Internship Learning: How Law Students Can Identify Law-Related Areas of Learning

Like students everywhere, you may have learned to rely heavily on teachers to document your learning for you. Using exams, quizzes, reports, and class projects, instructors traditionally assume all responsibility for iden-tiying what students have learned. Because of instructors' advanced knowledge and experience, this approach usually works well.




Evidence is everywhere of new skills you have learned on the job. Your personal internship records reflect countless achievements. Records kept by your office also provide many good indicators.

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Recognizing when you have learned something new may be one of the most important lifelong skills you will acquire. It is the first step toward becoming your own best teacher throughout your career.

Listed below are several kinds of records you can review to find abundant examples of internship learning:

• Your pocket calendar or personal planner contains information on the assignments you were given. Using that information, think about both general work skills and specialized, legal skills that were involved.
   
• Your old to-do lists and written instructions provide even more details about projects you performed.
   
• The time sheets or time slips prepared for your office's billing functions contain brief descriptions of all your billable activities.
   
• The total amount of the billable hours you produced may be an in pressive indicator of your skills level in itself.
   
• The checklist or tickler sheet inside the front cover of client files may jog your memory regarding the documents, research, and investigative work you completed.
   
• Review client files to locate the documents you drafted.
   
• Also review client files to identify examples of new case management skills, client liaison work, and organizational abilities.
   
• Your personal reference file is another source of work samples that estify to your internship learning.

In identifying their internship learning, students have a tendency to overlook general work skills, believing they are somehow unimportant. The truth is that general work skills are sometimes the most valuable skills of all, because they transfer to a wide variety of work settings both in and outside of the conventional law office. For many students, these are the skills that should be heavily emphasized on resumes and in job interviews.

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As you review records of your internship activities, try to identify examples of the following general work skills. They are listed roughly in tlie same order in which many employers seem to value them.

• Working on your own initiative.

Example: Noticing-without being told- that several additional steps were needed on a certain project and completing those steps with little or no assistance.

• Organizational ability.

Examples: Monitoring the progress of a complex client matter including the coordination of others' work; also, bringing order and clarity to a large, disorganized client file.

" Handling multiple tasks.

Example: Maintaining progress on several projects or client matters simultaneously.

• Computer expertise.

Examples: Document assembly, (preferably using macros), database management, spreadsheets, Westlaw or Lexis, internet research, automated office management systems and specialized transactional software such as real estate transfers, probate, or estate planning.

• Writing and drafting skills.

Example: Virtually anything one full page or longer that involved organizing detailed information and conve ing it clearly.

" Legal research skills.

Examples: A research memorandum to your supervisor. Alternatively, you might list legal questions you researched aid the legal resources used.

" Factual investigation skills.

Examples: Any information gathering you may have performed by phone (such as to governmental agencies), by mail (such as for Freedom of information Act requests), in personal interviews, at courthouses, at registries of deeds or probate, on the Internet, or by other means.

• Interpersonal skills.

Example: Instances in which you had to communicate effectively with clients or others, particularly in difficult situations.

• Problem-solving ability.

Example: Quickly thinking of a solution in a crisis ituation.

• Effective follow-up.

Example: Being able to follow directions without a litch and complete the assignment on time. This is a basic requirement in overy office. Be prepared to cite examples of this key skill.

The key is to consider every internship activity with this question in mind: What useful things did it teach me? Internship learning goes far be ond technical, law office procedures. To maximize your career prospects both in and out of conventional law office settings, recognize examples of the broader, general work skills outlined here and be ready to cite examples of thi-m in reports to your school and especially in your job search.

After identifying general work skills, you then need to identify the skills that re ate specifically to legal work and to the specialty areas of your choice. The technical skills sought by one employer may be somewhat different from the skills sought by another, and you want to maximize your options. To ensure the widest possible variety of career choices, document as large an inventory or technical skills as possible.

This section divides technical skills into three major areas. The first skills area is that of office systems-important in a wide range of employment settings. The second skills area covers litigation-support skills, which are useful in a majority of law office settings. And finally, the third skills area includes specialized skills in transactional work such as contracts, corporate law, and real estate.

Skills in Office Systems

A working knowledge of law office systems is especially valuable in solo practices, where paralegals not only assist with client matters but typically help manage the office's day-to-day operations as well. Your knowledge of office systems is also useful in corporate and nonprofit settings. Because these categories probably offer the greatest number of opportunities for conventional, entry-level paralegal employment, documenting your skills in this area can be highly beneficial.

As you inventory your systems skills, keep an additional question in mind: Is your knowledge of law office systems sufficient to help an attorney open a new office? More than a few paralegal graduates have created a professional niche for themselves in this way.

Experience with computerized systems is especially important. Inc reasingly, offices want paralegals with sophisticated computer skills. In fact, offices that are poorly automated may seek your expertise in implementing better systems. Even if the networking and software programs you worke :l with in your internship office are different from what is used elsewhere, your general familiarity with such programs is of value. For example, he steps needed to work with one time-and-billing software program an usually very similar to the steps needed to work with another. Learning a slightly different version usually takes only a few minutes, so generic familiarity with such systems should always be emphasized.

Litigation-Support Skills

Law offices often see litigation as falling into narrow areas of specialization. Plaintiffs' personal injury work, medical malpractice defense, and iebt collection are three examples of this narrow view. Although that view may be appropriate for very experienced paralegals, the entry-level intern is smart to look at litigation-support skills from a much broader perspective

Litigation formalities may be structured differently in different courts, but all civil court actions have certain basics in common. Interns whc are not routinely involved in litigation may find that some assignments nevertheless develop litigation-like skills. Identify skills you are developing in each of the following categories for possible use in your job search:

• Investigation and fact gathering: This category covers a wide range of activities including, for example, interviewing witnesses, gathering ledical and employment information, and verifying financial data.
   
• Legal research: This includes statutes, case law, government regulations, and court rules.
   
• Drafting and filing pleadings: This normally includes complaints or answers.
   
• Service of process: This includes, for example, drafting the necessar - documents, making arrangements with a process server, and verifying that service was made.
   
• Formal discovery procedures: Examples include drafting interrogatories, requesting admissions, arranging depositions, and summarizing the position transcripts.
   
• Drafting and filing motions: This may also include the drafting of sporting affidavits and memoranda of law.
   
• Trial preparation: Examples include organizing a trial notebook, lir ing up witnesses, and preparing exhibits.
   
• Enforcing judgments: Typically, this involves preparing documents for effecting liens, attachments, wage garnishments, and so on.

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