Blog 24: Last Presentation Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

I am most proud of the experience that I have gained this past year.I want to pursue law as a career but I barely did any research. This project has given me many opportunities to learn more about the career.

(2) Questions to Consider

a. What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation?  Use the component contract to defend that assessment.

AE    P       AP    CR    NC

An AP mainly because I don’t think I used my time effectively in the presentation.I also could have done more to justify my answers.

b. What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project? Use the component contract to defend that assessment.

AE    P       AP    CR    NC

An  AP. I have done well on most of the work on the Senior project but I turned in some interviews late and I got an NC on Lesson 2 so I don’t think I deserve a P.

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

The overall project went very well. I didn’t have any problems with research or components. I really liked the interviews because they were very helpful and it was nice getting advice from real attorneys.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project?

I would go back and try to schedule more to meet with my mentor more. The past year I did not get to see him as much as I wanted to due to scheduling issues.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.

It has been very helpful. I have wanted to be a lawyer since I was 10 years old. This past year was filled with tons of research, a few visits to court, and contact with real lawyers. Being around my mentor has helped get good advice on how to become a lawyer and what a lawyer does.

Exit Interview

(1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers?  What is your best answer and why?

My EQ is How can a bankruptcy lawyer best help his client reach a fair settlement?

My answers are Experience, Communication, and Transactional and Financial skills. Communication is my best answer because a lawyer has to communicate with his client, with the judge and with the trustee.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

First it began with some mentorship. Then I began to do research about what skills a bankruptcy lawyer needs. The interviews also helped because I keep hearing about how important it is to talk to your client.

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

One problem was that my research was beginning to sound repetitive. I kept reading about the same thing no matter what looked for. I solved it by adjust my search.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

The first source is an online source call “What it means to be a Bankruptcy Lawyer” and the second source is also an online source called “9 Essential Skills for aspiring Lawyers.” The first source helped show me what a bankruptcy lawyer does and how he has to do it. The second source told me about the skills necessary to achieve the settlement.

Sources:

Love, Samantha. "9 Essential Skills for Aspiring Lawyers." Oxford Royale. Oxford Royale.6 Dec. 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.

Barnes, Harrison. "What does it means to be a bankruptcy lawyer." Law Crossing. Law Crossing. n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.

Blog 22: Independent Component 2

Me in front of the courthouse

LITERAL

(a) Include this statement: “I, Ethan Porsona, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents about 30 hours of work.”

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

• It was my mentor Daniel Benitez that helped me with this component. I did not really use any other source.

(c) Update your Independent Component 2 Log (which should be under your Senior Project Hours link)

• senior project hours

(d) Explain what you completed.    

• I went to a courthouse in Pomona to view court trials and see lawyers in action. I attempted to watch the trails and take notes on what was happening and what the lawyers were doing. My main goal was to observe how the lawyer would act with their clients.

(e) Defend your work and explain the component's significance and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.   

• Over the past couple of weeks I went to a court house in Pomona. First I had to plan which courthouse to attend and what time I could attend. The address of the courthouse I went to is 400 Civic Center Plaza Pomona, CA 91766. Before I went to see any trials I had to go to the sheriff’s office and ask which trials I was allowed to see. When I saw the trials they were very long. It took some cases at least a few days to reach a verdict. There was one lawyer that talked for about an hour straight before he sat down to let the other attorney start speaking. While listening to the lawyers I managed to take some notes.

Here are some of the notes I took

(f)How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped.

• One of my answers is communication and by watching these trials I was able to see how a lawyer communicates to the judge, the jury, the client, and the people on the stand. I notice how one lawyer asked very specific question to help support his argument.

Blog 21 - Interview 4 Reflection

I learned about some of the other important skills a lawyer needs to have. For example being able to multitask is one of them.

2.  How will what I learned affect my final lesson?

In my final lesson I might what discus some of them to my audience.

audio: https://soundcloud.com/masterej23/voice000012

Blog 20 Fourth Interview Questions

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?

I was thinking about interviewing Javier Castillo but I was also thinking about finding someone else to interview. He is a lawyer I happened to know but I don’t quite know what his expertise is.

2.  Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. Your focus should be finding answers to your EQ.

1. How long have you been practicing law?
2. What Type of law have you been practicing?
3. What kind of experience has helped you in your career?
4. What kind of experience helped you after law school?
5. What skills are important to master?
6. What kind of decisions are easy to make?
7. What kind of decisions are hard to make?
8. What type of cases have you had?
9. Who is your typical client?
10. What skills help you when dealing with a challenging case?
11. How much preparation occurs before a case?
12. What type of people do you work with?
13. What other training have you had besides law?
14. What is your approach to winning a case?
15. What do you think lawyers have to do to be more successful?
16. What makes a good lawyer?
17. What makes a bad lawyer?
18. What is the easiest part about being a lawyer?
19. What is the hardest part about being a lawyer?
20. How do you know that the case went well?

Blog 19: Third Answer

• EQ
• How can a bankruptcy lawyer best help his client reach a fair settlement?
• Answer #3 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*
• The best way a lawyer can help his client is using good financial skills.
• 3 details to support the answer
• Useful when reviewing client’s assets and debt.
• Helps when reorganizing plan of debt.
• Transaction skills are good to have.
• The research source(s) to support your details and answer
• Barnes, Harrison. "What does it mean to be a bankruptcy lawyer." Law Crossing. Law Crossing. n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
• Concluding Sentence
• In a field like bankruptcy law financial skills are going to be used a lot. There is going to be many moments where money and transactions are involved.

Answer 2

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1.  What is your EQ?

How can a bankruptcy lawyer best help his client reach a fair settlement?

2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

Communication is the best way a lawyer can help his client.

3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

Good experience will increase the chances of a lawyer getting a fair settlement.

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

Communication

1. Litigation in the courtroom
2. Talking with client
3. advising client

Experience

1. Won previous cases
2. Good knowledge about law.
3. recommendations sound good

5.  What printed source best supports your answer?

Communication

1. http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/bankruptcy/what-look-bankruptcy-lawyer.html

Experience

1. http://abovethelaw.com/2014/02/25-things-all-young-lawyers-should-know-in-order-to-not-screw-up-their-legal-careers/

6.  What other source supports your answer?

Communication

1. http://www.lawcrossing.com/article/900007794/What-it-is-Like-to-Practice-Bankruptcy-Law/

Experience

2. http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/bankruptcy/what-look-bankruptcy-lawyer.html

7.  Tie this together with a  concluding thought.

I believe these are both good answers. They may be a little vague but overall help answer my question. Communication is good because of how lawyer must always talk with the client and negotiate with lawyers. Experience is good because it shows the lawyer has used skills to win a case.