Post #6

Today I finished reviewing the binder of investigation and this is the final binder in this case that I need to review.

As of 1:00 today I was temporarily done with summarizing investigation. Now I am drafting a Motion for Departure for another defendant whom I met this summer in another case. This person had no history of criminal convictions, and his medical conditions make sentencing him pretty difficult. He is convicted of a drug related crime, which he plead to and helped the officers arrest other people who were involved in the drug situation with him. as it is, he won't receive the full length of his sentence or pleading guilty and cooperating with law enforcement, but we think that his health, age and his family should be taken into consideration in his his final sentencing. We wish he would get home confinement, but as his case is drug related, he is facing as long of a sentence as the defendant whose case I was just reading and summarizing up to this point! If this person is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, I don't think he will survive jail time. I really thought my English skills were applicable in this assignment, especially in the Stipulation of Facts section in which I describe his medical and family situation, as well as some background about the client. I emphasize what I think would appeal to the judge's pathos, of course, because this section of the document is the introduction and is not supposed to have any law until the end of it, in order to make a smooth transition to the remainder of the motion.

This assignment has shown me the importance of keeping templates on file. As I have no law education yet, I normally refer to previous things I wrote over the summer and items the paralegal and my supervisor have written that are similar to what I am writing in order to get a feel for how to present the relevant facts. I remember telling my supervisor about how I look forward to having the background in law that would familiarize me with these things, and she laughed. She said every day of legal work is like what I am experiencing, so having rough drafts and templates on hand are essential to writing legal documents.
I guess I will always be doing something I am not familiar with, as every case is different.