Legal Aid of North Carolina – Greenville, North Carolina
My time at the Greenville office for Legal Aid of North Carolina was enjoyable and rewarding. Unfortunately, the office was not able to provide me with the opportunity to represent a client in an administrative hearing due to lack of availability. However, in all other ways it exceeded my expectations. I found each attorney in the local office to be incredibly helpful and accommodating. They were all willing to answer questions, give me varied work, and allow me to attend court sessions if I chose.
At the time, I was the only intern. This provided me with a good deal of flexibility to choose tasks that were of interest to me, and to learn from all the attorneys in the office. Unlike many interns at other offices, I always had a personal desk and computer. While not essential, this made my work easier to manage and organize.
This summer, I gained experience with many of the issues faced by people in Eastern North Carolina, including many issues related to rural poverty. I was able to assist with many domestic violence protective orders (DVPO, or 50B order), including negotiating consent decrees with the opposing counsel. I found the DVPO process to be interesting and rewarding, as we were able to get immediate relief for our clients and could personally see their relief and gratitude.
I assisted two separate attorneys with Social Security Disability benefits appeals before an Administrative Law Judge. In one case, for which we had significant advanced notice, I reviewed medical records, spoke to teachers and other references and helped to develop a theory of the case to meet the legal standards and participated in writing a brief. In this case, we received a favorable decision at the hearing. For a different client, I assisted one of the attorneys in preparing for his first SSDA case. Here, we did not have enough notice to prepare a brief, but I was able to help build and review the factual record, as well as prepare our theory for the hearing.
In another interesting matter, I assisted with a claim for unfair and deceptive trade practices against a landlord for unfit housing. Here, I prepared a memorandum of law to be used at trial. This situation gave me a surprising look into the workings of the courts. Although the law is well settled in this area, we expected the elected judge in that district to decide the case based on local tradition and the fact that the defendant is influential in the community. As such, we prepared for trial with the expectation that the case would need to be appealed. It was interesting to observe the internal strategy sessions in anticipation of this outcome.
At LANC Greenville, I gained experience not only with substantive law, but also with the social and cultural conventions that come with practicing in many small communities. It was very personally and professionally rewarding to develop close relationships with clients, and then be able to obtain relief for them. While many may be put off by the prospect of spending their summer in a smaller city, I found that it afforded me great flexibility and an opportunity to get to know the attorneys (and some judges) much more closely.
Submitted August 24, 2018
