So my first day! It was a very mentally exhausting first day because of everything going on that I need to mentally grasp. There were so many different things mentioned by different legal professionals that I didn't understand. I've learned a lot today from just asking questions, but a lot still doesn't make sense, and I will have to continue observing day-to-day activities just to understand how normal, daily tasks in the legal world take place.
The day started with me meeting Judge Helmick and Dawn, his judicial assistant. Judge Helmick and I talked for a little bit about what would be happening during my Winterim before he took me to meet Judge Zouhary, a federal judge, and Judge Knepp, a magistrate federal judge. I was able to talk to each of them for a little bit before I moved on to the next thing this morning.
I had a one-on-one interview with Annie Crawford, the jury selection manager, naturalization ceremony manager, and financial deputy. Judge Helmick arranged me to interview her regarding her as the jury selection manager. This was really interesting and was an important interview, and my final project has everything to do with jury selection. I asked her many different questions about the whole process. She told me that potential jurors are nervous when they show up for jury duty, but they relax once they get settled. We discussed the new tweakings to the database that have increased the number of people who can be selected for jury duty. Before, only those who were registered to vote could be selected. Now, the database has been changed, allowing for anyone who has an Ohio driver's license to be sent a jury summons. Although this creates some issues, this does help to improve demographics of juries. Finally, we talked about who gets excused and disqualified from jury duty.
Judge Helmick, Judge Knepp, Sarah (Judge Knepp's law clerk), Sarah (Judge Knepp's law clerk), and I went out for lunch at the Oliver House. We had good conversations about interesting cases and previous experiences in the legal world. It was interesting to hear about Sarah's previous work (in the Attorney General's office) and Sarah's previous work (as an attorney for the City of Toledo). Lunch was a great time for me to hear informal conversations about issues taking place right now.
Following lunch, I sat in on a teleconference with Judge Helmick about a plaintiff composed of different companies seeking preliminary injunction from another company to which the companies are under contract. Sitting in the teleconference was Judge Helmick's law clerk, Cathy, whom I met then. I was able to understand some of what went on, and Judge Helmick cleared up the parts that I didn't quite get.
Afterwards, Judge Helmick and I took a look at my schedule some more to figure out what else I would be doing. And that's my first day.
I still have a lot more to do; after all, it was only my first day. Tomorrow, I will watching a sentencing procedure with Judge Helmick, a sentencing procedure with Judge Zouhary, and a change of plea with Judge Zouhary. I have no idea what to expect.
Nice job on your blog so far Poom! You did a good job of cataloging topics/things that you learned but didn't really tell any specifics of what you learned. In particular, since you mention that the jury selection process has a lot to do with your final project, what did you learn that was exciting/useful? I look forward to learning more details in future entries.
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