Independent Component #1

How to: Civil Litigation

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7YXZ4Tr_P8wcEx2NS00R3BWNDQ

This is a link to a video I have made with information in regards to the Civil Litigation. 

Go check it out!

Independent Component #1

How to: Case File

The image above demonstrates any ordinary case file that is kept by attorneys that organizes documents important to a case. The contents include papers that are categorized in several categories. For the purpose of this example, we will be focusing on four specific categories: 

Case Law, Attorney's Notes, Exhibits, and Correspondence.

This would be the inside of the case file with the four categories organizing all individual documents. 

These types of documents are found within the category of Case Law. This category will include all types of research concerning the case at hand. Since this case file is for the mock trial, it contains information on Missouri laws and statutes concerning murder. The homicide of the pig brothers occurred in the state of Missouri so then this information would be very useful. 

These papers are all notes that my partner and I did during the trial and prior to the trial. These papers would fall under the Attorney's Notes category. Notes can be taken during trial and prior to it. Notes prior to trial can include information such as questions you plan to ask witnesses, opening statements, and closing arguments. 

The next category in the case file is exhibits. Now not all exhibits can fit in a case file, so what can be done in those situations are pictures, as shown above. There can also be documents that are important to case. Normally the exhibits are organized into a list to make exhibits easier to access. It is also important to know that 1-100 are normally marked as exhibits for the petitioner and the following hundred go to the defendant. If the exhibits on one side exceed 100 then the exhibit number rises to 1-300 for the petitioner and 301-600 for the defendant. 

The last category is correspondence and this normally includes emails exchanged between party members (clients and attorneys) and between opposing parties. This image above is of a packet that can qualify as correspondence as it is instructions sent from the teacher to the students with information on the case. This is an exchange of information and therefore is under the correspondence.

Other categories include Pleadings (court documents such as subpoenas, complaints that have been filed, etc.) and Miscellaneous (any miscellaneous documents pertaining to the case). 

Blog 14: Interview 3 Preparation

It's Interview 3 already!?! Wow, time flies fast!

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

I plan to interview a paralegal at my mentor's law firm. This person specializes in assisting attorneys with legal cases that go to trial. She normally helps my mentor prepare for trials, contact clients on their behalf, file and send important documents, and with any other matters concerning cases or in a law firm. 

2.  Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview.  What is the date and time of the interview? 

I plan to interview my interviewee in two weeks.

3.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.

What do you think a client needs to know when their attorney is trying to avoid a case from going to trial?

What information should a client know and understand before going to trial?  

4.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).

How would one go about informing the public of alternatives to going to trial, such as mediation and arbitration? 

Who do you believe I should interview in regards to avoiding trials? 

5.  Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ. 

Would you say that pre-trial motions are effective most of the time in avoiding a trial? Why or why not?

What do you believe is the most effective way in avoiding a trial?

Blog 13: 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

Mentoring at a Law Firm

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

I have been mentoring at the law firm known as Driskell & Gordon--Attorneys at Law. 

2.   Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?

My contact, or mentor, is Mr. John L. Gordon. I feel that is more than qualified to be my mentor because he has had over a decade of experience within the field of law, specifically conservatorships, trusts and wills, and estate planning. He has also taught classes on Business Law at Citrus College. Not only this, but he has given a few seminars concerning Special Needs Trusts for the mentally disabled and has drafted many of these trusts.

3.   How many hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right-hand side of your blog).

I have completed 57.8 Hours during the school year. 

4.   Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.


For the majority of my mentorship, I completed deposition summaries, which are basically summaries of a deposition transcript. A deposition is a questioning where the opposing counsels and a witness must meet along with a court reporter to transcribe everything asked. This transcript can then be used within a trial. I was present during one deposition and I summarized the deposition transcript for that very deposition. I have organized several case files, which are the files that keep all records, relevant documents, notes, and court documents that are involved in a certain case. I have had several discussion with my mentor concerning certain topics such as a closing argument, how agreements before trials occur, and mediation. I have completed the required 50 hours, but my mentor and I have come to an agreement that if I were to need any more hours or if he was working on something interesting that he would like to share with me, we will meet up again and continue my mentorship. 

Blog 12: Holiday Project Update

The new year is here and the senior project continues!

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?

I have already completed my required mentorship hours and I really didn't do anything towards my senior project besides work on my notebook. 

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

I had done a bit of research for my senior project and learned a bit about conservatorships and guardianships, which is the type of law my mentor practices. I also learned a bit on relationships between a client and their attorney, which is what my essential question will be based on. I plan to research a bit more on different types of cases involving attorney and client agreement and disagreement as well as the psychology of how best to serve a customer (this may seem a bit farfetched but I feel it will be necessary for my research on the client and attorney relationship). 

3.  Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?

For my third interview, I plan to interview one of the paralegals at the law firm I mentor at because she seems to be the closest to the clients as she is always welcoming new clients and sometimes talks to clients on behalf of my mentor. I also would like to research a bit more on paraegals and the impact they make in the environment of a law firm and the client and attorney relationship and the opposing counsel relationships, as they also interact with the opposing counsel on behalf of attorneys.