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Equal Justice?
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No, I'm not dead. I just have rather limited internet access. It's amazing what an Xbox 360, satellite tv, and work can do to pass the time.
As for work... I'm volunteering at a nonprofit organization called the South Carolina Centers for Equal Justice. They provide free legal services for civil non-fee generating cases for clients who cannot afford to pay for an attorney. They also do divorces and child custody in cases of physical abuse and habitual intoxication. Although that's supposed to be just a small part of what they do, it turns out to constitute about 90% of the caseload. Fortunately, there is another nonprofit in the area that helps abused women obtain orders of protection, or we'd probably be doing those all the time too.
I was amazed at the sheer amount of domestic violence cases we get, and some of the stories I hear are almost sickening. Of course, we've got acouple male clients whose wives are falsely claiming domestic violence just to get their way (and it sometimes works). The attorneys I work with joke that by the end of the summer I'll be a top-notch divorce lawyer. It's somewhat ironic that I'm getting so much experience in the field that from the start I knew I wanted to stay out of. And it's a little disheartening to realize that I probably won't see the end of most of the cases I'm working on by the time I leave.
But even in that field, I'm learning a lot about the practical side of lawyering. So far they've had me drafting pleadings, motions, affadavits, and discovery documents, just to name a few. I've filed papers with the court, served some defendants by mail, witnessed the signing of a will or two, and accompanied the attorneys to several court hearings and a couple settlement negotiations. Not to mention dealing with clients. We get the full range, from college educated people who are just down on their luck to homeless illiterates who you can smell as soon as they step off the elevator. Fortunately, the latter have been few and far between.
And we do get the occasional non-divorce matter. Consumer credit and real estate fraud are some of the more interesting ones.
All in all I'm enjoying the work and learning a lot. It's a friendly office and everyone's really helpful when I'm confused.
Aside from work, I've been hanging out with my friend Robert and his girlfriend during the weekends. I got back on Harley week, so we hit the biker bars and took pictures and such. I'll get them posted when I get a chance, but it might take a while.
I met up with Jess once so far, during the first week I got back. Today's her birthday, and I tried to call her, but the phone number I had doesn't work anymore. She'd mentioned something about losing it, so it's not a big surprise, but I don't know how to contact her anymore. Oh well, it's not like that was going anywhere anyways.
So all in all, the summer's going along okay. One of these days I might manage to fix the router and be able to get online on my own computer. Until I do, don't expect to see too much of me, but I'll try to drop in now and again.
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