Weeks Nine, Ten, and Eleven:
Christensen & Ehret, LLP

August 6, 2015

The last three weeks have been very busy but I have made some time to update my blog before I fall behind even further. This time has been extremely eye-opening for me in terms of several things.

One task that I had at Christensen & Ehret within the last three weeks was accompanying two attorneys to the Cook County Prison. We have a pending case where a client felt neglected within the prison, so the attorneys and I headed over to the prison to take pictures and doodle some sketches (which I was in charge of) of the area where our client was housed. Without surprise, The prison is extremely secure. We were not allowed to bring in any keys, paperclips, folders, I even had to remove my tie clip and leave it with the guard. After shedding pretty much all my belongings except my notepad and pen, we met the opposing attorneys and headed over to the tier house. The two attorneys I was with began taking pictures of everything. I was instructed to create a sketch of the premises with as much detail as possible. Things that seemed irrelevant may turn out to be relevant, so I made sure to include where pillars were, how many steps the stairs had, where the floor was uneven, things such as that. The attorneys did the same with pictures and descriptions documenting anything on the wall, cracks in the ceiling, etc. After creating a sketch by hand, I came back to the firm and created a sketch using a video game which gives you the opportunity to create houses (or in this case a prison) called The Sims. Having a digitized copy of the blueprint will make it easier for our attorneys to present when at a deposition or trial.

Although I finished the sketch and digitized the blueprint, being at the prison was difficult for me. We were documenting and observing the jailhouse while inmates were locked up in their cells staring and yelling at us. With my father being a retired warden from a prison and currently an inspector of juvenile detention centers, the functionality of the prison system is nothing new to me. What is new to me however is actually being in the room with individuals who are locked up. It reminded me of a zoo, these men were dehumanized in my mind. It was weird seeing people in locked cells, unable to go to the fridge if they were hungry or unable to go to the gym if they wanted a workout. Seeing something in person like this was much different than seeing it on TV. Being a young African-American male, this day in age it is still out of the norm for me to be at a higher level institution, and at that, be working at a law firm at my age. Looking at these men in their cells, historically, I am supposed to be right next to them, or even worse. This was certainly a moment of reflection of where I have been and where I hope to go in my future, and a moment to be thankful for the blessing of having the role models I have in my life. It was difficult imagining how many of them did not deserve to be in that situation. Antithetically, however, it was even more difficult for me to fathom how many of them did deserve to be in that situation.

This exploration has really been infused within my work as of late, considering I have been put in contact with powerhouse civil rights attorney Victor Henderson. My boss, Mark Christensen, originally wanted me to shadow Attorney Henderson to learn about the contingency based system Henderson & Adams, LLC operates under opposed to the hourly billing system Christensen & Ehret operates under. I learned that the methods of billing revolve around the type of clientele that the firm attracts, and the clientele revolves around the firm’s expertise. Attorney Henderson’s clientele usually consists of individuals who are interested in finding legal representation for a one-time lawsuit. Although Christensen & Ehret represents clients within this capacity as well, our clients are usually corporations who have hired Christensen & Ehret to do a magnitude of legal work for them (consulting, liaison, trials, etc).

After going to a deposition with Attorney Henderson, I feel much more interested in the work that he does because I think it really connects with me. The deposition had to do with police brutality of an African-American man, a topic that has come to the front lines of news ever since the Michael Brown case. One thing that I really noticed about Attorney Henderson is how prepared he is, but simultaneously how strong his extemporary skills are. He walks in with a game plan of what he needs to accomplish, and although things may not always go as planned, the strength of his extemporary skills can always lead him where he wants to go. I wish I were able to provide specific examples, but due to my agreement with my employer there are certain things that need to remain confidential.

Over several lunches, Attorney Henderson shared some stories about some things that he has encountered, learned and struggled with as an African-American male in a field dominated by white males. He stressed the important of being proactive, making sure I always carry myself in the correct manner, things I think have been stressed to my siblings and I from such a young age by our parents. One thing that I think he told me that was sort of something I had never thought about was how I would be received by both blacks and whites once I graduated from law school. I was always taught that there is good and bad in everything, and no two things are exactly alike, and I think Victor Henderson gave me a really good example of this. Once I receive my Juris Doctorate I could be construed in the black community as someone with “white credentials.” Simultaneously, while I may have similar credentials to other attorneys who may be white, they may never take me seriously or view me equally due to my race. This is something I have not given much thought to, but definitely an issue that I will have to think about moving forward. As I wind down with my fellowship, I hope I will be able to work with him a bit more within the next coming weeks.

Keeping with the theme of nostalgia, I have had some pretty fun and relaxing times away from work. Hanging out with Cornellians has been a go-to for the summer, but I have also been able to hang out with my older brother a lot. It is sort of funny getting brunch with his friends on the weekends because they remember me as the chubby elementary school kid when they were high school.

Nonetheless, the highlight of my relaxing time was seeing my godsister Candace Parker play her second game of the season against the Chicago Sky. Highly regarded of the best female basketball player of all-time, it was awesome to get to see her play in person for the first time since high school and talk to her for a bit after the game.

As I get to the close of my fellowship I am hoping to finish on a strong note here at Christensen & Ehret and enjoy my family and friends before I head off to Des Moines to begin my business sales internship with the Iowa Energy.