Post #12

I checked out my hours and activities log today, and it looks like 90% of my work revolved around the one big case and its investigation. Really, that was a huge part of my internship. I found that a much more valuable component of my understanding, however, was the criminal drug case. I saw the events as I was writing and submitting them, which reinforced the cause and effect of my writing and gave me purpose to everything I did. I was asked to return for the summer, and when I do, I'll see what happens in the motorcycle club case because the hearings are scheduled for then.

I learned the basic criminal defense procedure, as evidenced by my summary of the case. I saw the end result, which I was happy with. Most importantly, I became emotionally involved in this case. I met the defendant a couple of times when he arrived for consult, and tried to contact him over the summer when he was delirious in the hospital. I saw that he was no threat to society and it made my writing on his behalf all the more persuasive. So my final lesson was the importance of your relationship with the client, which ultimately gave my writing the edge it needed for my supervisor to edit virtually nothing and bring sentencing level down nine levels to home confinement. I can't claim too much credit for this, but I can see that what I wrote played a part, which is hugely rewarding in itself.