Barrister by day, Bacardi by night

Big Shot Law Clerk

Should I ever make it as a hot shot litigator, I'll attribute my success to working as a family law legal assistant.  I recently picked up a part-time gig with a solo practitioner over in Maryland.  We're involved with employment discrimination (plaintiff side) but most of the cases I've been handed are family disputes (e.g. divorces, custody, visitation, etc., etc., etc.).  As my boss says, I'm throwing you off into the deep end of litigation.  I'm about to get some face time with a client, whose case I'm working on.  It promises to be a rather nasty fight to modify his visitation rights.  He's alleging the ex-wife's interferring with the meager hours he already gets plus the are "material changes in circumstances" that may jeopordize the "best interests of the children".  So I figure, if I can broker deals and settle disputes between two hormone-driven, take-no-prisioner, death-do-you-part, feuding spouses ... how hard can a couple corporations be?

I'm billing out hours ... I'm drafting motions ... The hard part now ... is figuring out how to decorate my office.  Maybe I should bring a plant in.

Praze 9 do 5

My employer calls me to his office and hands me a file.  It's an arbitration case he's been handling for some time.  "Jack," he begins, "these numbers aren't making any sense."  I look puzzled.  "I need you to go over our client's counter-claim and tell me what we've got."  With that, I'm handed a our client's brief jacket and several spreadsheets.  Great, when did I become an accountant?

So what can an American law student do in Prague?  Quite a bit, especially when nearly 85% of your clients are North American businesses.  I'm talking about multi-national corporations that any American knows about, and which of course, I can't dilvuge because of confidentialy reasons.  But to give you an idea how big these clients are ... you run into their brand names just about everyday.  So why are they in the Czech Republic?  Well, I quick plug for the CR ... its centrally located in Europe, the labour force is cheap and skillful, plus Czechs have lots of disposable income.  Where else should a company invest?  (Yes, but China's not in Europe).

During my 4-week internship as a summer trainee, I rotated between the two main practice groups at my firm.  I spent the first two weeks with the Trademark group and I am finished the remainder of my summer with the Commercial Law group.  At first, I was just reading through client case files and flipping through English translations of the Czech Codes.  I've found that reading case files is a decent way to better understand the methods behind the firm's practice.  I did a fair amount of editing when it came to English versions of contracts, lease agreements, settlements, etc.  heck, I even wrote a few memos during my contract here.

I doubt that its appropriate, but the partners introduce me to clients as "the American practioner."  There was a particularly embarrassing moment last Thursday when it was dreadfully hot in Prague.  We don't have central air and my air conditioner unit was broken.  I figured if another lawyer was working in his undershirt, why not.  Later in the afternoon, I hear a knock on my door.  Figuring it was just my secretary delievering papers, I ignored the door.  However, to my surprise, there were two French businessmen in business suits at my doorway.  Apparently, Dr. Čermák was giving clients a tour of our three-level office.  There was nowhere for me to hide in my office.  It probably would've been better if I had just acted as if it was usual for me to wear a wife beater shirt. 

Now, back to my current case.  They need an auditor not a lawyer.  Someone should really look over these numbers because it's a hassle attempting to second guess what are actually claiming.

Good day Goven'r

I'm tired, I'm constipated, and I'm in need of a good shower. Good'aye blokes, I'm in merry ol' England right now but all I've seen is the outside of a bus window. When I arrived 7:45 AM at Gatwick, I underwent a grueling hour-long process through customs. To make matters worse, my flight was 8 hours later AND at another airport. I transfered from Gatwick to Heathrow - yet another hour-long journey. Along the way, I picked up two Jamacian chaps who relied on my famed navigation skills around the airport. I couldn't understand a word one of them was saying. We ended up meandering around Heathrow, which turns out to be one gigantic complex, for a half-hour before finding the gate check. There was this one elevator that went down when we pressed up and up when we pressed down. Yes, I also came across a scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion. The Jamacians were heading to Japan (a 22+ hour trip from Jamacia via London) and I was headed towards Prague.

At the counter, I found out that I was too early and was unable to check in my luggage. I really wanted to transfer over to Paddington Station for a quick London tour, but no self-respecting tourist would consider trumping around with so much luggage. Yes, I always overpack. I thought about leaving my luggage at storage ... but at 5.50 lbs. per bag ... forget about it. We're talking GBP, not weight. Alas, I accepted my fate within the terminal. Much like Tom Hanks sans Catherine Zeta Jones. The one redeeming aspect of London airports is the vast amount of alcohol available at airport bars and duty-free shops. A hint of things to come.

More when I arrive at Praha.

Crime doesn't pay

I recently received my first criminal docket at the Court of Appeals.  The defendant appeals his conviction, which would put him in jail for a very long time.  Unfortunately, he's not likely to go anywhere.  Everyone gets a shot at the appellate level, but rarely does our court reverse the trial court's decision.  Maybe five percent of the cases get remanded.  But that's probably an arbitrary number that just popped into my head.  I have yet to see a reversible error come across my desk.

Criminal appeals tend to raise points of error based on ineffective counsel, legal insufficiency, factual insufficiency, or some procedural mistake (such as improper jury instructions).  I'm not familiar with the standard of review for ineffective counsel because I haven't had to look into.  However, when someone argues legal or factual insufficiency, the appellate court looks to see if there was any basis for the jury to reach its conclusion.  If the someone says violet and the answer was purple ... that's close enough. 

No one ever knows what really happened, and if he did, he would be witness.  Rather, the jury is afforded a degree of leniency to infer the truth.  Who's to say an appellate judge and a cadre of staff attorneys are better suited to weigh the credibility of testimonies and evidence than a panel of tried-and-true jurors.  After all, there's only so much the appellate court can do.  Otherwise, why not just ask for a new trial.  Oh wait, they probably didn't ask for one.

Pro se? Say no.

It's widely known that a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.  Nothing is more truthful when it comes to a pro se litigant, who is often an indigent plaintiff that decides to represent himself.  I'll concede that it's quite unfortunate that legal representation is often beyond the grasp of the economically-disenfranchised masses.  When it comes to civil suits, indigent plaintiffs rely on the limited resources available at Legal Aid, law school clinics, pro bono attorneys.

Nonetheless, there's a reason why people go to law school.  We learn how lawyers "really" communicate in a courtroom.  The common laity believes that attorneys and judges speak in the mystic tongue of legalese.  What they don't know is that such colorful colloquialisms like "hitherto", "aforementioned", or "said property" has long ceased to exist in everyday lawyer talk.  If anything, the old ways (e.g. "Now comes Plaintiff A") permeate in today's pleadings for no better reason than someone not changing the word-processing templates.

Of course, it's one beast to litigate your own case at the trial level, but it's entirely another Cerberus-Britney Spears hybrid monster when you seek an appeal.  A plea to the judge's heart simply doesn't cut it.  A case on appeal faces many procedural obstacles.  Not only must an appellant have preserved an error properly (e.g. making an objection), but he must raise the issue on appeal in a manner that makes his case reversible.  As Justice Morris told me, "first the trial court must have made an error, then the error has to be so important that we must reverse the case back to the trial court.

So what makes pro se appellants so irritating?  They have no idea what they're talking about.  I spent three days wading through a sea of crap.  The court reporter's record was bound in 5 volumes totaling over 2000 pages.  Then there were the 10 volumes of court transcripts and the parties' briefs and responses at the appellate level.  Fortunately, one side had good attorneys to tell the court what was going on.  Because trust me, there are enough bad attorneys that makes you wonder if an appellant was better off pro se.  Not a day went by during those three grueling 9-5 office hours that I wasn't pounding my head, cursing at the S.O.B. who was wasting my time.  Yes, I know you feel wrong.  No, you don't need to write about it again.  Yes, you've mentioned this for the umpteenth time.  No, the facts didn't change between page 568 and 876.  No, you still haven't cited any legal authority supporting your case.  No, that rule against goes against the basis of your case.  So at the end of the day, my sanity is reduced to a pile of rumble.  If only he would tell me 1) where to court records support his claims, and 2) what cases supports his arguement, my life would be a lot easier.

My friend called me a month after finals.  He tells me, "you realize now that we're done with our first year, it's possible that somone will give us real lawyering assignments."

Yeah, I've been doing that for a while.

No one expects Soverign Immunity

No matter where I run, there seems to be no escape from the Texas Torts Claim Act ("Act").  Tex. Civ. R. & P. § 101.001 (Vernon 2005).  Every case that comes across my desk somehow relates to soverign immunity.  And the reason is simple, the Texas legislature only waives government immunity from lawsuits in a very limited number of cases.  A company that wishes to sue a government entity (i.e. state university, agency, or local municipality) must first petition Austin for permission to sue.  Alternatively, for tort actions, the plaintiff's claim must fall within the exceptions provided by the Act.  Otherwise, the government can't be sued and courts won't have jurisdiction over the case.

Often what we see in the Court of Appeals are Plea to the Jursidiction challenges, where someone from the trial court level disagrees about whether the government can be sued.  Who'd actually expect that my first year brief would actually become so practical?  My friend Eric and I have decided that once we finish law school, we should open a specialized practice that sues the government.

Currently, I'm working on a case with two other summer clerks that deals with none other than ... that's right ... sovereign immunity.  It's a well established area of law except when there's a novel claim that attempts to slip within the boundaries of the Act.  We've already heard the oral arguments, but the attorneys in this case provided little assistance.  Unfortuantely, their briefs are no better in helping us resolve this case.  The justices have made a tenative decision but the court lacks the case law to support their decision.  So my team of summer clerks have been asked to scour the vast ocean of Texas law to find cases analagous to the case at hand.  There are none on point.

What makes this assignment unique is that it's almost like a case of first impression.  There's only one other case in the United States that comes close to resembling this specific fact pattern.  However, that case resolved itself on worker's compensation question rather than the question we've been presented.  In essence, we've been asked to recommend what the new case law should be.

My Day at Court

I am no longer an unemployed law student who's stuck in summer limbo.  Instead, I am now Jack Fan, summer law clerk at the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas.  Although my official title is probably just "Intern to Justice Joseph B. Morris" -- at least that's what it says on my door.  THAT'S RIGHT ... I get an office.  Nothing gave me more goosebumps during the office tour than when the senior staff attorney announced our office cubicles.

The nature of my work requires strict confidentiality.  In fact, disclosing the inclinations of the justices prior to the court's publishing of its opinions is a felony.  I am refraining from the substance of cases that I am involved with, but  read on this summer about the trials and tribulations of life as a summer law clerk at the 5th Court of Appeals.

The 5th Court of Appeals sponsors two classes of interns this summer.  My class consists of 9 law students: one from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, five from SMU Dedman School of Law, one from one from the University of Texas School of Law, and two Texas Wesleyan University School of Law.  My good friend Eric Yepez is also along for the ride.  Walking into the conference room this morning was like walking onto the set of Donald Trump's The Apprentice.  A group of hot, young talents eager to soak their teeth into the judicial system.  Lisa, a rising 2L from SMU, was asked by her judge to write a memo on her very first day.  As she recounts, "at first I was just supposed to suggest some questions that he [the judge] could ask during tomorrow's oral arguements.  But right before lunch, he told me to give him a memo by 5:00.  And if I couldn't finish by 5:00, then to put the memo on his desk.  In other words, he told me to stay my first day until I finished."  I, on the other hand, had the cumbersome task of introducing the summer clerks to my judge after 30 minutes of meeting my fellow colleagues, which I accomplished almostly flawlessly.

Since my summer clerkship is unpaid, I moonlight as a sous chef for a local caterer in the evenings.

Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe

I recieved three offers this summer.  All three were unpaid positions, therefore, financial incentives were not a factor.  However, financing my summer endeavors was a significant concern.  I recieved offers from Justice Morris from the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas, the State Office for Offenders in Huntsville, TX, and the Czech IP/commercial law firm Cermak Horejs Myslil a spol. in Prague.

I ended up being able to split my summer between two internships, one at the Court of Appeals and one in Prague.

Each internship has its own unique set experience, but how should I plan my summer experience to maximize my hiring potential next summer?  In terms of learning experience, Prague is the least helpful because of its narrow focus on foreign IP practice.  Yet, it working in foreign country, particularly since I'm interested in "international law" might be impressive on the resume.  Plus, it would be a great talking point during my 2L interviews, afterall most students just study abroad after their first year.  As my friend Ramey says, "Never underestimate the power of a fascinating resume line for capturing the interest of an interviewer."

The Appellate Court and State Offenders office both offer some great litigation experience -- one from the perspective of an advocate and the other from the judiciary perspective.  The later is better for learning trial procedure and strategy while the former for legal writing and research.  It's a tought choice, because I'm not certain what direction I wanted to go.  All three of my options would provide skill sets and experiences that I would be able to emphasize later.

After talking with a few mentors, I learned that every potential employer looks for different experiences.  The consensus is, "If money is a concern, always go with the job that pays."  One mentor from Atlanta told me, "If money is no object, and it sounds like you want to litigate in a law firm after law school, I'd steer away from the criminal stuff.  Even if money is no object for you personally, its so tough to get a job after your first year that pays it can look good when you're interviewing next year to say that you had a paying job.  ... But any of the jobs [offered to you] look good.  Firms will just want to see that you did something law-related after your first year."

Czech it out

What's the weather like in Prague?  I'll let you know this summer.  I've just accepted an offer from Čermák Hořejš Myslil, an IP and commericial law firm in the Czech Republic.  It's a 4-week internship experience through the Center for International Legal Studies.  The biggest drawing point? I have absolutely no idea what I've gotten myself into.  I don't speak Czech and I can't read the language.  It's like reading Chinese, oh wait, that I can do.  But what's with all these carrots and accents? 

I don't know anyone in the Czech Republic, let alone Europe.  I have no idea where I'll live.  I have no idea where I'll find a gym, assuming that I recover.  But I'm excited about finding myself in a completely new culture, no holds bar, and do something completely different.

More details to come.

Gone Fishin'

The summer internship search continues.  I sent out 13 resumes this past Monday to the Texas 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas ... only to receive a single e-mail informing me that all the internship positions were filled.  Yesterday, I sent out 9 more shotgun resumes to several corporate legal departments in the Dallas area (e.g. Belo, Brinker International, JCPenney, Neiman Marcus, Pier 1, and Zale).  While April is probably too late to be searching, you never where an opening just may pop up.  In fact, I got a call Thursday from Justice Morris of the 5th Court of Appeals to schedule an interview.  As my father says, "its like fishing."  Here's a sample of my cover letters. 

On Monday, I'll have more resume packages ready to send out to 7 firms overseas.  If you need one more reason to join the ABA, here's another good one.  The ABA International Section of International Law has a listing of employers abroad hosting potential internships.  Many are unpaid but there are a few that are subsidized.  An internship in a foreign country is no different from an internship here in the United States.  Except how many people do you know that left the country to intern in United Arab Emirates (and lived to talk about it).  Ideally, when potential employers interview me for my 2L summer associate position I'd be able to say, "I was in Nepal working on international laws such as convention against racial discrimination and convention against apartheid.  I didn't know anyone there.  I couldn't speak the language.  But my darn, I managed to pull it through."

Also, I've been going through a 200-page employer package for the Loyola Patent Law Interview Program this summer.  There are over 148 employers from across the country interviewing law students interested in intellectual property summer associate positions.  This is a unique opportunity for law students with a hard science background (biology, chemistry, double E, physics, etc.).  While its already too late to sign up for this year's interview, any student interested in IP law needs to sign up for next year.