. Proof that even brief friendships, made cross-country, can last. Pretty neat.

May 8, 2008

Trials and tribulations (ha!)

I can't lie, I'm still a little exhausted from the trial last week. So this week's posting is going to be sort of a cop-out. Here are some of the articles floating around the legal "blogosphere" that I find interesting. I never thought I would read about law in my free time, but once it's your career....it sort of seeps in everywhere. Enjoy and have a great week!

An article about recent allegations of discrimination on the basis of pregnancy amongst big law associates. My dad does employment discrimination law so this is a field that has interested me for a long time: http://abovethelaw.com/2008/05/proving_the_pregnancy_discrimi.php

On that note, here is my dad's blog! He focuses on employment and labor law in the Ninth Circuit, with a particular focus on Alaska, where he has practiced since the '70's: http://www.akemplaw.com/wiki/

An article about having a practitioner as law school dean (as opposed to an "academic," not that they are mututally exclusive): http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2008/05/can-a-practitio.html

And a lawyer proving that creativity can be part of legal practice: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/05/08/creative-lawyers-an-oxymoron-not-in-james-coopers-world/?mod=WSJBlog

In addition to the above referenced WSJ Law Blog, the "legal tabloid" Above the Law, and the roundup Legal Blog Watch, some of my other favorite law blogs are the Appellate Law and Practice Blog, http://appellate.typepad.com/, and the Volokh Conspiracy, http://volokh.com/.

May 2, 2008

Update on trial

Wednesday around 4pm the jury came back with a decision. They found both defendants guilty of the charges against them. Since federal court is conducted in English here, while the defendants had earphones through which they could hear a translation of the verdict, their family members did not realize what was going on until the U.S. Marshalls came forward with the handcuffs. Then they started to wail. We took everything that was in the pockets of our client (they have to be empty to go into custody) and sat with our client's mother as he was led away and she sobbed. Then we walked her to her car where she turned to us and asked "Is that it?"

That’s it. Her son is now a federal prisoner, in the custody of the government. He will be sentenced in August and faces decades in prison.

It is impossible to convey the intensity of the trial experience. I learned more in those three days about criminal law, about my abilities as a lawyer, and, honestly, about people than I have in all of law school. It was an experience I will literally never forget.