Today was my last day shadowing David. I actually got to see a case that David was working on go to trial, and that was really nice. I knew a few of the faces in the courtroom that I've met with either in the office, or out actually out in the field to prepare for the case.

 Okay so this one is going to be super brief because I'm not allowed to say that much about it, but Wednesday my mentor let me sit in on a client interview which was super cool. Basically what my mentor does is as the process goes on (and it can be a LONG process from the day someone is arrested to the day the case is tried or dismissed, etc.) my mentor makes sure to keep in contact with his clients. So I got to sit in on an interview where my mentor was checking up to make sure everything was going smoothly with one of his clients.

 Okay so Tuesday was one of the best days I've had yet! 

My mentor and I went up to the Clark County court house in Vancouver, Washington. We were there primarily to give the court out of state subpoenas, meaning David wanted a witness in Oregon that lived in Washington, so we had to go through this long and tedious process to order the witnesses to show up.

 Today I got to join in on a meeting between the legal assistant in my office, and the attorney in my office. These are supposed to happen once a week, but as most busy offices go, they don't always. So this was the first meeting of this type I got to see. Basically what happens is Connie (the legal assistant) lists off each case they are handling to David (the attorney) and discuss what needs to be done in the near future to update each case.

 Today was an amazing day spent in court! 
I started out in the office looking through phone records for a case my mentor is handling. When somebody is suspected of crime, a court can warrant the tapping of somebody's phone. I was looking through these phone records seeing which ones I thought were suspicioius. The investigator on the case would look over them as well, since I don't really have a 6th sense about code words for crimes (yet!), but it was super interesting to read through the transcripts!

 Today was another day spent in the office. I'm learning a TON about how a law office works, as well as the scope of the types of cases Mr. David McDonald (the attorney in the office) works on. 

Today the most interesting thing was learning about the difference between civil law and criminal law, in addition to the difference between neglegence, criminal neglegence, recklessness, and flat out criminal behavior. I came into this project knowing that I didn't know much about the law, but now I am learning that I knew a lot less than I think I did. 

 Today was another crazy day downtown. I have now parked my car successfully, for those who were worried after my incident Monday. 

Today, we talked mainly about our bakesale, which is going to occur on THURSDAY, MAY 14!
This time, students are COMPLETELY in charge, and need to be very organized in order to complete all the necessary steps needed to have a successful sale!

Today we found out a little information about our homestay!
Yoko sensei informed us that there are going to be some boys staying with girls, so if you are uncomfortable with that, make sure you let her know!

IMPORTANT:
Starting this month, Japan trip meetings will be held both TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS, until further notice!

This week, we were fortunate enough to have another senior guest speaker, Yannie! Make sure if you see her you thank her once again!
Here are some of the tips and questions she answered for us:

Today we found out a little information about our homestay!
Yoko sensei informed us that there are going to be some boys staying with girls, so if you are uncomfortable with that, make sure you let her know!

IMPORTANT:
Starting this month, Japan trip meetings will be held both TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS, until further notice!

This week, we were fortunate enough to have another senior guest speaker, Yannie! Make sure if you see her you thank her once again!
Here are some of the tips and questions she answered for us: