Externship Experience

At Kaufman and Canoles Law Firm

By: Steven Bond

Daily Experiences at Kaufman and

Canoles The first day I was at Kaufman and Canoles mySupervisor, Barbara Jennings, told me that shewants me to experience all aspects of a lawfirm and that is what I did. I learned about theirrecords department, marketing section,human resource department, library, and the differentareas of law that they practice at the firm (environmental, medical malpractice,corporate, tax, and etc). I learned a vast amount ofinformation and I am grateful to be able to gainthis experience.

For my informational interviews, I interviewedtwo attorneys at the law firm, Karla Soloria andElena Blanks. From my interview with Karla Soloria she told me that I should start studying for the LSAT’s as soon as possible because thatscore is extremely important to get into a goodlaw school. By that, it has motivated me to startlooking more at possible law schools that I would like to attend and to start preparing forthe LSAT’s

Informational Interviews

My second interview was with Elena Blanks. Sheis a tax attorney and I got a lot of informationof what that entails. When she started going into detail I was fascinated. She said a part of her job is helping clients that have either messed up orput themselves in difficult situations. When this happens she tries to find ways to help them, however there is so much she can do because oneway or the other the IRS is going to get their money. I believe she primarily helps them not haveto pay it all off at once. Ever since this interview I feel that this is the area of law that I want to get into the most.

Informational InterviewContinued…

I feel that many of the skills that I possess directly relates tomany of the skills that I saw in the law firm. A few example being, a lawyer has to be able to delegate work either with the secretary or paralegals or both. And with delegation youcan also include team work. A lawyer needs a lot of help and no one lawyer can possibly do all the work by there self.They also have to be able to listen, since they work for theirclients they have to completely understand the problem thatis being presented. And with the problem they have to be able to problem solve and figure out the best way to help their client. However, there are some skills that I know that Ineed to improve. One being public speaking. I feel a lot more comfortable doing it but I still feel like I can get better.

Skills Reflection

I feel that this externship has come at the righttime. I was starting to doubt what I would want to do as a career but I feel that is different know. I knew that I wanted to be a lawyer, but I had no clue what type of lawyer I wanted to be. However, the externship has allowed me to sample many areas of law and now I know I want to become a tax attorney. Aftergraduating from Virginia Wesleyan I want to attend law school and then start practicing law.

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