May 12. 2009 Time Worked: 8-3:00 Time Written: 5:02 pm

Today I had to go through 4 big boxes containing hundreds of documents that involve a case where the city got sued for a person who was arrested and then release by the police and harmed himself. Most of the documents were lawyers letters back and forth but other items I had to look at were medical records and photographs. It apparently was a very big case that the city tried and lost at a jury trial. But the City felt that the judge made a mistake in explaining the law to the jury and the city was appealing that error. Even though the issues on appeal do not have to do with a lot of the material in the file, it still has to be assembled for the appeal. I began to work on it but could not finish and they told me a law student coming in next week would probably spend about two weeks putting the whole case in the proper order and making all the copies.

May 11, 2009 Hours Worked: 8-3  Time written: 5:18 pm

Today I reviewed some documents on a tax case. I went to the Registry of deeds and spoke with a title examiner who was recording information on tax documents for the City. I also watched as his used a computer system to run down information on a price of property was was being sold because the property owner owed too much money to the back. the attorney explained to me a little bit about the process of bidders needing to know how much money was owed on the property before they could bid. The Registry of Deeds is an old building but had huge tv's that displayed information scattered throughout the building. There was old dusty books but most people were using the modern computers at the building.

May 8, 2009 Time Worked: 8-2:30  Time written 2:38 pm 

On Friday I went into the office to finish what I started the day before which was filing the big city case. It took at least two hours. After I finished filing the case, which filled up the whole 4 draw filing cabinet, Mr. Stanton tried to explain the case to me once again, but it was just too confusing I didn't really understand it at all. After that he took me out to lunch with the other lawyers. Sometimes on Fridays all the city lawyers and a few close friends get together and go to lunch to catch up on the week and talk law and how there week in court and everything went. It was nice to see how they react to each other speaking and how different cases were saw and the outcome of different cases. It was good to meet all the lawyers as well. 

May 7, 2009 Hour worked: 8-2:30 Time written 11:11pm

 Today I worked on Civil rights case involving a City employee. It was a very large case taking up 4 draws of a filing cabinet, each draw held 3 feet of paper meaning it was more than 12 feet of just paperwork! I was asked to sort through the correspondence since January between the lawyers, court, and people involved in the case and it took more than four hours and was hundreds of pieces of paper including letters, motions, doctor’s opinion and expert reports. Some documents were marked “confidential” and the lawyer explained to me that when he spoke to different Departments in the City he had to mark certain things that way otherwise they could be subject to a law in Massachusetts that says almost all records held by the City are available to the public. However, because the case was in litigation he had things that he had to discuss with Department Heads in confidence so they are marked “Confidential” so that he could do his job and represent the City. But he said that he may still have to disclose the records to a judge “in camera” to make sure they could be kept confidential. A Judge could then make sure he was not violating the law. The lawyer told me he must always be careful to keep to the facts and his legal opinion on a case so that he does not make an inappropriate comment that could harm the city or its reputation. Even though I spent hours on the case, and even though he tried to explain portions of it to me it seemed way too complex. 

May 6, 2009 Time worked: 7-3:30 Time Written 11:53 pm

Today I got to look at a whole new side of the law system. I was taken to The Probate Court in Cambridge. I would Shadow Mr. Quinn. His job consists of a majority of cases in Divorce court, and seeing that clients get paid there child support and all that stuff. I sat in on a case that consisted of a man who had not paid his child support in about 3 months and over time that bill ads up. He was taken to court by his ex wife who wanted the expenses that were due to her and her child. The man didn't really have a lot of money he stated that he was out of a job and times were very hard. The court has had enough of him and sentenced him to make a payment today before 3 o clock or else he would be held in jail until he could come up with the amount that was put on the table for him to pay. He then went out and made a phone call to try and get the money. The Probate court deals with hearings that involve divorced couples trying to get payments and awarding property and money from one another. It was a change to see this and it was pretty interesting to see what goes on in divorced couples lives. 

May 5, 2009 7-1:30 pm  1:30 pm

Today Mr. Stanton had me shadow Frank Craig. Mr. Craig is a criminal defense lawyer. After hearing about what he does, which is try to get the best possible plea or make his client be proven innocent. I went to the Boston Manciple Court today and sat in on a case. The case was about a 17 year old adult that was being charged with carrying a gun without a license, trespassing, loaded weapon and resisting arrest. The 17 year old pleaded guilty and made a plea with the common wealth that he would serve 18 months in prison. This is mandatory. In the state of mass. if you are caught with a weapon you have to serve 18 months in prison. His plea consisted of 18 months and then 1 year of probation. The 17 year old had no high school education either. I was sitting about 10 feet away from him and saw him get taken away in chains around his feet. It was a very interesting case and i was excited to see it.