Week 4: Being a Legal Assistant

~ What Prepared me to Become a Legal Assistant ~

1. Teaching 8^th grade
2. Graduating college with a degree in political science
3. Law and murder mystery tv shows and movies

1. I taught 8^th grade social studies for a year…being an 8^th grade teacher – you really have to learn and remember to take everything with a grain of salt. Sometimes even the most upstanding students like to bend the rules or tell half-truths if they think it would be beneficial to them. At the end of the day – everyone is looking out for themselves in life and our human nature is to do whatever we think is best to help us succeed. Being a teacher really taught me to investigate things more and not blindly believe anyone – even if I have trusted them in the past – maybe that’s pessimistic – but I think it’s being safe.
2. At college I took a few different law and government classes. These included American Government, Intro to Comparative Government, International Politics, International Political Theory, Intro to Public Policy. International Law and Organization, Advanced Comparative Politics, Terrorism and National Security, State and Local Government, US Constitutional History, and more. My favorite of which was International Law and Organization – in that class we learned about maritime law – which fascinated me. I liked the fact that there were so many different moving parts in play. All these classes taught me how to do research and really look for the answers. That skill really comes in handy as I review clients’ information and evidence.
3. Third but not least: law shows, and murder mysteries have helped me prepare for this job. Seeing the process and how people work was/is super helpful. Working in family law isn’t the same of course as working in criminal law – but they still helped me to see different helpful skills. Skills such as thinking outside of the box and taking everything with a grain of salt.

I guess what I’m getting at is it is helpful as a legal assistant if you take everything with a grain of salt, ask questions, pry a little bit, and do research.

Alrighty, see you next week.