Two Mentors – One Great Job

I am a “Law Student Intern” and the “Disability Benefits Project Student Coordinator” here at LAB.  I have two bosses and no, it is not the Office Space scenario where I am repeatedly told to put cover sheets on my TPS reports, because my supervisors have two separate job functions.  Lynn works up a case, and Ana sees it through the hearing.  Thus, I am fortunate in that I am exposed to the entire spectrum of a case, from a client’s first call through to a last hearing.

One of my supervisors is Lynn Barenberg, a social worker who has worked at BC LAB since the 80s.  Lynn heads the Disability Benefits Project, a program that helps disabled clients appeal Social Security decisions denying Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).  In this type of practice, the opposing party is the Social Security Administration, an administrative agency, and not another person or entity.  Different types of law call for different techniques, and Lynn has learned through experience the appropriate language and approach to use with the agency in any given situation.

Lynn’s insight into how people react to words, speech and mannerisms is incredible.  I submitted an introduction letter to Lynn for review the other day, introducing myself to my client, and it was returned with the nit-pickiest corrections!  But, Lynn took the time to explain them to me and all of a sudden they didn’t seem so curious.  As a small example, I had introduced myself as the “new law student intern,” and Lynn had deleted “new.” Lynn explained that this word alone, especially at the very beginning of a letter, changes how people will perceive its meaning.  Clients see the word “new” and panic, it is an unintentional trigger.  As a budding attorney, I leaned forward and listened closer as Lynn went on to explain the other small changes.

I was so intrigued by Lynn’s explanations and am so enthralled by her knowledge of the causes and effects of people’s behavior because it is a useful skill that translates to a competitive advantage in the legal industry.  How can I take a good deposition or perform an effective cross without thinking about my words and mannerisms and understanding how the other person will react to them?  And, more immediately, how can I conduct a productive client meeting without knowing which corners of a story to explore and which ones to leave alone?  I can’t, but with Lynn as my guide and cultivating this skill as my focus, I hope to make large strides this summer.

My other supervisor is Ana Rivera, a BC Law grad and experienced attorney.  I am helping Ana with a couple Social Security disability cases (at the hearing stage) as well as a family law case.  Whereas my work for Lynn is comprised of initial client interviews, SSA pleadings, brainstorming, phone calls, letters to clients and filing appeals, my work for Ana is much more project based.

Projects emerge when preparing for a hearing because there are a lot of moving parts that must be made concrete, we must be able to use them and eventually commit them to a brief.  Ana and I might discover at a meeting that a client received extensive medical attention in Florida, and all of a sudden my afternoon consists of getting my hands on all of these records.  Once I get these records, I need to go through each page (even the hand-written nearly impossible to read doctors’ notes) and create a chart by date listing all of the relevant information and where to find it.  There is a steep learning curve to this process, as you first must learn all of the medical terminology.  Another project at this stage is researching the SSA listings, requirements that must be met in order to find a person disabled.  Ana and I then put our heads together to determine which listings work best for the case, basically which listings we can best argue.  We may start out at either end of the spectrum, but after discussion we settle on a few, mostly Ana’s… she is usually right.  😉

Now that I’ve introduced you to my office and supervisors, it is time to give you the scoop on my client meetings … up next week!

Stay posted!

Attorney-Sliced Strawberries

Now, before I dive into what I do at BC LAB, I want to tell you about the people that make BC LAB what it is… a great place to work.

Most of the supervising attorneys and social worker, Lynn Barenberg, have worked here for twenty years or more.  They have seen hundreds of students come in and out of LAB doors, and yet, they make me feel as if I’m the first.  During my first week, I wasn’t just thrown into the grinder and told to put my head down and “get it done.”  Instead, the staff allowed for introductions and instructionals.

At our first meeting, we were told to refer to all supervisors by their first names.  A nuance, but a strange thing to get used after addressing each as professor through the year!  We were also served ice cream sundaes, but unlike what might occur at many other offices, these sweets were not catered.  Instead, the supervising attorney bought the necessary ingredients and hand cut an entire bowl of strawberries for our enjoyment.  She did not ask an administrative assistant to do it, she did not ask us to do it; she took the time and sliced those strawberries herself.  Such a small act, but it let each and every one one of us know that we are respected.

Not only do the attorneys treat the students with respect, they treat the clients with respect as well.  They understand that, in the end, they are working for the client and not vice versa.  To people that have not worked in the legal industry this may sound like a no-brainer, but legal professionals may forget this detail more often than they care to admit.  And understandably so… attorneys are asked to delve into a case, to know the ins and outs from every angle.  And you, as the client, you want your attorney to treat your case as if it were his or her own, right?  To become so involved as to make it personal?  I’ve heard that going to trial is like a mini “vacation” from the world.  Attorneys become so focused on the case that everything else falls away, fading into the background.  When we make something that personal, when we spend so much time on a project, we naturally take ownership.  And when it becomes ours, it is easy to forget who is supposed to be calling the shots (hint: the client!).

How do I know that the supervisors treat clients with respect after such a short time?  It’s the little things.  Right off the bat, we were taught to call the client for permission if we need to relay sensitive information in advocating to a third party. After a client meeting, we are taught to transcribe everything we’ve gathered from that meeting and save it on the server.  This can be a time consuming process, but it saves the client from being asked sensitive questions again and again, as the case builds momentum.  These practices respect the client’s right to privacy and acknowledge that, while their claim may feel like an invasive procedure, we will do everything in our power to minimize the unpleasantness of the process.

Are you now wondering, what are these unpleasant things?  I thought that the client just tells the attorney the facts and then the attorney takes care of it?  Well, not quite.

Stay posted!

And, please check out my youtube video, telling you a bit about what’s ahead.

Welcome to BC LAB Blog!

When a 1L is asked what they might like to do over the summer, there are two standard answers.  The first is to work for a judge.  The second is to work at a firm where the student is able to gain exposure to many areas of law with the hope of finding one in particular that he or she might like to pursue.  I chose door number two.

Working at the BC Legal Assistance Bureau is a whirlwind tour of the law, and I have indeed been able to home in on various areas that I’d like to pursue.  However, by the end of the first week I realized that that would not be my focus during my time at BC LAB.  Instead, the real learning experience would come from client interactions.

In my limited time in the legal field, I have found that many students focus solely on the law.  (As I may have been guilty of prior to working at BC LAB!)  Students forget that they are in a service industry and will necessarily deal with people.  And, no matter what field you are in, it is likely that you will work with people who have recently undergone trauma, who have mental impairments, or who want to tell you everything.  It is difficult to know what is going on in the mind of the person across the table, and only experience can help a budding attorney develop the skills necessary to speak with clients the right way.  From what I can gather, the right way comforts the client and simultaneously elicits information.

Client experience is not only important for learning how to conduct a client meeting efficiently and professionally, however.  In fact, that is but the tip of the iceberg.  What is really unique, and often overlooked, about these experiences are the moral and ethical dilemmas that arise out of such interactions.  As the head LAB attorney expressed on my first day, these everyday moral/ethical dilemmas are what really make the work interesting.

And that’s why I’m here.  Few legal professionals take the time to sit down and talk about the ethical decisions they are forced to make on a daily basis because of the fast-paced nature of the industry.  There just isn’t the time.  So, I’m making that time for you, budding attorneys.  I’ll give you the whole story, exposing my green moments as I fumble through my first real hands-on legal job.  I’ll introduce you to my work and my clients.  I’ll take you through the highs and lows of my growth, of my clients’ stories and of our interactions.  I hope to capture what isn’t taught in law school and what people forget to mention when you tell them that you want to be an attorney… the human aspect.

Stay posted!

And please check out my youtube video, welcoming you!