Clerkship - Day 2

The second day of my judicial clerkship went something like this:

--I brought in 2 dozen donuts in the AM and that was a hit.

--I talked to my professor briefly and then sat in on his court proceeding. It was a light day though and he was done in 30 minutes.

--So b/c of the light day, we went for a coffee run and then later, out to lunch. My professor treated. I felt kinda bad. But like before, lunch was very interesting. I laughed so hard, my cheeks hurt. They are a funny bunch. They talked about some YouTube videos. One was about a lawyer who shows up drunk in court. I have to remember to watch that one. And let's just say the other video is very interesting...

--In the afternoon, I sat in on another judge's courtroom. She was sentencing. In the few times I sat in court proceedings, I noticed that female judges seem to be more sympathetic. Even still, she sentenced two people to jail. While she kept talking, the bailiff spoke into his walkie-talkie. And soon enough, a police officer came with handcuffs. The two people who were sent to jail did not look surprised or upset. I guess they knew it was coming. Apparently they keep them locked up on the top floor of the courthouse if it's for a short period of time. I've never been up there and don't really have the urge to. I heard it smells bad.

--Then more affidavit judgments. I did a lot of them. And fast too. I'm really starting to get the hang of it. And it seems like plaintiffs keep asking for high attorney fees. No man. You only get 15%! Don't try to sneak a different amount on there!

--Before I knew it, it was 5 and time to go home.

today's lunch

During lunch, I stopped by the restaurant b/c my mom told me she made gizzards...yum... So I went there and chilled a bit. I left with a bag lunch: rice, gizzards, soup, apple, and some dessert cookie thing. :) It's been a while since my mom packed me a bag lunch. I think the last time she packed me lunch was either 1st or 2nd grade? Back then it was always a salami sandwich (which i hated...). It's nice to be pampered like this...makes me feel like mommy's little girl again. :)

Clerkship - Day 1

I had orientation the week before, so day 1 was not so scary. My day went something like this:

--Met some more judges in the AM

--Toured the courthouse some more

--Got to work on affidavit judgments, which are basically what plaintiffs file when they sue for debt repayment. If the plaintiff provides proper paperwork and if the defendant doesn't show up to court, the judge will grant judgment for the plaintiff. So basically what I did was fill out the numbers and have everything ready for the judge to sign off. Mental note: If you get sued, then you better show up in court

--Then lunch with the judges and law clerks. I must say that was a lot of fun -- they like to joke around. A LOT. It's just funny the big difference from seeing them at lunch versus in the courtroom.

--Then sat in on some court proceedings. Got to see how attorneys did their thing. I heard there were other cool cases in the morning that I missed too. Something about a voodoo case and a lesbian lover case. Mental note: I should go sit in the domestic violence cases to see the interesting stuff.

--Then I worked on memos for motions. A motion is just asking the court to do something (like to dismiss the case, etc.). So I read through the motion and wrote a very brief summary. The summary includes a background, what the motion is, and my recommendations. This way, the judge can get a quick glimpse of the case if he doesn't have time to go through everything before the hearing. Only problem is...what if they think I'm a moron for recommending the wrong thing? I did 3 motions and I hope I gave the right recommendations. Not good to have them think I'm an idiot on day 1.