Working at the State Attorney’s Office this summer has been
such a fantastic experience so far. I
have been fortunate enough to be placed in the White Collar Crime unit, and
they have let me very hands on. All of
the people (paralegals, lawyers, secretaries, etc.) have been very friendly and
helpful. My favorite part of my
internship so far has been reading official investigative documents and
evidence. One of the tasks that I do is
synthesize large amounts of evidence to manageable chunks to help the state
attorneys with their case load. It is
really interesting to listen to witness interviews, and I am quite the
transcriber these days!
I am also fortunate enough to be able to attend court
proceedings—sometimes invited by an attorney, and sometimes just for
myself. The attorneys encourage me to
observe any cases that I am interested in, regardless of the department that
has the case. No, being in court is not
as dramatic as Law & Order makes
it seem, but it is very exciting nonetheless.
The judges have no tolerance for shenanigans in the courtroom, so if you
rub them the wrong way, they will use their authority. And, anything from negotiations to witness
statements can have you on the edge of your seat. There have even been some surprise reveals,
but not as “plot-twisting” as the ones written into the script of a television
show.
The most exciting accomplishment that I have had so far is a
chart that I created for a bank statement has been given to a jury to illustrate
the deposit and withdrawal of money. A
real jury is going to see my work! I do
not have a by-line or anything, but knowing that my work will make that much of
a difference and an impact is gratifying.
That is not to say that everything I generate is perfect on the first
try. I am human, I make mistakes, but
the attorneys here have taught me things that I do not think I could have ever
learned in the classroom setting. If you
have an opportunity to get some real-world experience, I would definitely take
it. It does not matter who you work for
or what you do.
My research skills have been put in use quite a bit in this
position. I have to look up statutes and
previous case law all of the time in order to make sure that we have covered
all of the elements of crimes and prepare before the cases go to trial. You never want to be unprepared in
court. Sometimes that is easier said
than done when investigators bring you six giant binders full of all of the
evidence for a case and different documents that are necessary. You never know what and how the different things you learn in school are going to come in handy.
Hope you are enjoying your summer!
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