Week 1 Post 2

The Office Environment:

My work hours are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. I am supervised by one of the Legal Assistants, depending one who I am working with that day. My work area is either Reception or a desk upstairs near Heidi (Corporate Law, Legal Assistant) and Amy (Real Estate, Legal Assistant). I have printers, staplers, hole punches, and papers clips all nearby and on my desk. I have sticky notes and pens for any upcoming reminders or notes. My daily routine is arriving at the law firm 15 minutes early to be able to set up my work area and organized and prioritize files or clients coming in for appointments. Work is initiated by mostly email and being dictated. I find both very helpful as I get to listen to my given task and/or be able to have a notification email pop up to grab my attention. This week I enjoyed being able to go to the bank near the firm and certify cheques. I was given the task on my second day and was eager to be able to visually see how they were certified as we always made them for assignments in class. I do not have my own voicemail greeting, but I do answer telephone calls at Reception. As I continued picking up phone calls throughout the day I became more comfortable and confident doing so.

Placement has been very exciting so far as i'm becoming more familiar and comfortable in the environment of the firm. On Wednesday, I mainly worked on Reception and Real Estate. Practicing a few roleplay situations in class has really helped out in the workplace and knowing exactly what to say and how to handle telephone calls. While working at Reception, clients would come in for their appointments and I would then allow the lawyer and/or legal assistant know that their client has arrived. While working the telephone and greeting clients I had also multi-tasked and worked on opening files. I opened files on Conveyancer and opened physical files with printed labels.

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to go to the Waterloo Courthouse with one of the Legal Assistants, Kate. One of the lawyers, Mr. Appleby, was kind enough to drive us there in order to pick up court documents. It was very interesting to be able to see how the process was, and knew my way around by Ms. Bradley giving us the opportunity to visit the courthouse for Civil Litigation class. After we had received the court documents, Mr. Appleby took us to a storage room where all extra files were filed in order to find 2 files regarding specific matters. I enjoyed being able to see how the process of going to court and finding files for the lawyers. 

School-related Reflection:

In the courses that did not require an exam and had portfolios, quizzes and tests to substitute, I find it made it easier for the workplace. By being able to create a portfolio, I am able to keep the precedents by my side if I stumble upon a similar situation or task in the workplace. The quizzes were also helpful in a way of being able to see my mistakes and learn from it. They were very useful by showing the correct answer and allowing myself to know what the answer is for the future. The bulletin board was also very helpful by allowing not only myself, but any classmate be able to look at precedents and how they are correctly formatted. Being able to visually see templates and documents in proper format is very important, and I am glad I know that by the opportunity of of answer keys on the bulletin board.