Week 2:
It’s All About The Little Things

June 6, 2019

It is crazy to think we are already rounding the corner on our third week of this exciting eight-week adventure.  In the first two weeks of working for Octavia Legal Associates, I have learned a lot. Arguably, the most important thing I have learned so far is that the law is all about the little things.  In some fields of law, the small details may not be incredibly consequential, but when you are working in the field of immigration and business, attention to detail is a must.

This week, I learned the hard way how important every piece of the puzzle you are working on can be.  My main task was to prepare a petition for someone to become a resident of the United States.  The forms you have to fill out to accomplish this are complicated and incredibly time-consuming — which is why I figure most people would, instead, hire a lawyer to navigate the process for them.  The exciting thing about these forms is that the government will not accept any errors. Any petition not correctly labeled, dated, stamped or filled out — down to a literal period — will automatically not be accepted.  Therefore, my boss is vigilant about making sure there are no errors in these applications. Although I was not exactly keeping track, I think I must have submitted the petition for his review a total of eight or nine times before it was even close to being ready for submission.  It is quite the learning curve here, but luckily, my boss is very understanding and uses every error as an opportunity for my growth and learning. Needless to say, it is all about the little things.

Another fun aspect of my job is the editing process.  One of the things I feel very few people — besides lawyers themselves — know, is that most of the work they do is based on templates, which now that I think of it, seems obvious.  They are not reinventing the wheel every time a new case or client comes through the door. The client may be new, but the legal profession has seen most everything before. This week I was given the task of editing an Independent Contractor Agreement. The agreement I was given was a combination of different clauses formatted into the same document. One important factor to consider is that these clauses were all written, at one point or another, by different people. So, what I needed to do was ensure the document flowed well and contained all the provisions necessary to satisfy our client’s desires.  I absolutely loved doing this task. I think it goes without saying, but that is exactly why I want to be a lawyer.  I am a nerd for the law.

Every day I am given an hour for lunch and you might think that during this hour I would want to take a break from work related  material. Instead, each day at lunch, I head to the Dane County Courthouse to observe whatever I can.  This week while at the courthouse, I was able to sit and watch a five-day jury trial. The defendant on trial was being charged with several counts of battery and sexual assault.  I sat in the trial every day for an hour at lunch and every night until Friday when the jury returned a guilty verdict.  I did not stay to hear the jury read their verdict — they went until about 1:30 am — but I did make a friend with the defendant’s defense attorney, Stanley.  Stanley is a little over 70 years old and is still practicing as a public defender. That night, after closing arguments, Stanley walked up to me and asked me why I had been coming to the trial every day. When he realized I was just a student interested in the law, he and I exchanged numbers, and he told me to call him if I ever wanted to talk about being a defense attorney.  Stanley called Saturday morning and offered to walk me through the jury’s decision. It was incredible to have this person with so much experience make the time to connect with me about my interest in his profession.

I have still been running in my spare time. In fact, this weekend, my buddy and I are doing a 50-mile bike to a brewery in suburban Madison, which I am incredibly excited for!  I will update you all next week on how that little — or  big– adventure ends up. Thanks for reading — keep it classy! Oh, and don’t forget to look at Margret Turner’s Fellows page.  The word on the street says that she has too much fun with science.