Blog 3 - First Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?

I plan to interview a attorney in the firm that I am mentoring at. I decided to not interview my mentor because I feel that I need someone else's perspective in regards to the type of questions that I am going to ask.

2.  Five questions will be assigned to all seniors to ask.  What additional questions do you plan to ask?  Ask open-ended questions. 

• What inspired you to become an attorney? or Why did you decide to become an attorney?
• What are your specialties?
• What kind of environment do you think should a law firm have?
• How should attorneys be towards their clients?
• What do you believe to be the most important factor to maintaining a good relationship with your clients?
• Have you ever had bad experiences concerning your relationship with a client? (You don't have to tell me the details of what happened. This could be a generalization and does not have to pertain to specific clients.)
• What, in your opinion, would lead to a fast and easy decision on a case?
• Would you say that a good relationship with the opposing counsel would be better for your case? Why?

Blog 2 - Summer Mentorship

This is the law firm that I have been doing my mentorship at. My mentor is one of the owners of the establishment. If you look closely, you can see me walking to the entrance. 

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

    Mentor:               John L. Gordon

    Occupation:         Attorney

    Law Firm:           Driskell and Gordon -- Attorneys at Law

    Location:             180 N Glendora Ave.
                              Glendora, CA 91741

    Office Number:   (626) 914-7809

    For more information visit: http://www.driskellgordon.com/
 
2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?

   Mr. Gordon, I feel, is more than qualified to be my mentor. He is great at what he does. He completed his undergraduate studies at Azusa Pacific University and received a Juris Doctor at the College of Law at the University of La Verne. He specializes in conservatorships, guardianships, and civil and business litigation. He is frequently appointed by the court to advise and serve as a PVP in cases concerning conservatorships and guardianships.  He also has conducted several seminars on Special Needs Trusts for the mentally disabled and has drafted many (and I mean many) such Trusts. Aside from this, he has been an instructor of Business Law at Citrus College.

  My mentor is a respected individual and is well known in the Los Angeles County. He is known for his integrity and compassion. As aforementioned, he is great at what he does and I am glad I chose him as my mentor.

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

• What is the best possible way to create an inviting and hospitable environment for your clients?

• On the first day of my mentorship, my mentor shared with me that it is very important to be compassionate towards your clients because in many cases, they are dealing with outside problems that may not pertain to the matters at hand. He also told me that this is the very reason that when a client enters the door, the attorneys, secretary, and para legals try their best to make the clients feel welcome and have their meeting be quick and easy. 

• How does an attorney maintain a good relationship with their clients?

• For an attorney to excel in a case, he or she must have a good relationship with their clients. An important factor of a good relationship between attorney and client is communication. There may be instances where clients do not comply with what the attorneys advise them to do and in other instances, the attorney may be lazy and not do what is required of him or her.  

• What is the best way to maintain a good relationship with the opposing council in a case?

• My mentor is very-well known and is greeted by many attorneys at court. This is because in many instances the attorneys that greet him are attorneys that been on the opposing side, or council, of a case he had. He maintains good relationships with many of them and as I've witnessed, a good relationship with the opposing council ensures an easier and a more pleasant ending to a case. 

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

   The most important thing that I have learned from this experience is that those who win cases are not those who are necessarily right, but those who can present the best and are the most convincing. My mentor and I had a talk one day about this. I feel that this was one of the most important things that he taught me and I feel that it essentially applies to everything in life, because the prettiest and the most appealing is what catches your eye. Unfortunately, in many cases, those who are right don't win and both the attorneys and clients have to deal with these things.

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

    At first, I was keen on making my topic "business law" and I had many ideas, but as my mentorship began, I noticed that my mentor didn't get a lot of cases concerning business litigation. He received a lot of cases concerning civil litigation. I feel that if I change my topic to "civil litigation" (also known as civil disputes that do not include criminal action) I will have more information available because I will have more exposure to civil dispute cases than business litigation cases.

    I have decided to change my senior topic to "civil litigation".

Blog 1 – Senior Final Lesson/Interview Reflection

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

    The first lesson I saw that helped me better understand the senior project was the lesson on Business Administration by Karla Vanessa Rodriguez. This lesson was one of the first lesson that I witnessed where the presenter had placed certain items concerning her topic around the room. I learned that by placing items related to your topic around the room will help your audience have a better focus on your topic. This way, if an audience member becomes “bored”, they have something to look at that will help them visualize what your topic might be about. 
    The second lesson I saw that helped me better understand the senior project was the presentation on Primary Care by Joseph Garcia. From this presentation, I learned that an interesting video on a topic that most find not very interesting, would be a great idea for a hook. I also learned that providing a snack before the presentation will keep your audience occupied as they pay attention. Food is very helpful because most people can’t fall asleep or become “bored” while they are eating; therefore, if the audience members are munching on something as you example your topic, your audience will become a lot more attentive.
    The third and last lesson I saw that helped me better understand the senior project was the presentation on Early Childhood Development by Patty Arellano. What Patty had done was, she had us all pay attention to her presentation and by the end of the presentation if we had not dozed off or gone into “outer space” we would receive a treat. This motivation to stay awake really helped and I noticed that most of the audience members paid attention to Patty’s presentation. She had also included several personal experiences she encountered during her mentorship that were humorous. I noticed that the audience really paid attention to what she had to say because when the activity came around, mostly everyone understood what she had presented and were ready for the activity. 

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

    One thing I learned about the senior project from the interviews that will help me get off to a good start for next year was to stay on task and not to procrastinate. Understandably, most people at Ipoly procrastinate, but senior year is unlike any other year. It requires a lot of work and effort, not to mention time management and prioritizing your time efficiently. A specific example I was given by the seniors that I interviews was to check the senior blog constantly because as Ingrid had stated “the blog will be [my] Bible” for next year.

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

    I have been considering the topic of business law because I want to become a business lawyer in the future. I feel that a mentorship in business law will provide me with a unique experience that will help me in the future when I am looking for a job as a business lawyer. 

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).

    I was considering an EQ along the lines of “What is the importance of law in a business setting?” but I feel that it might be too vague. I was also considering “What might a business lawyer need to become successful?” but that also seems too vague. 

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

    I actually already found a mentor. He is a business and litigation lawyer who has his own law firm in Glendora. If I were to still be in need of a mentor, I would have possibly thought of going online and searched for law firms close by that deal with business or corporate law, which are basically the same thing.