Oh hey there..

Woops. I told you guys I am terrible at updating blogs. Anyways, let's see. Since last we spoke, Alaska is still awesome. I am absolutely loving it up here and am seriously considering the possibility of living here post-graduation. I have had numerous hearings since I last wrote and am proud to say that each hearing is easier than the last (except for this hearing I have tomorrow, which is going to be miserable). I have come to the conclusion that some people are absolute idiots.

Anyways, last week, I took a trip to Prince of Wales Island, which is a three hour ferry ride away. Literally three hours. On the dot. A close friend of mine (and private attorney in town) was conducting a trial in Craig (a town on POW), so I got to watch the trial from start to finish. Sad to say, it's not nearly as glorified as the ones you see on TV. The entire process (from picking the jury to reading the verdict) took two days. The verdict? Not guilty. :) The state's case depended on the veracity of their criminal informant who came off about as intelligent and truthful as a two year old. I was afraid the jury would just view her as dumb, rather than the liar we saw her for. Watching the process, however, was incredibly useful and educational. I have never sat in on a trial before, so it was a good learning experience.

After the trial ended, I spent my remaining two days exploring the island. Unfortunately it was mist-raining every day (the rain up here is the exact opposite of the monsoons we get in Florida), but that didn't stop us from enjoying the trip. I went on the most beautiful run I have ever gone on...if you're interested in seeing the pictures, I uploaded 150+ on facebook. I also ate the most amazing food: fresh salmon or halibut each night (except the one night where we opted for pizza), fresh veggies (usually seasoned thai style) and other delicious goodies. By fresh salmon and fresh halibut, I mean it was caught within hours of our eating it. Jealous?

Yesterday, I showed up at work ready to hit the ground running. I got five new cases (my tally is up to eighteen). I'd like to think that it's because they have confidence in my abilities in the courtroom. I have four hearings this week and eight next week. Anyways, I'm going to run up to the courtroom and see what's going on. I have grown fond of a few individuals who are, for lack of a better word, entertaining to watch in court. (I'm talking about defendants, here.)

Hope all your summers are progressing beautifully. I'll try and update this thing more frequently.

Update.

Man, keeping a blog updated is exhausting. I know I've gotten requests from people to update more and I'll try and oblige.

Let's see, last week.

I had my first two court appearances, which resulted in a change of plea (guilty of one charge, dismissal of the other and time served for jail) and a dismissal for another client. The dismissal also involved my Spanish skills. I was pretty nervous about both, but once I got in that courtroom, I felt pretty great. I have another court appearance on Friday for an adjudication, which is essentially a mini-trial, but just in front of a judge (rather than a jury). I'm hoping to have a plea agreement arranged before then, though. I also got a killer deal for another client and am going to have a hearing for her at some point in the near future to change her plea to guilty (but no jail time and a suspended sentence, which essentially allows the case to disappear if she makes it through her one year of probation without any other problems).

Last weekend was pretty awesome as well and involved going crabbing for the first time. We wound up hauling up about fifty dungeness crabs, but only ten were appropriate sizes to keep. Delicious! I also butchered a few crabs, which was a new experience. I can now add "Expert Octopus and Crab Butcherer" to my resume. ;)

We (Katrina, Chris (another attorney in town) and myself) also got to see some sweet beaches. Chris has a boat, which makes it pretty easy to get around. Chris introduced us to a fabulous hidden camp site, which is one of the most amazing campsites I have ever seen. Pictures will be posted at a later date.

This seems like enough of an update for now. I am still loving Alaska and this internship is pretty fabulous. So grateful for all the support I've gotten from everyone in coming out here!

Some Photos!

above: this place is pretty.

above: the shrimp "pots".

above: the harbor :)

above: butchering an octopus. no biggie ;)

First Day!

Today was my first day (in case you didn't get that from the title). I arrived at work promptly at 8am and by 8:30 I was in a courtroom looking at this eighteen-year-old, dressed in yellow prison garb (yes, it's yellow here), shackled at the wrists and ankles and charged with murder in the second degree. He reminded me of a lot of people I went to school with: charming good looks, youth, shaggy hair and this strange combination of looking serenely innocent and completely ashamed of himself. Needless to say, with this as my "welcome to the court" experience, I was rattled.

When I returned to the office, I was greeted with a stack of bright red folders (red = misdemeanor cases). Eight of them, to be exact. EIGHT. Do you realize how many that is for a legal intern? It seemed like an impossible feat. How in the world am I supposed to learn their files and represent them in court ... all at the same time?! However, nine hours later, I am feeling better and more confident that I can, in fact, do this. It will still be a battle in some instances from a moral stand point, but for many of the cases, I find myself sympathizing with the clients (I won't go into which kinds of cases specifically). As my good friend James told me, "does it make you nervous that you are the best representation these people can afford?" Thanks, buddy. Yet, it's true. For some of these clients, the public defender's office is the only possibility they have of retaining a life after the case ends. It will certainly be one heck of a summer. Tomorrow, one of my clients is calling me from jail. Nothing violent; drinking issues and he can't afford the bail. However, it's still kind of crazy to think that I am now the "one-phone call-to-reach-an-attorney" person. On that note, all the documents say "lawyer" or "attorney" when referencing me. I even have an Alaska bar number. I am LICENSED to practice law (under a supervising attorney, of course). But it is awesome, nevertheless.

And on THAT note, my supervising attorney is fantastic. Incredibly helpful and I really believe he is hoping to ensure I have one amazing summer experience. The other ladies of the office are Katrina, my roommate who just graduated from Michigan Law, Dianne the Dynamo (yeah, I nicknamed her that -- she is insane in the courtroom), Michelle (also amazing in the courtroom -- I got to watch her argue statutory interpretation today in the courtroom and it was fascinating), Sharon (the investigator) and Joy (and she IS a joy). I got to watch all the attorney's in action today, along with the DAs. On Friday, Sam introduced me to everyone in the building (police, DA office, clerks, etc...). Everyone is really friendly and cordial with one another, which I think is a wonderful surprise. The DAs have remembered me and always say hello and ask how I'm doing. I also watched on DA today discuss with three eighteen year old girls their MCA (minor consuming alcohol) charges. He even reduced one girl's second "repeat" MCA to count as though it was her first (she had completed "youth court" four years ago -- yes, this means she was caught drinking at 14 or somewhere around there). To see a DA reduce a charge on the spot was something I didn't expect to see.

Anyways, in non-law-associated news, my memorial day weekend was awesome. On Friday, Katrina and I went to the Ketchikan "Yacht" Club with Sam and his wife Judith. It was a really great time, with grill-your-own burgers and chicken breasts. Along with all the fixin's of course. On Saturday, I hung out on the docks with a fellow couch surfer, who just returned from Europe with an MBA and a goal to start a youth center here in town. Sunday involved a nice nature hike with Katrina around Ward Lake and on Monday, I borrowed her bike and did a nice ten mile (or so) bike ride south to Saxman (another little town) and hung out on some benches overlooking the water. We have had an AMAZING string of beautiful days and I am taking all the credit.

Alright, this is long enough. It's time to relax and turn off the brain.

I am officially an eskimo.

So, here I am. Sitting in the living room of my host home for the summer (an attorney that works at the public defender's office) looking out over the water with the mountains in the background. My journey was lengthy, but pretty uneventful (thankfully). I spent the last few days in Cincinnati (watching two friends get married) and Chicago (with mom and auntie M at the restaurant show). I woke up at five am in Chicago, headed to O'hare and went to Alaska Airlines (since American didn't have my flight number, I assumed it was actually on Alaska) only to find out that American had simply changed my flight number. So I hauled my bags over to American, got through security and boarded the plane, which took off a bit late. I landed in LAX and after an hour and a half, flew to Seattle. From there, I hopped on a plane and flew to Ketchikan, where I was greeted with blue skies (for the most part), warm weather and no rain. The airport is on an island here, so I hopped on the ferry and got to the mainland, where Katrina picked me up.

From there, we went to "the office" and I got to meet a couple ladies I will be working alongside this summer -- Joy and Sharon. They are both lovely ladies and somehow have this "alaskan" feel to them. I have my own little desk set up in the corner of the common area of the office, with my own phone and computer to work on, which will be helpful. I also saw my supervisor, but he was meeting with a client so we just gave a somewhat-awkward-wave to each other and Katrina and I took off for home. Her spare room was completely empty up until a week ago (when she got the final approval from her land lady to have me stay the summer) and she went above and beyond the call of duty. I have a queen size bed, with beautiful bedding, a desk/chair, drawers, hangers and a photo wall thingy-magingy. So -- SEND ME PHOTOS, PLZ.

Now we are cooking up some chorizo & lentil soup for dinner and I am watching the bulls game...

I think I must have managed to battle the four hour time change from eastern to alaskan pretty well, because it's just shy of 6 o'clock here and I feel only a little bit sleepy. Tomorrow, I'm planning on going for a run (and hopefully not dying since it is oh so hilly here) and will then explore the town and get some groceries.

I've been here for roughly two hours and I must say, I am feeling that this summer's going to be a good one.

A Week to Go.

As most of you know, I will be spending this summer in Alaska aka the Last Frontier aka the Land of the Midnight Sun. I will be spending approximately 10.5 weeks in Ketchikan, AK, which is in southeast Alaska (south of Juneau, which means I'm basically living in Canada). For 10.5 weeks, I will be playing with bears, kayaking in the sea and, you know, working.

The point of this blog is essentially two-fold: First, I will be documenting any adventures I encounter in the Land of the Midnight Sun, which will likely be quite a few. As I tend to take quite a few chances and am not sure how cell phone service will be in Ketchikan, this blog will also serve as a great way to make sure I am still alive. Second, I will be working in Ketchikan's Public Defender's Office. This sort of job is completely new to me and it will be the perfect way to put what I have learned (allegedly learned, I might say) in law school thus far.

I will document my adventures at sea, in the wilderness and in the court room and hope that by reading, you will be able to experience a bit of Ketchikan. As soon as I find a place to live (yeah, that's right, I'm still homeless at this moment in time), I will send out my address if you wish to send me any mail. I like post cards of Lake Michigan, homemade stick figure drawings and treats. As for all of you, I will find awesome things in Alaska to send/bring back. I've already gotten requests for post cards, Sarah Palin and taxidermy (mmhmm).

As for now, it is back to enjoying movie night with my pops and getting some sleep for a round of golf in the morning with my mom. Sometimes, it's not so bad when your parents live in South Florida.