Week 3, Post 2 (Monday, April 24 - Sunday, April 30)

Discuss how, through this program, you changed from a Year 1 student to a pre-professional.  What specific elements in the program helped to develop you as an emerging legal assistant?  You may wish to relate your new sense of professionalism to, for example, research you have done - explain how 'real' you think your classroom/lab experiences have been; Why it is that you have come to feel more mature in your attitudes/thought processes/people skills.  These are only examples of what you may wish to discuss.  You may choose your own topics but please be specific - how, why, what, when!

When I arrived at Conestoga I was new to Canada and had not finished the British equivalent of high school.  I didn't know how to write or format an essay, what the different types of writing were (i.e. argumentative, memo etc.) or how to take and lay out useful notes.  I believe that is one of the most useful things Conestoga College taught me - how to learn and format.

The Ethics class encouraged deeper thinking and open conversation along with explanations for why we are told what is right and wrong not just that we are told it. The Interpersonal Communications Skills class helped me to understand why people respond and behave the way they do including my own hidden discriminations against people who behave in certain ways. As a student of human nature I found that very interesting and helpful for my life. Apart from in my previous post I cannot think of anything else I would say was not helpful.

I feel there was more fear employed in our classroom than there needed to be.

As a mature adult, I do not feel that this course has helped me to 'mature' in attitude, thought process or people skills. It has brought me into contact with people I would not wish to be around in some cases, and reinforced what I know about myself - that I will no longer ever again work for people who treat me like dirt. But I knew that already. I have been reintroduced here to abuses of authority that I am sad to see as the younger students amongst us were more harmed by it than I was. This I will continue to seek redress for. Although this forum asks for us to be specific, in this matter I will decline to give more information here.

I am very grateful for some of the lovely students and teachers I have met who have helped me along the road to learning the things we learned during this course to help us to work in our chosen field. I have made friends in students and teachers alike that I hope will be friendships that I will continue to be able to cultivate on into the future.

Were there benefits to blogging - both writing about your experiences and reading others' blogs, over the last three weeks or would you prefer to submit a private written report at the end of the three week?  Explain.

I have found there were many benefits to blogging. for example, I found that I was more aware of what I was doing in my placement, what skills and knowledge I carried from the classroom to the office setting, and what I already had when I came here that I have been able to use.

It has been wonderful to read the blogs of others, which have shown me that I am not alone in my experiences and have helped me in my own work setting. This field is new to me and this country is also new to me so I welcome any insights I can get into what is good to do in the workplace.

How prepared were you for work placement following completion of the program?

I already had extensive experience at a high level of administrative office work, so I was already prepared for much of what I found in my placement. I found that around 33% of what I needed to know was taught to me in the classroom, and the rest I had to find out for myself in the office in which I carried out my placement.

The subjects taught gave me a good foundation from which to work.

Have you chosen the career path that's right for you?  Explain why or why not.

After completing the Office Administration - Legal course and the placement in a law office at the end of the course, I feel I have chosen the right career path for me. It is a difficult one with still so much to learn, but I still have a strong desire to learn it. I am surrounded by good people in my workplace so I have high hopes that I will be able to do that.

Have you developed your own 'standards of excellence?'  Describe what you expect of yourself with respect to your approach to a work assignment/formatting documents/etc.  Describe some of the standards you have developed over your two years of study.

When I am given a file, I put it in order first and then begin to read through it to orientate myself on what kind of file it is and where the story of the file is at when it comes to me. I believe this is a very important thing to do, and the lawyer I work to agrees and likes that I take time to do this.

Proofing is very important - first impressions last.

To-do lists for each person I work to. Communication at regular intervals to share where we are with varying projects.

What I did this week!

Annual resolutions, raised both via Fast Company and by hand
Notice of change and accompanying resolutions
Bills and individually raised reporting letters specific to the client
Letters to clients
Asset sales - PPSA searches and letters to banks for same
Trust cheques and deposit slips
Negotiated and considered a job offer from Lennox and Penney 😊

I feel this could be my chair...

Week 3, Post 1 (Monday, April 24 - Sunday, April 30)

I love the old signatures pressed into the varnish of the meeting room table :)

Give examples of oral and written communication used in your work placement.  Did you draft your own communications?  Are you using 'clean formatting'?  Are you using Outlook?  If so, what features are you using?

Examples of oral communication would be using the telephone and speaking face-to-face to convey what needs to happen on a file, or where we are going right now, or Stephen or John (the lawyers here) might shout down the stairs to let me know a client has arrived and their Wills need witnessing.

Examples of written communication would be internal and external emailing and Word/WordPerfect documents (such as to-do lists, official documents and letters raised for accountants and clients).  I draft my own communications, and 'pp' some letters.  Stephen will review other letters and documents to ensure everything is represented and with the right 'feel', and then (sometimes after he makes edits) he will sign.  I am not sure what 'clean formatting' is.  We use Outlook here.  I don't have my own Outlook account, but a few features which I have seen being used here and that I really like are:

• The task list
• Highlighting emails or a folder and sending them all to a .pdf file which can be referenced as a file tree within the resulting .pdf.  Wonderful!

Provide an example of a problem you encountered and describe how you solved it.

I have been working largely alone.  Some Annual Resolutions have to be raised manually rather than through Fast Company so I have been doing that and it is new to me.  It has been very busy here with 6 closings for Diane in the past 2 days, so I have tried not to bother her.  I used my precedents from the Corporate Law class and other documentation raised using Fast Company for different clients in order to raise Annual Resolutions and Consents manually.

Are you using a To-Do List/notebook to prioritize your work to meet deadlines?

I would be using the Outlook task list, but in absence of that I am using Google docs in order to keep a running account of what is outstanding and for whom, and also what is done.  I have a list for each person in the office which I open first thing when I arrive in the office and don't close all day.  I update each list as I work on files, and bring forward any unfinished work to the next day's list in the final hour each day in the office.

What is one of your weaknesses?  How did you overcome this in your work placement?

A big weakness I have is being tempted to adopt other people's shortcuts without checking enough in the moment to see whether they are thorough and simply quicker, or whether they could do with an overhaul as the resulting work no longer encapsulates everything it needs to.  When coming to somewhere where the team is established it is difficult to discern one from the other with speed.

Provide recommendations for refinements to the curriculum (i.e. are there specific elements we should spend more time on to better prepare you for the work place?)  What is right about the curriculum?  What needs to be improved upon?  Which courses did you prefer - explain why.  Which courses did you not prefer - explain why.

Shorthand would be very useful to learn.  I haven't had to use my transcription capabilities (although I've been told that Stephen does dictate to tapes sometimes), but I have had to take letters without being in front of the computer. This resulted in a lawyer having to speak very slowly and me using up half a pencil!

We need to be able to reach out to each other in a wider way once placement starts.  Having a long-standing area (better than the temporary Facebook pages raised by each successive class which don't connect more people than that particular class) online where people can access grads from each successive commencement year to fling out any questions in the moment they may have, or to draw people together to share.

Stop telling students they need to be able to do the job when they turn up at placement.  The curriculum teaches about 25% of what you will need in order to do the job when you walk through the door to your placement.  Students need to know that, and need to know that they will/should not be expected to just be able to walk in from school and do the job of a Legal Assistant.  That isn't possible without help, and it would be irresponsible of any lawyer to let us try.  I have had recourse to advice and help even though I'm working along - even if it's at the end of the day.  Students can be scared into feeling that they need to be work-ready on day one of placement.  It's not going to happen, even for the most resourceful student unless they have some experience of a law office already.

The parts of working in a law office that the course covers are thorough as far as they go.  So much more is added to them on beginning to use the knowledge in a law office, but it is a good start.

I preferred Corporate Law (Erin taught in such a friendly and accessible way, Fast Company I found intuitive and I liked doing the work) and Wills and Estates (it made sense to me and again I like Estate-a-Base).  I am not using the advanced spreadsheets functions, or advanced Word.  I am using typing (although I am never rushed so time would not be an issue if my typing speed were slower than it is).  It would be very useful to learn WordPerfect, including the coding.

How will you continue to learn and develop professionally?

We are learning on the job all the time.  The senior lawyer here (John) says to me he is still learning after being called to the bar 30+ years ago.  That said, I want to work for a year or so and then begin to go through the Law Clerk course at Conestoga either part-time or online if possible in my chosen field.  I'm not sure what that field will be yet.

We have weekly meetings during which the lawyers let us know of different changes also.

Week 2, Post 2; (Monday, April 17 - Sunday, April 23)

For some reason, I am paying particular attention to light fixtures at work at the moment. I find they way they have paid sensitive attention to them bears out the 'unfinished' look they have gone for in the rooms, and it is a nice attention to detail.

Well, here we go. Week two, post two eh?

School-related reflection

What resources are you using at your placement?

For me, this question was answered in the answer to question 1 of the previous section, which made up my 'Week 1, Post 1'. I am using every resource they have, so far, as listed in my answer to that question I just referred to. I am even using CD burners to burn corporate details to CD that are too lengthy and use too many resources to print out as bound booklets for directors and shareholders. We are looking into changing that to USB sticks in future I believe.

Have you discovered resources on the Internet that were/are useful to you, other than those introduced in class? If so, please share the URLs.

I am not sure if we used this one in class, but http://www.canadianlawlist.com/ is one I have been using to check out the opposite party's lawyer. Apart from that there are some websites you can use in order to check marketable value in certain areas of Ontario, and also to check boundaries that I know are used at Lennox and Penney, but they require login details that I don't have yet so I cannot get into them. They use the Grand River Conservation Authority 'Map Your Property' site but I believe Mrs. Bradley introduced that to us briefly in class, so not a new one.

Review the list of responsibilities submitted by you before your placement. Indicate whether the list was accurate or whether you were exposed to different responsibilities or did fewer than were listed.

Reception and basic office admin, data input, PC Law (15%)
Real Estate file prep - Conveyancer, Teraview (30%)
Business file preparation - Fast Company (30%)
Wills/PoA prep. - Estate-a-Base (15%)

The above was what Stephen wrote on my form. He has made sure that I am exposed to all this and more. My duties have been varied and have gone somewhat deeper into these areas than he wrote, as you will be able to see by what I've been doing each week.

What do you consider two of your strengths? How are you using them to your advantage at this placement?

1)  I am resourceful and make things work even when how I expect things to be does not turn out to be how things are! This helped me greatly when working on a laptop and finding that some of the annual resolutions I had to complete this week we were not done originally on Fast Company, nor were they to be done going forward on Fast Company!

2)  I have a good sense of humour and enjoy getting to know colleagues on a 1-2-1 basis. This helped with the above!

What I did this week!

Reviewed with Diane:
Opening purchaser docket in Teraview, printing parcel, singling out which instruments to print, saving out, entering into Conveyancer, preparing documents from Conveyancer, entering docket summaries from Teraview into PCLaw, requesting a tax certificate & printing cheque from PC Law, arranging file, leaving for Stephen to sign.

John meeting with Carol:
Went through closing agenda for a corporate sale of assets
General file update

Emailed realtor with request for other party's solicitor's contact information
     Rec email back with info and updated client folder
     Emailed other party's solicitor regarding land boundaries and purchase by the City

Hectic closing! More runs to the bank to certify cheques, and then on to another bank to deposit them.

'Sale' file review (all precedents)
Reminder notice review w/Stephen, Diane, and Winnie
Burnt CDs of corporate documents for shareholders and directors

Meeting with Stephen, Diane & Winnie:
Winnie raises reminder notices for Stephen of all outstanding accounts
     Raised pre-bills of unbilled time for Stephen, entered his fee for all, raised accounts (PC Law).
     Billed for annual resolutions I raised and got same ready to mail off to client and accountants

Week 2, Post 1 (Monday, April 17 - Sunday, April 23)

What Diane's office looked like after three real estate closings at 4.50pm on a Friday night! (above)

Describe the software and versions, tools, and equipment used in the office.

Well! That is an extensive question! So here goes:

Software

Teraview

Conveyancer

Estate-a-base

Fast Company

PC Law

WordPerfect

Office 2010

Equipment

The computers are slow, but the monitors are 17" and nice. There is a computer in each office and a newer one on reception. Keyboards and mice are cordless and rechargeable.

The phone system is multiline with a colour monitor on each phone. These were updated recently.

Printers are HP and very robust. Each has a stack of envelopes and different sizes of paper (letter and legal) nearby.

Each office has a shredder near to the desk and is fully equipped with all stationery and tools needed in an office.

There is a main printer/fax/scanner in the post room/stationery cupboard/resources area which scans to folders on the network for easy scan retrieval.

Are you using/will you use any of the legal software learned in your programme? Explain. If you are using new software, was it easy/difficult to adapt to? Why?

I am using all of the legal software we used in our programme so far. The only area I haven't had experience in since I've been in my placement is Wills and Estates. The lady who works in that area works on it solely and works alone. She is part-time too, so when she is in the office she is very focused and has to get on with things quickly. Perhaps they are thinking to have me work on some of that next week. I was very happy to note that they use the 'legal blackline' function of Word rather than the 'track changes' function. Thank you, Erin, for teaching us that! There is no other software that I know about that is used that I was not taught. 

It is difficult to use Teraview as I don't have a USB key. However, someone is always willing to let me use theirs. I am very much enjoying being able to email parcel registers and instruments to myself so I can print them out at will without having to keep raising them and paying for them each time I need another hard copy!

Describe some of the documents you have been preparing. Do not use client names.

Waivers (using WordPerfect), reporting letters, pre-bills, accounts (billing through PC Law), annual resolutions (some manually raised from a precedent), consents and letters (through Fast Company), email to accountants and lawyers for the other parties we deal with (through Outlook).

Do you have any accounting responsibilities? Explain what they are.

I have been raising some pre-bills and then once Stephen has added his fee (he works that out on a pro-rata basis from client to client at his own discretion) I enter that and raise the bill. Other examples include billing for producing annual resolutions. All is done through PC Law.

I am seeing several files through from start to completion and will bill for those at the end.

Our receptionist, Winnie, initially opens the files using PC Law and assigns each a number. We then receive the file from the lawyers. At Lennox and Penney Winnie is the person who does most of the accounting.

Have you been assigned a specific project? Explain your role.

I have been assigned two Real Estate files - a sale and a purchase - to see through as far as possible, and a business incorporation. My role on both is to take direction from the lawyer as each progresses and to action what is needed to move the file forward as I am directed. The team has file review sessions around twice each week during which we all sit down with a list of all the current files that are open, and discuss the ones that have had action on them or need actions. More work usually comes from these meetings, or as emails and phone calls come in the projects move along naturally.

Are you feeling more comfortable? Why or why not?

Strangely I am finding I am feeling more comfortable as my workload is going up. As I am being exposed to more things and learning more, I am finding more and more that the only time I need to ask questions is when something is actually wrong and out of place - not as it should be. This is increasing my confidence as I can run with things alone. With this being a small firm, I need to be able to function by myself as there is only sporadic guidance - everyone is busy.

I am also getting to know people more, and feeling accepted rather than wondering whether people will mind all my strangenesses :)

Is there any subject matter you wish we had covered in class? Explain. How are you managing to become more knowledgeable about this subject?

In Teraview, learning how to go into 'administration' from the toolbar and pulling a docket summary from which to enter billing into PC Law would have been useful knowledge to have. Diane has taught that part to me - she is a graduate from my programme from 2015 and was taught it back then. Apart from having her teach me, doing it over and over again is helping me.

Are you drawing on skills learned in interpersonal communications, office procedures, math, bookkeeping or legal classes?

I am needing skills learned from most of these classes. I have been out in the world and working for quite a few years prior to this period of working here in Canada so I know how to be in the workplace and how to work with people who have different working styles and personalities to me. Even so, the interpersonal communications class gave me important knowledge about how to think in order to understand those differences and act to mitigate them or to take advantage of the differences to get the work done more effectively. Everyone is strong at different things!

The only class I have not had to use is bookkeeping. And that is largely because I am not working in a firm in which it is needed.

Have you had an opportunity to interact with clients? How? Was this easy or difficult? Explain.

I have had opportunities to sit in with John - our senior lawyer - which he runs through a Will with a married couple. I saw how he put everything in layman's terms, even the breakdown of succession so they would understand what all the terms meant and how if one of their children died how their legacies would pass down and who would get what. He even drew them a little flow chart. He laid out all the rules under the Family Law Act and equalization and explained how the marital home would figure in everything. He took questions and I was able to interact with him and with them at that point.

More coming on Sunday with a list of what I've done this week. This post is a little long now!

I will leave you with some shots of our meeting room (below).

Week 1, Post 2 (Monday, April 10 - Sunday, April 16)

Week 1, Post 2

The office environment

What are your work hours; how are you supervised?

My work hours are 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.  I am not supervised as such.  I am lucky enough to be reporting directly to Stephen (one of the lawyers at the firm) who is always there should I need to ask questions (as are Diane and Carol) but never makes me feel watched. It feels very balanced.

Describe your work area.

My work area is a 'movable feast'. There are a number of people who work different hours. I occupy their desks on the days they are away. There is a space issue at the office as it is small. We are getting through it though!

So on Mondays and Fridays I sit at Carol's desk. She mainly deals with real estate, so I explore her computer - where she stores things, what her task lists look like in her Outlook etc. She uses the Outlook task list to keep a running tally of where she is on any one file so when she goes in to catch up with the lawyer she can describe exactly what stage the file is at. I also look at how she stores files she is currently working on. The senior partner at the firm likes each of his staff to own their own files, so the files are stored in their offices mainly.

During the week the lady who works downstairs solely on wills (Maureen) is away at the moment, so I take her desk.

Describe your daily routine.

I go into the office, say hi to Winny on reception, dump my bag and start up the computer. While it's booting I make sure there is coffee running through the coffee percolator and catch up with whoever else is propping up the kitchen sink on personal life and work files. Stephen will pop in and check to see whether I'm still occupied with the last lot of work he gave me or I need some different things to do, and checks at the same time to see whether I have any questions. After a few hours we will catch up again, and perhaps I will sit down with Diane and have a tutorial on how they enter the accounts into PCLaw for example. So I'm learning by doing, covering every area of law they offer, and also being taught further on the programs I learned at school.

How is work initiated? Is it dictated, written out in longhand, sent to you by email or do you write your own correspondence, emails, etc.

Stephen has dictated letters and emails to me while I'm not at the computer. From my experience throughout my life working in an office, proper shorthand like Teeline would have been very useful to have as a skill. If all I have is a notepad (and Carol knows shorthand and the lawyers are used to that) it is hard to write notes fast enough that they don't have to wait and I actually capture the meaning of what they dictated in a way that I know what it means when I come to typing it!

Otherwise, Stephen has left me to type my own emails and letters, just making changes he would like when I present him with a printed draft (for letters).

Have you done anything this week you particularly enjoyed or did not enjoy.

I have really enjoyed when using Teraview has worked well and I can pull the monies incurred on a docket by searching parcel registers and instruments and input them into PCLaw. Powercuts when using Teraview I can take or leave!

Do you check voicemail?  Do you record your own voicemail greeting?  Do you answer the telephone?

I don't check voicemail. Nor do I record my own voicemail greeting. I do, however, answer the telephone at reception if it is ringing and no one is there at the time to answer it. I also initiate my own calls.

School-related reflection

In some courses, in place of exams, you have had quizzes, tests and portfolios. These were often completed outside of class, allowing you the opportunity to review your textbook and other resources.  Upon submission, you received instant feedback.  Would you have preferred an exam instead of the smaller, more frequent tests/quizzes/portfolio?  Did the quizzes/tests/ portfolios assist you in learning the theory?  Explain your answer.

The quizzes and tests we have had via eConestoga I have found very useful as they were easier to revise for than larger tests/exams and we got our mark instantly after submitting.

The portfolio I struggled with. It was useful with the ones for Mrs. Bradley that she would allow us to submit the work and, after having our work corrected, would allow us to then submit corrected work for a better mark. I found it very hard in Heather's class for Family Law as she wouldn't allow us to do that and we simply received the mark we received for our initial hand-in. The portfolios were incredibly hard work, and very stressful when compiled alongside more classwork. The homework was so intensive during that semester with having to complete homework at school because of the software licenses being limited that I found it compounded the stress. I am looking forward to using the portfolios at work should I have the opportunity, but as it turns out at the moment I won't be working in those areas of law. So, in short, I would have preferred a final exam rather than the portfolios.

Was it helpful to have answer keys on the bulletin board?

I did find it useful to have answer keys on the bulletin board. I would have found it more useful to have been shown exactly how to do things in Civil Litigation and Real Estate specifically before we had to find our way through alone after a simple lecture.

Things done in placement (cont).:

Took signed wills and Powers of Attorney to Carol to be commissioned and stamped. Scanned them and enveloped them for pickup.

Wrote to the accountant as we are behind with resolutions for two companies and need to know if he has anything later from them than March 2015.

Printed out a parcel register twice by mistake. :(

Spent a good deal of time with Carol going over how she organizes her office her files (both electronic and physical) and her processes.

Had a PCLaw tutorial on how to process cheques for a closing of a sale, and then took cheques to bank to both deposit and fees and disbursements and to certify mortgage payment cheque and sale payment cheque.

Had a pot-luck office lunch in the meeting room. :)

Called realtor to try to find out opposing solicitor's details (3.30pm) but they had gone home. (!)

Chased an old real estate case and updated the task list.

Week 1, Post 1 (Monday, April 10 - Sunday, April 16)

Week 1, Post 1

First Impressions

What areas of law are practiced in the law firm you are working at?  Do they have a mission statement?  If so, what is it?

Lennox and Penney practice Real Estate, Estates, and Business and Corporate Law.  I have asked around and there is no mission statement that I can find.

Provide details of the orientation you have received. How were you introduced to other staff members?  Are you working with one or many staff members?

I was given a tour of the office when I came here in the summer to ask about the availability of a summer job. When I came back to get my forms signed I was given another tour. I was introduced to whoever was working at the time. There are several part-time workers here, so I didn't get to meet everyone then and I still haven't met everyone yet. I am working directly to Stephen Penney (Lawyer and Partner), and working with John Lennox (Lawyer and Partner), Carole Highmore (a Law Clerk), Diane (a Law Clerk & graduate from the Office Administration - Legal program) and Winnie (Receptionist and Accounts).

Were you provided with a manual of office procedures?  If so, what type of information was in it?  Is there a particular way to format documents?  If not, how will you keep track of all the details of the job?

Diane has been creating an ongoing office manual since she began working here in 2015. It is split into several volumes, and I am borrowing it from her volume by volume between things I'm working on. There many things in there which take the Office Administrator through, for instance, a purchase file or a sale file, and the different precedents and how Stephen likes them set up. Calibri 12 pt is standard in the office and justified margins. No one is fussy about how the letters are spaced out at all. I have my own standards though, and I am applying them.

Has anything surprised you about the office or what you are doing?

I have been pleasantly surprised by the order and structure with which my time at Lennox and Penney has been structured ahead of time in order to give me the broadest experience while I'm there. In my past two days in placement, I have worked on material for every area of law the office deals with.

Provide details of your observations of the office environment and things that made an impression on you [positive or negative]

The office is very professional and the people are warm. The building they have their office in is beautiful. Some of the office equipment (such as the phones) are new, and other pieces are not so new. They use Office 2010 and WordPerfect. Also Teraview, Conveyancer, Fast Company and Estate-a-Base. Everyone is informal and on first-name basis when just employees in the office. The formalities are in place when in front of clients / potential clients.

Things done in placement to date:

Purchase & Sale & Appendix A from template for buyer
     -> Title search (parcel register, instruments, printing out deposit account charges for docket)
     -> Enter amounts from deposit account charges in Teraview into PCLaw
Opened two files using PCLaw
Meeting re closing list to review where files are and what needs doing
     -> Purchases in bold – requisition date important
Wrote receipt from scratch for certified cheque client bringing in in minutes
Photocopied two forms of ID for client file (driver’s license & credit card)
     -> Scanned signed Agreement of Purchase and Sale and email to buyer’s lawyer
     -> Took dictation for cover letter to vendor’s lawyer
     -> Mailed certified cheque and Agreement of Purchase and Sale by courier
Raised an initial letter for a commercial sale
Searched minute book list for company and pulled the minute books.
     -> Found missing and incomplete by-laws.
     -> Found extra company incorporated in BC.
     -> Preparing to transfer shares
Prepared to scan and destroy some files
     -> Referenced Law Society rules and prepared spreadsheet to catalogue all hard-copy files deleted. This helps to head off allegations of indiscriminate deletions (inc fields: - Client Name, Client Address, File No., Brief description of nature of matter, File closure date, File destruction date / delivery to the client, Name of lawyer authorizing destruction / delivery.
     -> Meeting with paralegal Lennox and Penney contracts work out to (Sheila). Made notes for Stephen and made notes for me to action tomorrow.
     -> Meeting with John and clients signing Wills and Powers of Attorney. I witnessed.
     -> The power went down while I was printing from Teranet!

New things learned in placement to date:

I learned how to email instruments etc directly from Teranet rather than printing them. This allows documents to be saved to .pdf files in client files to reuse rather than having to incur more costs by going to Teraview again each time when you want to view or send the documents again!

To be continued.................

The long, cold, road home

My search for a summer job in a legal office was what ended up with my successfully securing a co-op placement.  I began by sending out letters and resumés to every law office I could find in Cambridge whose website looked approachable.  I don't drive so I have limited choice - they either had to be in Cambridge town or not too far away from my home on bus routes.

The ones who acknowledged my application were:

• Matlow, Miller, Cummins, Thrasher LLP
• Bellin Law Office
• Pavey Law & Witteveen LLP
• Woynarski Szymura Kelly LLP (WSK Law)

The ones I never heard from were:

• Goad and Goad LLP
• HG Law
• Johnson McMaster Law Office
• Kinder Law Office

The one who contacted me and accepted me for a summer job was PSH Lawyers who let me sit in for their regular law clerk/receptionist who had gone off on long-term sickness for at least a month.

While I was working my summer job at PSH Lawyers, I got to do all sorts of scary things like answering the phone, preparing accounts (with Wordperfect and PC Law), accepting transactions using Lawyer Done Deal, typing routine correspondence, witnessing wills and opening files.  This was before we had moved onto any legal content.  I had only completed my first year!

While I was working at PSH Lawyers I got sick.  My doctor and several specialists couldn't find exactly what was wrong with me, so I have been and still am on the gradual road to recovery since May 2016.  I was in so much pain after my first month at PSH that I had to miss some days.  They were very patient with me throughout the experience.

During the time I was most sick, Stephen Penney from Lennox & Penney LLP was calling me and left me messages.  I didn't get back to him right away as I knew I was unwell and couldn't commit to anything with him, but then I remembered I would need to secure a co-op for the back end of my last semester.  I was planning on being well by then, so I returned his call and we set up a meeting.

Lennox & Penney LLP are based on King Street in Preston.  They have a modern office in what used to be a truck servicing shop so far as I remember from our conversation.  The old bare brick walls they have kept, along with chains hanging from the ceiling in the meeting room which used to be where the trucks would be hoisted, meshes really nicely with the modern feel of the clean lines, creams, and natural woods they have chosen for their reception area.  They have a large window which reception looks out of and is flooded by its light.  I would be very interested in doing a search through Teraview to find out the building's history as it looks like one of the older ones in the area.

Stephen and I met in their large meeting room after a tour of their offices which they were still renovating and making fit for their use.  Diane Piper, who graduated from the Office Administration - Legal program in 2015 works as a Legal Assistant / Receptionist there, and she put me immediately at ease.

Another reason for my being more relaxed during our meeting as I was unaware that Stephen was considering it an interview for a co-op placement!  Perhaps that meant I spoke a lot more comfortably than I might have done had I known better!

Stephen offered me a co-op position to start in April, and I am very excited to work with everyone. :)