I have helped out in an attorney's office since the start of my senior year of high school. I have good days, bad days, but overall I enjoy it. I am a file clerk and do things like filing, mailing, answering phones, pulling wills and closing files. Also, since helping out there, I have learned a lot more than just how to do mail. I've learned a lot more about the world around me.
When I think of a family, I think of two parents, with children. In this family, everyone loves each other and everyone gets along. But that's not the case with every family. Some parents don't even get to see their kids on holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving. Family's that are going through custody problems have to follow schedules for their children. The children can only be at the mother's house for a certain time and the father's house for a certain time. It's not up to the children. If the schedule is not followed, the parents could get into trouble.
Also, I think it also opened my eyes on seeing that we should love everyone and not treat anyone with disrespect. You never know what kind of battle people are fighting. I know some of our clients personally and had no idea that they were having issues in their life that needed an attorney. Again, that’s the same thing with life. Being nice and treating people equally, can really go a long way. Just because someone's life looks good on the outside, doesn’t mean it’s good on the inside.
It has also helped me to keep things to myself. I have to follow a confidentiality policy. By that I mean, I can't go home and tell my parents the name of the new client that just retained us. It is harder when you personally know clients in the office but you can't say anything to your friends or your family about them. That is also the same with life. I think an effect of working there, is I have also learned to not talk about people in a bad way. It's good sometimes to let people vent, but not to spread rumors.
Also, about 85% of my friends are employed. It’s hard to not tell them about my day without going into any detail. In a way, this shows me, that there are somethings that I should keep to myself. And that not everyone needs to know my business.
Lastly, helping out at an attorney’s office, taught me how to really listen to people when they have an issue. One time, I answered the phone and on the other end, was a man swearing and throwing the “f-bomb” about his wife. I had to take his message and give it to my boss. I was very calm and was patient with him. Sometimes, all you need to do is let someone vent. If I wasn’t patient with him, or was rude, he probably would not have retained us.
