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To date, what has been the most challenging aspect of your internship?
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Describe your supervisor’s management style (formal, informal, etc.).
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Describe one new thing you have learned about this company, or the field and/or industry as a whole.
To date, the hardest part of my internship has been keeping up with the pile of cases that I had to deal with. Last week, I had roughly 300 cases to seal for the Clerk Magistrate. It was hard to keep up with because every time I completed on portion of the pile, more cases were added to it – it was a never ending cycle. The concept of sealing a case is pretty simple: you must submit a formal request to seal your case to the Commissioner of Probation. If they approve your request, the approval letter goes into your case file, and your case gets taped shut; it gets sealed. Once your case is physically sealed and sealed on the computer, your case gets expunged from your record, meaning you, your attorneys, police officers, employers, etc will never be able to see your case again unless it needs to be re-opened for a legal reason. In addition to sealing cases, I had to pull all the cases that were being heard the next day, from the vault, and I had to move roughly 4,000 old cases (small claims, criminal, and restraining order) to the records room of the courthouse.
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I have had several bosses during my time at the court house. My first week here, my boss was the first justice's administrative assistant. Her overall management style is very laid back – as long as you do your work and get it done on time, she has no problems. I spent last week in the clerk's office, and my boss was the Clerk Magistrate. Her overall management style is also laid back. She is one who needs organization and clarity because there is an endless stream of paperwork that floods the clerks office on a regular basis, so as long as you stay focused on your task, stay organized, and complete your task, she will have no issues with you.
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During my week in the clerks office, I learned that all cases that enter the courthouse begin and end in clerks office. When someone gets charged with a crime, that charge is brought forward to the clerks office. A case file is made for the defendant, and the judicial process begins. If someone is found guilty and they have to pay a fine, their last stop before leaving the courthouse is the clerks office.