Blog 11: Lesson 1 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson, and why?

I am proud that I managed to share some of the interesting things that I’ve learned. There have been some cool things over the past 3 months that I learned that I would have liked to tell other and Lesson 1 gave me that chance.

2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.

I would give myself an AP or lower. First I’m just assuming I made the 8 minute mark I never checked my time but I’ve been told is was about 8 minutes. I think I deserve an AP at best because I don’t think I engaged the audience very well. I should have come up with a better hook and near the end I had a long pause which just didn’t look good to me. There were also some things I planned to say and just ended up blanking out on it altogether.

3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson?  How can you use that knowledge to give a better Lesson 2?

I would try to make a better hook and conclusion and come up with better notes so I can remember to say all of what I wanted to say. I would also make sure that rehearse more so that I don’t have to keep referring to notes as often. One thing that I think I should do for Lesson 2 is come up with better props and visuals. For Lesson 2 I will try to rehearse my presentation more than I did with Lesson 1.

Blog 10 - Interview 2 Reflection

1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)

I guess I would say that I’m really just shadowing him. I’ve been observing what my mentor does at work. He also lets me read the paperwork from some of his old cases. I feel like I could be doing more meaningful things. There are some other experts at the law firm my mentor used to work at.

2.  How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?  

He is a lawyer that attends the same church as I do. It wasn’t really hard to convince him. Even before I asked him to be my mentor he was already giving me advice.

3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship?  How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship with this person

I would rate our relationship a 7 or 8 out of 10. I didn’t know really well before I asked him to be my mentor. With the time I spent with him I would definitely I have gotten to know him a lot better.

4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?

He answered all the questions very nicely and it was good that I was able to schedule the interview with him when he had the chance. He knew what he needed to say. I would say I still need to work on doing more meaningful work. I haven’t done any challenging tasks so far. I think I’m just going to ask my mentor what I could practice to sharpen my skills.

Link to Audio:

https://soundcloud.com/masterej23/interview-2

Blog 9 - Advisory Prep 3

1. State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person (I have completed the interview, I have scheduled the interview, I have not scheduled the interview, etc).

I have a mentor. He is the same mentor that I’ve had from the beginning. regarding the interview i have not scheduled it with him yet but I hope to interview him next week.

2. At this point, your research is probably guiding your studies toward more specific areas within your topic.  Name the area or two you find most promising and explain your reasons.   

Right now I’m looking into the chapters of the bankruptcy code that are used when a debtor is filing for bankruptcy. The Chapters I hear about most often is chapter 7 bankruptcy and chapter 13 bankruptcy. These are the types of bankruptcy most individual file for.

3. What kinds of sources do you think will help you in the next month to gain more research depth?  Where will you go to get them?

One type of resource that I think will be very helpful is a book that my mentor recommended to me. He has already shown me where I can find the book. He showed me a website that is used to find a lot of helpful resources on law so I plan to order it online.

4. Write down a possible EQ.  Please don't worry about wording other than ensuring that it provides the option for multiple correct answers.  At this point, the senior team is most interested in understanding your thought process.

What is the best way a bankruptcy lawyer can help his client?

Blog 8: Independent Component 1 Proposal

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

For my independent component I have decided to use the experience from the mock trial the mock trial. This gave me some good experience on how lawyers work in court. I got a good idea on what lawyers have to do in court. As a defense lawyer I hope I did my best to guide my client through the court process. It was my job to put any reasonable doubt into the minds of jurors.

I could also do more research on how bankruptcy lawyers have to do and know to help their client. I can study some techniques that they for when they negotiate. I want to try and make some flow chart or step-by-step guide on what bankruptcy lawyers have to do.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

The mock trial only completed part of the hours. I had a week of preparation and I spent it looking over the witness information and client information. With all that information I was able to strategize on how I can advocate for my client. I have a criminal law book that I will study. I found some articles on what a lawyer should do in court.

As for the guide I’m thinking about doing, I’ll research what a bankruptcy lawyer has to know, then I’ll start creating the steps on what a bankruptcy lawyer should do and how to handle certain situations.

3.  Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

It really helped me sharpen my critical thinking skills. I had to plan ahead and know what to say. I would also say that I sharpened up my research skills. In a collaboration with the prosecution we got the witnesses to answer some question. Most of this was done outside of class. I got an idea of what the witnesses were going to say. This helped me prepare for a cross-examination.

The guide will help me get a better understanding of bankruptcy lawyers. I’ll have more knowledge on how to advise people in debt. I’ll know what I’d have to do in certain cases.

4.  Update your Senior Project Hours log.

I'll update the link on the blog.

Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert?

My mentor is Daniel Benitez an admitted lawyer since December 2014. He works at the Pool Law Group Firm. His office is at 3633 Inland Empire Blvd #550, Ontario, CA 91764. There are of course other lawyers at the office. My mentor has an assistant that deals in bank law. There are also paralegals that deal in other things like immigration. The office has boxes full of documents from previous cases.

Mr. Benitez goes to court to deals with cases. He has told me about how he has won a case before. He has given me a few documents to read and has told me where to look when it comes to resources.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1. What is your education background?
2. What did you study?
3. What was it like for you in law school?
4. Is there any other previous experience you had before you officially became a lawyer?
5. What can you tell me about the firm where you work?

Blog 6 - Advisory Prep

1. What has worked well for you concerning senior project this year?  What has made it a positive experience for you?  

Working with a mentor is working out pretty well. When I interviewed him I learned some pretty interesting things about how he feels about his career. He has been a very helpful to me and he has already done a lot for me.

2. What are you finding difficult concerning senior project?  How can you adapt to make that portion work better for you?  How might the senior team help?

I need to figure out a schedule that will allow me to visit my mentor more. I also need to figure out what else I can do for an independent component. In order to solve this I should talk to my mentor and figure out when are the best times to see him. I could also ask him about independent component ideas. regarding the independent component the senior team has already helped me with the mock trial. I’m not quite sure how the senior team can help with me seeing my mentor more.

Blog 5 - Interview 1 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?

I learned some things I can do to be a successful lawyer. For example I was told to sharpen my writing skills to help me communicate my arguments on paper. I also learned what to expect in Law school regarding the first year,.

2. Did I get additional resources and contacts?  What is the most useful?  Why?

Yes I got additional resources and contacts. I was reminded of a resource he gave me along time ago. It’s a Criminal Law book that gives some examples and explanations of Legal terms. The most useful contact is Javier Castillo because he is another attorney that can offer some insight and his experiences.

3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me?

The interviewee is my mentor. He passed the bar exam and is a licensed attorney with experience in court. before he officially became a lawyer he worked with the District Attorney on some cases. He currently works at the Pool group law firm.

Interview audio

Blog 4 - House Advisory Prep 1

Through my senior topic I hope to understand what the career of a lawyer is like. I want to know what is great about being a lawyer and what is not so great. I’ve been interested in being a lawyer for sometime now and I know that it is going to take a lot of hard work to become one. The senior project gives me the chance to get some first hand experience. I want to learn all of the hard and complicated things a lawyer has to do to win cases in court and get good deals for their clients.

Blog 3 - First Interview Preparation

Interview

1. I plan on interviewing mentor. When I went to his office he was always giving me good information about being a lawyer. Now I feel like I can get other good information from him about his career..
2. Additional Questions
1. What can you tell me about your experience being a lawyer?
2. What advice to have for anyone interested in being a lawyer?
3. What are the best and worst parts about being a lawyer?
4. Is there anything else you would like to tell me?

Blog 2 - Summer Mentorship

A copy of a Supreme Court Decision my mentor gave to me.

1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.

Name: Daniel Benitez

Phone #: 909-627-4559

Organization: Pool Law Group

2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?     

         This person is a lawyer. He passed the bar exam and went to the University of La Verne College of Law. He works with other lawyers and paralegals. Before he got his job at Pool Law Group he worked with the District Attorney.

3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.    

         What knowledge or experience should I have in order to become a lawyer?

         How can lawyers best represent their clients?

         What are some ways legal problems can be solved?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

         I learned that lawyers have very interesting careers. The job requires a person to be persuasive. After reading some documents that went to court I noticed how lawyers have to use facts and examples to prove their case. They would have to think of solutions that would help their client the best.

5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did mentorship help you make your decision?  Please explain.

         I’ve decided that my topic will be on law and legal studies. It will be on Bankruptcy Law. My mentorship basically introduced this type of law to me. It showed me how when people have debts they can’t pay a lawyer can help them with bankruptcies or foreclosures.

Blog 1 – Senior Final Lesson/Interview Reflection

1.  What three lessons were most helpful for you to see, and why?

It was most helpful for me to see criminal law, negligence law, and teaching. The topics I am interested in are law and teaching. The presentations about law helped me see what lawyers do like defend people and review documents in court. The teaching presentation helped me see how teachers need to do to help their students learn.

2. List one thing that you learned about the senior project in interviews that will help you get off to a good start?

In the senior interviews I learned that it is good to get a mentor and learn a lot in the beginning.

3. What topic(s) are you considering, and why?

I am interested in topics concerning law and teaching. I want to pursue law as a career because I want to study the law and I like how lawyers have to think of ways to win cases. I think teaching is a good topic because I get to help people learn.

4. What EQ do you think might be interesting to consider in guiding a project like this? (Please don't worry about any sort of formula...we want this question to come from your genuine interest).

What is the best way for a lawyer to succeed in court?

5. What are some ideas you have about finding summer mentorship?

I know a lawyer at my church and I’m considering asking him to mentor me. I can also look for a mentorship at my sister’s school.