Who was scarier -- the judge or the maximum security prisoner?

Here is part 3 of my personal labor journal.   I'm thinking that trying my first case in front of the judge probably scared me more than my maximum security client.  Maybe that is because the United States Park Police officer (motorcycle cop), a very tall man in tall black boots was also scared of the judge!

Physics, Swimming Pools, Manholes, Contracts, Cats and Pink Cupcakes

My Personal Labor Journal   © 2011 Julie Shubin

Law School:  Locked in a conference room with a maximum security prisoner.

I attended law school at Georgetown University Law Center.  After my first year of law school, I worked at a small general law practice, Cohen, Dunn, and Sinclair, in Alexandria, Virginia.  My work involved both civil and criminal litigation, including a divorce case and several criminal cases.  I did research, helped write briefs, met with clients, and assisted during court motions. 

During second year law school job interviews, I was offered a summer job at Lewis, Mitchell and Moore (LMM) in Tysons Corner, Virginia, a mid-size law firm specializing in government and construction contracts.     LMM had a very structured summer program for second year students.  Our work focused on learning how to effectively research cases and prepare legal memos to assist attorneys with court motions and briefs.  I had an excellent mentor and learned valuable skills.   This job exposed me to the civil side of legal work and contract law.

During my third year of law school, I participated in Georgetown’s renowned Criminal Justice Clinic, working as a prosecuting attorney at the United States Attorney Office for the Eastern District of Virginia for the first semester and then as a student defense attorney for cases in the DC Superior Court.  I tried my first case, prosecuting a misdemeanor speeding ticket in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, before Judge T.S. Ellis, III, who was known to be a very intimidating judge.  Both the United States Park Police Officer and I were “shaking in our boots” because of his reputation.  We then successfully prosecuted several more traffic violation cases and survived the day in Judge Ellis’s courtroom.

During my defense work, I represented a man accused of larceny for taking meat from a hotel freezer (he took the food so he could feed his family), a misdemeanor drug possession case requiring me to do investigations in high crime areas of DC, and representing clients in parole hearings at the DC Jail. 

To prepare for one of the parole hearings, I had to interview a client who was then serving time in solitary confinement at the Lorton Federal Prison.  I did not realize that I would have to be locked in a conference room with him, with a guard waiting outside.  

Whenever I get nervous about something, I think back to that experience and remember how I had to pretend not to be scared of my client.