As I type this, I am sitting in the workroom. The smell of coffee fills the air. The sounds of printers and the shuffling of papers is a common occurrence around here. About once every five minutes, the phone will ring at the front desk. These are all traits that describe the best job that I have had thus far and this is working at a law firm.
The firm I work at is in Sumter, South Carolina and the practice areas include real estate, workers compensation, personal injury and family law. I have had the privilege of being able to work here from May-August of 2017 and during my current Winter Break. My daily duties at the firm include filing mortgages and other legal real estate documents, delivering legal documents to the courthouse and banks, running errands, tasks around the firm, and assisting the associate attorney in organizing files necessary for family court hearings. But, real estate law rules the roost around here.
The three conference rooms at the firm are filled each day with buyers, sellers and the attorneys working together to close on residential and commercial properties. There is a lot of preparation that goes into a closing. Phone calls to mortgage companies must be made, letters must be composed and closing packages are a priority to be organized. On days that the firm is packed with closings, this can make for a pretty crazy office as people scramble to do their jobs! This makes my job more interesting (and maybe a little more stressful).
Another one of my favorite aspects of working at this firm is being able to explore different types of law. I have been exposed to a lot of real estate law but the most interesting type of law I have been exposed to is family law. This is such a grey area of the law that fluctuates from case-to-case. I have enjoyed traveling with the attorney, here at the firm, that practices primarily family law to court for temporary hearings, final hearings and mediation.
I have learned a lot from my time as an intern at a law firm. One of the things that working here has taught me is to always take pride in your work, no matter what job you are doing. Whether it is something as mundane as filing documents in files or something as important as organizing a closing package, it is important to do the job to the best of your ability.
I have also learned that as the intern, no job is beneath me and everything that I do teaches me some type of skills that I can utilize later in life. For example, even making a lunch run for everyone at the firm teaches me that when I have 10 people to order lunch for, it is very important to be able to stay organized.
Additionally, this job has taught me a lot about responsibility. It is my responsibility to make sure that the mail is mailed on time and that any incoming mail is given to one of the attorneys to be checked properly. It is also my responsibility to record deeds and other legal real estate documents, such as a power of attorney, at the local register of deeds office. The deeds that have been recorded and checked into the system must also be returned safely to the law firm to be placed into the correct file.
I have aspired of becoming a lawyer since my sophomore year of high school. This job as an intern for a local law firm has only heightened my interests in pursuing my dream to become an attorney. I have learned so much from this job, including legal concepts and life skills, and I am looking forward to applying both of these newfound skills to my life down the road.
