Project 1 Summer 2008

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NicoD. Caldwell June20th,200g English106-5.Rose Project1

JeffreyOliveiraet Al.: My Explorationof the Law Career

As I sat in the officeof Mr. Jeffreyoliveira, Attorney-at-Law, I glancedaroundat allthe l uxu r io u a s n dspacious d6corand I thou g h tt o my s e lf ", l wo n d e r wh a t t h isg u y , sh o u s elo o k s li ke? "wh ile it'strue that mostlawyers m a k ea n ic elif ef o r t h e ms e lv e st h, e wo rk p u t tim e i nvo lvedmakesyou reallythinkthat

it ' swo rt h it . B e f o remy in t e rv ie wwit h Mr.

in a n dth e

o liv e ira h ,e

aske dw hy I wasinterested in becominga la wy e r.r t o o k a n o t h e rg la n c e a ro u n dt h e ro o m a n d sa id '"w ho wouldn'twant to be a lawye r? " A f t e rg e t t in ga la u g hf ro m h im,

I t o ld h im a b o u tm y

ch ild h o o dam bitionto becomea lawyer a n d a b o u tmy Min i-L a ws c h o o ld a y sa t . , s ma rt , , c a m p her ea t Pu r d ueand my short-lived careerin h ig hs c h o o d l e b a t ea n df o re n s ic s . Andso our gameof 20 Questions b e g a n I. s t a rt e db y le t t in gh im k n o wt h a t I wa n t e dt o k nowa l ot m oreaboutwhat happens in an d a f t e rla w s c h o o a l so p p o s e dt o u n d e rg ra da n d p r e l ar vsch o o l'As a studentin the P re-Lawpro g ra m h e rea t p u rd u e t, h e id e ao f wh a t t o d o

before

i a''vscho o ha l sbeendrilledinto my heada n d I wa n t e dt o s p a reh im t h e b o re d o m.A lo o ko f p tea sa nsu t r p r isecameoverMr.

oliveira ' sf a c e ,wh o h a sb e e np ra c t ic in g c iv illa w in t h e f o rm o f

p er so n ailnju r ylaw for sometwenty years , o r ma y b eit wa ss mirk .Het h e n s a id ,, , s c h o o l me . ' ell m e wh a t I haveto do to get into lar.', s c h o o l. L " it t led id Mr. o liv e irak n o w,b u t I h a dd o n e - , ' r ese a r ch .l sat up in my plushciient,s c h a ira n d b e g a n .

NicoD. Caldwell June2oth,2oo8 English106-5.Rose Project1

To get into law school,you mus t ,o f c o u rs ea, t t e n da n u n d e rg ra d u a tpero g ra ma n dy o u e a p ro g ra mo f rig o ro u s degree.lt's als oimp o rt a n t t op a rt ic ip a t in m u stob taina B achelor's u n d e rg ra d u a tgera d ep o in ta v e ra g eo r UGP A stu d yan dto get the bestgradesyou ca nb e c a u s e is alsove r yimportant.Majordoesn'tre a llyma t t e r,s o lo n ga s it is a ma jo rwh ic hd e ma n d s l a s o n in ga,n d p ro b l e m readingandwriting,oralad v o c a c yn,e g o t ia t io na,n a ly t ic are sub stan ti al solvin gTh . en,in betweenyourjuniorye a ra n d s e n io ry e a r,y o u s h o u ldp la nt o t a k et h e L S A T . logi c are l a s o n in ga,n d re a d in gc o mp re h e n s ioTnh. et e s t is analyticreasoning, The L SATtests ) n d a 3 5 -min u t ewri t i n g b r o ke nu p into 4 35-minutemultiplech o ic es e c t io n s(o n eis n ' tg ra d e d a se cti ontha t is not graded,but will alsob e s e n tt o t h e la w s c h o o lst h a t y o u d e s ig n a t yeo u r sco r e sto . Duringyour senioryearis th e t ime t o a p p lyt o la w s c h o o lsa n dv o ila ,y o u ' rein la w o n t h e s u b je c e t nds. that'swheremy k n o wle d g e sch o o l.U nfortunately, " s h a re da n o t h er "Wow,you reallyknowyourstu f f .S o ,wh y a rey o u h e rea g a in ? We l e ?" We ll,la w s c h o o l la u g ha n d lbeganto askmy question ss;o ,in g e n e ra l,wh a t is la w s c h o o lik is i n a wo r d :hard.Y oulearneverythin g y o u 'nlle e dt o k n o wa b o u tla w;it s h is t o ryd, if f e re nt s t h e t h re ey e a rst h a t y o u ar e fie ld s,a n d allthe casesthat set up the b a s isf o r a llju ris d ic t io nin in scho o l.Whenyou'renot in class,you ' red o in gc la s swo rk ,wh e ny o u ' ren o t d o in gc la s swo r k , o u ' rea lwa y ss t u d y in gO . h ,a n d s le e p. yo u 'r estudyingand when you'renot s t u d y in g . . . weyll, \Ve ll,sle e pis a luxuryyou'rerarelyaffo rd e dS. t u d y in gla w is a lif ec o mmit me n tY. o u

I

NicoD. Caldwell June2oth,2oo8 English106-5.Rose Project1

o f t e n t ime s ' because ha veto ea t,S leep,and breathethe law a n d c a s e sa n d p re c e d e n t s l ifewill be dependentuponwh a t y o u k n o w' " so m e o n e 's the "Th atsoundsintense,"lthough ta s I s h if t e din my c h a ira b it ' Mr' o liv e iran o t ic e d , a n a t t e mp tt o ma k et h e c a re e rs e e mmo r e lookin my eyesandstarteda g a in in d isco u r a g ed . g re a tma n o n c es a id ,' L a wis n o t a ap p e a lin g"lf , this is reallywhat you wa n t t o d o , it ' Se a s y A p e rs on a l l y ' atfirst it cans e e mt o u g h ,b u t in t h e e n d it ' ll b e g re a ta n d I car e e r bu , t a calling,'and l u s u a llyma p p e do u t f o r y o u ' lik eu n d e rg ra dw' i t h ha veno r egrets.Thefirstyearof law sch o o is , ilP ro c e d u ree' t c ' I n y ou r you need,likeCons t it u t io n aL la w,L a wy e rin gCiv a llthe b a sicclasses s c e rt a inc a t e g o rieosf la w,lik ep ro pe r t y seco n dve a r,you get morefreedomto c h o o s ec la s s ein c o u rS e s ' " o r tor ts a n dfinallyin your lastyearyou d o e x t e rn s h iposr c lin ic a l f ro m V a lp oin t h e ' B O s(h e , o g ra d u a t e d I r eallypickeda winner!Mr. Oliv e irawh I c o n t in u e do n t o my n e x t wo u ld n 'tsaywhen),reallyknewwhat h e rv a st a lk ln ga b o u t ,s o schoolto norv.ho r, vd id y o u g e t h e re ?Ho w d id y o u c h o o s es o lo q u e sti on :sofrom lar,v "well, I alwaysknewlwa n t e d t o s t ic kt o c iv illa w,s o wh e n p r a cti tio n ing?

I d id my e x t e rn s h i pI '

lik e dme , s o in t h e s u m m e r ch o sea lo calpersonalinjurylaw firm t o s h a d o wu n d e r.T h eo wn e r opportun it ywh , ic hlt o o k , a n dwh e n lg ra d u a t e da n dt o o k t h e B a r h e o ffe r e dme an rnternship Exam lgo: a :ob doing go'ernment offlceworkfull-titi{1.." :ae .: .:':-^:,

fiveyears later, he offered me

he decidedto stop il 3. a ra:rrrb'erof hi s legal counseland 3 years later, when and stayedfor 5years' over, I became One of the asSociates, i:.- ir€ oUSlneSS

NicoD.C aldwell 2oo8 June2oth. Rose 106-5. English Project1 Afterthat, I decidedto open up my own practiceand havebeenhereeversince.Contraryto popularbelief,I didn'tstartout makinglotsof money.Much of my life immediatelyafterlaw schoolwas spentpayingbackstudentloansand simplymakinga namefor myselfas lawyer. You know,this stuffdoesn'thappenovernight.That'swhy I saybe surethis is reallywhat you want to do and you'llgo far, I guaranteeit."

n' hopeto d", di$lffmaybe with a manwho doeswhatI someday Soendedmy interview -r''

is unknown,but my want not personalinjurylaw, but onlytime will tell.The roadto my success for ju sti ceandmyyearningtolearnt h e L a wis c e rt a in a n d p re s eltnht .a n k e d Mr. O liv e ira f o r a l l h ishe lpa n d as he walkedme out of hiso f f ic e ,we e x c h a n g epdle a s a n t rieIss. h o o kh ish a nda n d as I headedfor the door he stoppedme for one finalquestion,"Sodo you stillwant to be a I put my headdownf o r a s e c o n dt,a k in gin a llt h a t h e h a dt o ld me in o ur la wye rso meday?" in ter vie w.Thenllifted my headand s a id ," Did Ro e v . Wa d eg u a ra n t e e t h erig h t t o a b o rt io n s fo r allwo men?"Mr. Oliveirasimplysmile da n d re t u rn e dt o h iso f f ic e .

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