Blog 24: Last Presentation Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

I am most proud about how I talked in my presentation. I was able to keep my nerves in check once I started my presentation. I am proud of how my activities turned out because everyone really enjoyed them. Presenting in front of everyone felt like a breeze compared to my freshman year. I felt confident and felt like myself presenting to the class.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation?  Use the component contract to defend that assessment.

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

I would give myself an AE/P. I did everything required on the contract and more. I had two activities; I used my prop, gave out lots of information on my experiences and topic, and had hand on experience with the class.

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project? Use the component contract to defend that assessment.

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

I would give myself an AE. I thoroughly enjoyed my project. I learned so much in mentorship and had great experiences. I worked really hard this year with research and doing lots of work for my project. My presentation went very well and I got to teach other people what I love doing. I am so grateful for this project, for it led me to be more confident in myself and it made me build strong relationships with people I may have never met before.

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

This senior project has led me to know a field I was scared at first trying. I have always wanted to be in law and this project let me be able to try it. I got to experience things I would have never thought I would have been able to do in the first place. I got to meet lawyers, clients, judges, and so many important people. I have grown more confident in myself because law can now be a realistic future career path for me.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project?

I loved my two activities, but I wish my second activity would have been more connecting to my third answer. I needed to find a way to tie them together better.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.

I got to experience the life of a lawyer. I got to watch the boring work and fun parts of being a lawyer. I got to meet people in the law field that I would have never have met if it weren’t for this project. Now, going into college, I am going to look into law and business and see how it goes. This project has brought confidence within myself because I know I can be a lawyer if I have the passion for it and if I work really hard. My mentor, Cindy Hafif, has been an amazing person to work with. She has given me opportunities that other lawyers don’t even get to have. This project will help me carry life long memories that will influence my decisions in the future.

Blog 23: Exit Interview

Content:

1. What is your essential question, and what are your answers?  What is your best answer and why?

EQ: How does a Personal Injury Lawyer ensure the best overall satisfaction of their client?

Answer 1: Educate the client

Answer 2: Communication with the client

Answer 3: Highest level of knowledge of insurance companies

Best Answer: Answer 3 - Highest level of knowledge of insurance companies

This is my best answer because it is key to get the lawyer to have a high success rate for their client. Having knowledge of insurance companies will help the lawyer get through cases faster and smoother by knowing the steps, communicating, and reasoning with them.

2. What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

The process of getting my answer was during my mentorship. Being able to be apart of Ms. Hafif’s cases, I got to have first hand experience with insurance companies. I got to see how they work and how not reasonable they are. Also talking with Ms. Hafif and her paralegal led me to pick my answer three.

3. What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

At first I did not know what to exactly talk about with insurance companies. There were a lot of routes I could have taken. I just had to pick the route that would best lead to my essential question. After that, I was able to figure out what to do easily.

4. What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

My most significant sources to answer my essential question were my interview with Luz Raddock, the Personal Injury Paralegal, and a lawyer website called All Law.

Blog 22: Independent Component 2

LITERAL
(a) Include this statement: “I, Starla Seale, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 31 hours of work.”

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

Cindy Hafif, my mentor helped me gain knowledge and experience during my independent component studies. Luz Raddock, a Paralegal, who works for Ms. Hafif, also helped me with gaining knowledge on being a lawyer and showing me how things are done with cases.

(c) Update your Independent Component 2 Log (which should be under your Senior Project Hours link)

Check

(d) Explain what you completed.    

I went to depositions, mediations, and went to court. Everything I did will be turned in, in detail, about what I experienced in my 31 hours of work.

(e) Defend your work and explain the component's significance and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.   

Everything I did, in detail, will be with everything I turn in. Including photos to prove my evidence of the things I did with my mentor.

(f) How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped. 

• I got to learn many things about being a lawyer and also many things about different types of people. I got to do things some lawyers can’t even do by attending these events with my mentor. I got to meet real clients and watch how they deal with their case and what emotions they show. I learned insight on what lawyers go through during settlements to their cases. The job of a lawyer is to always stay on their toes when being with a client, because one little slip up could cost a whole case, and the client is paying the lawyer their time. I also learned that one settlement can take only few hours, or can end up being 15 hours long, like I experienced in my first independent component.  It was fun being able to dress up as a lawyer and watch real settlements between lawyers happen. The arguments, the way people do things, and the way people talk and act. It was a real learning experience for me to watch everything happen as a whole. I am really glad of my experiences with my 2^nd independent component project.
• Learning all these things and watching all these things it helped me answer my essential question: How does a Personal Injury Lawyer ensure the best overall satisfaction of the client? Being able to sit back and watch and even interact with people my mentor showed me how to get the best satisfaction of the client. 

Blog 21 - Interview 4 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  

I learned that it is important to always keep in contact with the client no matter what. It is important to tell the client everything that is happening in the case. A lawyer should never sugar coat anything to the client, it is best to tell them as it is.
 
2.  How will what I learned affect my final lesson?

The relationship between the client and the lawyer is very important. The lawyer needs to do everything in the clients’ best interests. This will reflect my final lesson of how I put my information together and how I present my facts.

Link to my interview 4 is on my blog under the links section. 

Blog 20: Fourth Interview Questions

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?

       I am not sure yet who I want to interview, but I was thinking of my mentor’s paralegal, Luz. Luz is a paralegal that deals with personal injury cases.

2.  Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. Your focus should be finding answers to your EQ.

1. How do you get the best satisfaction of the client your representing?

2. What are the best insurance companies that usually give you the best outcome?

3. What are the insurance companies that are bad to deal with?

4. How do you get through these bad insurance companies?

5. How do you keep track of all the paperwork?

6. How are you able to stay organized with communication with the client, meetings, and due dates along with other cases at the same time?

7. About how many cases do you handle at a time?

8. How long do cases go on for?

9. How are you able to keep in constant contact with the client?

10. How much do you tell the client in the case?

11. How do you bring clients in to the firm?

12. What are ways you know you can trust your client?

13. How do you know if the client is lying?

14. What do you do if you find out your client is lying?

15. How do you establish trust with the client?

16. How do you establish a professional and close relationship with the client?

17. What are the best ways how present a case to get more money out of it?

18. How does a lawyer become known?

19. How can you improve your relationships with insurance companies?

20. What is some other important information that you can add?

Blog 19: Third Answer

·       EQ 

How does a Personal Injury Lawyer ensure the best overall satisfaction of their client?

·       Answer #3 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*

 A Personal Injury Lawyer can ensure the best overall satisfaction of their client by having the highest-level knowledge of insurance companies.

·       3 details to support the answer         

• Policies are constantly changing
• $$$
• Fine print is important
• Under the policy, what would happen if an accident were to occur?
• What are the differences between all insurance companies?
• Be able to communicate and reason with insurance companies.

·       The research source(s) to support your details and answer

Insurance Policies and Interview 3.

·       Concluding Sentence

When an accident occurs, it is most important to know what type of an insurance policy the client has. A lawyer needs to be able to understand what the insurance policy consists of and what are the ways around it to get the most amount of money for the client.

Blog 18: Answer 2

1.  What is your EQ?

How does a Personal Injury Lawyer ensure the best overall satisfaction of their client?

2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

 A Personal Injury Lawyer can ensure the best overall satisfaction of their client by communicating with the client.

3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

A Personal Injury Lawyer can ensure the best overall satisfaction of their client by educating the client.

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

1. With having to read and fill out a lot of forms, a client needs to be educated into understanding what is happening.
2.  Especially in a accident, insurance companies are brought in the case. It is important to tell the client what was in their policy and let them know how to go about dealing with the companies to get their profit from the accident.
3. During court, mediation, deposition, or any formal meeting; the lawyer needs to help the client understand what is going on with the case along with what is going to happen in these meetings. Also, the lawyer needs to prepare them for worse if it were to come about.

5.  What printed source best supports your answer?

"Why and How to Educate Your Clients." Hooker, Lauren. Elle and Company, 29 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. 

 This article is important because it talks about why we should educate clients and then how to educate them in the right way.

6.  What other source supports your answer?

My interview three with my mentor's paralegal Luz, gave amazing information with communication, education, medical help, and insurance companies.

7.  Tie this together with a  concluding thought.

For a case to come together it is important for the lawyer to have the best knowledge in injury cases, so they can deal with any accident that comes their way. They also need to have communication skills and be able to educate the client in simple terms. Without the client there is no case. This is why communication and education is so important. Without these, there will not be a strong working relationship between the lawyer and the client. This will result with the client not being satisfied in the end.

Blog 17 - Interview 3 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  

Dealing with Personal Injury Law is hard work. It requires dedication and speaking skills. A person would have to be able to tolerate a lot of paperwork and trying to gain access to paperwork to go into this profession. A lawyer has to be educated in ways to answer any question people throw at them. If a lawyer doesn't look like they know what they are talking about, they will not be taken seriously. Along with this, Personal Injury lawyer needs to be able to have good communication skills. With any injury insurance companies need to be contacted. I learned insurance companies are not people to be dealt with. They cut corners and they don't give people the money they deserve.

  2.  How has your approach to interviewing changed over the course of your senior project?

By interviewing, I get to learn things different from the internet. I get to learn about personal experiences and thoughts with the topic I want to learn about. I get to ask questions that I want to know and have them answered first hand from an expert. I get insight as well on my topic.

Link to my interview 3 will be on my sidebar on my blog and also here.
https://soundcloud.com/starla-seale/interview-3

Blog 16: Independent Component 2 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

For my 30 hours I will attend mediations, depositions, sit in meetings with my mentor, and attend court with my mentor, Cindy Hafif.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

I will log in my hours on the spreadsheet, and I will write about what I did at each thing that I will attend with my mentor. I will write about my thoughts and what I learned.

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.

By going to these mediations, depositions, etc.; I will be exploring how cases are dealt with. I will watch the interaction between the lawyer, client, and the other parties involved with the case. I will also earn different cases, and different terms, and how to do thing in Personal Injury.

4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.

Check

Blog 15: Independent Component 1

One of the photos I took at my day at court in the judge's chambers.

·       LITERAL
(a) Write: “I, Starla Seale, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 32 hours of work.”
(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

Cindy Hafif, my mentor helped me gain knowledge and experience during my independent component studies. Luz, a Paralegal, who works for Cindy, also helped me with gaining knowledge on being a lawyer and showing me things in the office.

(c) Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours.

Check

·       (d) Explain what you completed.    

I went to depositions, mediations, and went to court. Everything I did will be turned in, in detail, about what I experienced in my 32 hours.

·       INTERPRETIVE 
Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  

Everything I did, in much detail, will be with everything I turn in. Including photos to prove my evidence of the things I did with my mentor.

·       APPLIED
How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this. 

• I sat and listened during my hours, I got to learn many things about being a lawyer and also many things about different types of people. I got to do things some lawyers can’t even do by attending these events with my mentor. I got to meet clients that told the truth and some that ended up being lairs during a settlement. I learned insight on what lawyers go through during settlements to their cases. The job of a lawyer is to always stay on their toes when being with a client, because one little slip up could cost a whole case, and the client is paying the lawyer their time. I also learned that one settlement can take only few hours, or can end up being 15 hours long, like I experienced.  It was fun being able to dress up as a lawyer and watch real settlements between lawyers happen. The arguments, the style people do things, the way people talk and act. It was a real learning experience for me to watch everything happen as a whole. I am really glad of my experiences with my independent component project.

Lesson 2 Reflection

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

I am proud of the information that I supplied in my presentation. I was happy how my activity and hook turned. I also liked my simple power point that went along with my presentation.

2. a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE / P        

     b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

I came prepared with my lesson presentation. I talked about everything that was required of me and I added extra talking time on stuff that wasn’t required of me.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

My presentation went smoothly with my hook, my information and mentorship, my activity, and my conclusion.

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

To improve myself; I needed to get my nerves down because it made me forget to explain some stuff, it made me jittery, and talk a little bit flustered.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

My essential question, “How does a Personal Injury Lawyer ensure the best overall satisfaction of their client?” My answer two will be to educate the client.

Blog 14: Interview 3 Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?

 I plan to interview my mentors paralegal Luz. Luz is a paralegal that works in my mentor’s law firm and also works for my mentor.

2.  Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview.  What is the date and time of the interview?

I have contacted Luz to schedule an interview and she said she would tell me her availability. It will be sometime within the next two weeks.

3.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.

What are the best ways to make sure the client is satisfied?

4.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).

What is the definition of satisfy and how does it relate to the ending result of a case for a client?

5.  Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ.

What are the steps into informing the client during their case? What do you tell the client and what do you leave out? Is their a way to give out too much information to the client?

Blog 13: 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

I am doing my mentorship at my mentor's law firm called Hafif and Associates.

2.   Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?

Cindy Hafif, my mentor, is a Personal Injury lawyer. She has been in this work for years and became successful enough to run a law firm.

3.   How many hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).

I have done 26 mentorship hours during the school year so far, along with 19.5 summer mentorship hours. I have also completed 26 hours for my independent component one.

4.   Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.

I have learned how to make a case, file a case, destruct a case file. I learned my mentor's tips and tricks on how to stay neat and organized for all the paperwork that is required in Personal Injury cases. I've gotten to sit in meditations, depositions, and court trials. I plan on doing all that I can do in learning new things with my mentor and attending more of these meetings.

Blog 12: Holiday Project Update

1. It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?

I met with my mentor 3 times over winter break. I helped her with some files and made nametags for her Christmas party. I also went to LA with her to a mediation that took 15 hours! It was honestly super boring but I did learn from it.

2. What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

I learned that being a lawyer is really hard and sometimes boring work. As a lawyer you have to always pay attention, have the right paperwork, give good advice, always seem awake and not let your guard down. Since a lawyer’s client is paying them, they have to know what they’re doing, present themselves, and be ready for anything. During the 15-hour mediation, my mentor had to do all of this and more, while I’m sitting there trying not to fall asleep. To be a lawyer, I learned, you really have to love it and love everything that comes with it.

3. Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?

I plan to interview my mentor's paralegal, Luz. She is a highly qualified lawyer and does a lot of work for my mentor. I think she give me a lot of good information on what she does, how she became a successful lawyer, and what it takes to be a lawyer.