Zoya
Would anyone be willing to answer the questions for this quick written interview for my school assignment?
Would anyone would be willing to answer a few questions about their job in the legal field? I am a student at Purdue Global in LS100. I would need to use your name to submit to the professor of my class so she knows who I spoke with. I've included the questions below. Feel free to skip any questions you don't have time for- I'd be deeply grateful for any insight you can provide!
1. What are the educational requirements for your job?
2. On a typical workday, which task is the most frequent one to take up your time, and what would be a misconception about what a legal worker actually does?
3. Without disclosing any confidential or sensitive information, what is one type of ethical problem you encountered in your job and how have you resolved the problem?
4. What are the best aspects of your job and the worst aspects (if any)?
5. Did you have another career path in mind, and if so, what made you choose the legal route?
6. What do you hope to achieve in the future in your career?
7. Are there any particular systemic problems you have seen in your field in general?
8. Do you find balancing work and other obligations challenging, and if so, what methods do you use to balance work and other life obligations?
9. If you could say one thing to someone considering this path, what would it be?
10. If you had the ability to instantly fix one problem in your field, what would it be?
11. What is one rewarding memory from your job?
2 answers
DENNIS A BREEN
DENNIS A’s Answer
Hope you get an A! Make sure you thank Kim for her answer!
1. College then Law School.
2. On a typical day I am usually in Court for the most part then in the office for paper work.
3. Ethics is a major thing in law, the best defense is the truth - tell the client and adversaries the truth!
4. Best aspects happen in Court - see lots of people and meet new clients. Bad part - going to court when you lose!
5. I wanted to to teach but noticed teachers were trearted badly and needed good representation so I went to law school.
6. I am semi-retired and running for office so I want to win my election!
7. Wasting time. Going to Court and sitting around and waiting.
8. Over the years I coached baseball and when I had a game and was on trial I'd tell the Judge (in NYC Courts) and they usually let me leave early!
9. The best lawyers are usually the best people - be true to yourself and be honest and hardworking!
10. Cut down on the waiting time!
11. After I won a financial award for an injured worker, his wife came up to me n the hall and hugged me and thanked me and told me they have been trying to start a family and with this money they could! Made me feel great!
Good luck!
Thank you so much for taking the time to give me your answers Dennis- they're deeply appreciated!
Zoya
Kim Igleheart
Kim’s Answer
I did freelance legal support work for five years. I no longer do it, but, am happy to help with this assignment. Briefly, I retired from law enforcement, had a lawsuit against my department, and, once that settled I went to work initially for the attorney who handled my case, but later, for other attorneys as well. I worked mostly on criminal defense, police misconduct, and labor law cases. I formed my own company, was the sole employee, so had to handle billing as well as the workload.
1. What are the educational requirements for your job? None required. My experience in assisting on my own case for five years, and 25 years in law enforcement, prepared me for the role. Although, I do have a BA in Sociology as well.
2. On a typical workday, which task is the most frequent one to take up your time, and what would be a misconception about what a legal worker actually does? What took up most of my time was filing and following up on Open Records Requests, as well as doing document review. A common misconception ? Many people don't understand just how much of the legal work is done by people other than the attorneys. Paralegals, clerks, etc.
3. Without disclosing any confidential or sensitive information, what is one type of ethical problem you encountered in your job and how have you resolved the problem? It was a small problem. I noticed when reviewing a client's documents that her GPA on her transcript was considerably lower than that on her resume. I advised the attorney, and he tasked me with contacting her to have it corrected.
4. What are the best aspects of your job and the worst aspects (if any)? The best aspects are setting my own hours, my own rates, and deciding which cases to work on. The worst aspect was having to turn away work because I also had a full-time job.
5. Did you have another career path in mind, and if so, what made you choose the legal route? Doesn't apply. This was on the downhill side of my career, after five years I retired from both this position and my fulltime job. When I was in college, I never considered myself very intelligent, and definitely lacked self-confidence, so going into the legal field didn't occur to me.
6. What do you hope to achieve in the future in your career?n/a
7. Are there any particular systemic problems you have seen in your field in general? Yes. Legal Services are too costly for the average person to be able to bring a civil suit.
8. Do you find balancing work and other obligations challenging, and if so, what methods do you use to balance work and other life obligations? no. I'm a bit of a workaholic. Once I get going on an idea, I lose track of time. I have no family obligations, other than caring for the dog. When I got a big case that required a lot of time, I took vacation from my fulltime job.
9. If you could say one thing to someone considering this path, what would it be? You have to be resourceful and not take things personally. The smallest mistake could jeopardize the case, so some attorneys are wound a little tight. They want everything "yesterday." It's a lot of pressure, but, when you see how much wrong there is in the country, knowing you can be a part of trying to correct it is a good feeling.
10. If you had the ability to instantly fix one problem in your field, what would it be? Abuse of Process. The side with the expensive attorneys do all sorts of things to try to wear down the side that is strapped for cash.
11. What is one rewarding memory from your job? Being able to reach out to other attorneys and landing work on my own, without being referred by the attorney I was working for. Being recognized by the attorneys for my perspective on the cases - honestly, being called "smart" by an attorney feels pretty good!
I hope this has helped. Feel free to use my name.
Kim Igleheart
Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate that you took the time to write these thoughtful answers for each of my interview questions. Thank you!
Zoya