Last week, I had the privilege of being able to job shadow
at the State's Attorney’s Office, which is located inside the Sangamon County
Courthouse building. I really enjoyed
the experience. Everyone that I met was
very welcoming and open to talk about what their career is like. For the most part, I followed one attorney
around to different office and court rooms.
She and a few other attorneys explained the process of a court trial and
tried their best to elaborate on the proceedings. I was able to sit-in for preliminaries,
traffic court, felonies, and other events taking place. One lawyer working on a DUI case explained
the case to me and another student who was job shadowing from the same high
school. He showed us the evidence in the
form of a video and afterwards asked us if the defendant would be found guilty
or innocent. We both thought that the
evidence was substantial enough that the verdict would come back guilty, and we
were surprised when he said that in DUI cases, the jury often decides that the
defendant is not guilty, despite contradictory evidence, because they do not
see those individuals as criminals.
Something else that I found interesting was being given the chance to
get to talk to a few judges. I am glad
that I was able to participate in this activity and I feel that I have learned
a bit more than I had known before about what it is like to be an attorney. I still cannot say for certain if that is the
career that I would like to pursue, however, since a large part of an attorney’s
typical day often includes large amounts of paperwork and reports. I did not get to see this part because it was
deemed too boring, so instead I was able to watch other functions that
litigators might perform, such as at prelims.
One thing that I do like about attorneys is that do their best to ensure
that justice is done. Without them, it
would be a much harder task to defend oneself in court. I intend on keeping my options open for the
future, but I will keep legal studies in mind.
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