Elizabeth De La Torre Lopez shares her experience with the Lamunyon Law Firm …..
As a Criminal Justice major undergraduate at Northern Oklahoma College, I participated in 48-hour internship at Lamunyon Law Firm. I beheld upon doing my internship at a law firm to get a better glimpse for myself, thus, in the future pursuing a career as an attorney. Lamunyon Law Firm offered a big foretaste of what an attorney’s job ensures and the assembly of their business. This law firm offered a positive atmosphere as well as included an immensely friendly staff that allowed me to observe their daily assignments and activities around the office. In the event anyone needed an internship location like I happen to need one, I would extremely recommend his location. They were tremendously cooperative and flexible with the hours I had to get this internship completed, as well as worked with the hours available in my daily schedule. This internship experience offered a great overview of their business, as well as gave me some daily responsibilities, like any other it had pros and cons, and thus made up my mind on my own overall opinion on both my future career and on the law firm itself.
Lamunyon Law Firm’s primary business as said in the name is a law office. Justin Lamunyon, the attorney, specializes in cases that are family, guardianship, probate, personal injuries, real estate, and criminal. He was been practicing law for twenty-three years. His business consists of four people, one of which is himself. The chain of command following Mr. Lamunyon, there is Cassidy, his book keeper. She is in charge of the business’s accounts, records all transactions as well as incomes, process payments, maintains historical records by filing documents, complies with federal, state, and local legal requirements, files taxes, etc. Valerie, the legal assistant, is after Cassidy and who I happened to be working under during my internship. Legal assistants maintain and organize files, conduct legal research, assist in collecting paperwork needed for court, schedule appointments, etc. At the bottom on the chain, there is Ally, the receptionist. She is in charge of the front desk, taking phone calls, setting up appointments, greets clients and visitors, and checking in anyone that enters the establishment. Even though there is not a multitude of workers, his team is well trained, and they are very much equipped with the means necessary and knowledge to run the office.
For my future career, I would like to become an attorney. I believe that because I am bilingual, it would help my community, thus helping out those that have trouble with the English language, therefore needing help in the law spectrum. When I was young, I had in mind becoming a registered nurse, but once I began taking classes at Northern Oklahoma College, I looked into the Criminal Justice major and I fell in love. Just like Professor Cochran said, “if you are not Criminal Justice major, you will be. It is addicting.” Those were some of the words that I can remember from my first-class during freshmen year in Intro to Criminal Justice. Now, because of it, I want to go further and hopefully purse a career in law. In Lamunyon Law Firm, I worked beneath Valerie, the legal assistant. During my time there, she was the only one in the office because the other two were out on maternity leave, so I was able to offer an extra hand and look into all three sides of the ladies’ jobs. For me, I did not have specific duties within the internship. A day consist of coming in, sitting down, and inquiring what there needs to be done. Normally, I would be filing documents into its corresponding area, shadowing Valerie at all times, scheduling appointments, processing payments (if any), and basically just offering an extra hand when needed.
Within my experience at Lamunyon Law Firm, I can say that the unsurpassed benefit of the internship was getting to look into each of the positions available within a law firm. Before this experience, I had not ever before gone into an establishment like that nor saw the elements needed to run or work at a law firm. I learned plentiful about current cases, which are confidential, and also about closed cases. The only negative aspect of the internship, in general, was the amount of time needed to complete it. I believe there is insufficient time offered to get a better look into a specific job. Do not be mistaken, I learned adequately in a short period of time, rather, I myself would have preferred it to run through the semester, if possible. Within the law firm itself, one negative aspect was the communication. There was two different instances where I had time available to go in. Upon arriving, the office would be closed. The following day they were surprised that I was trying to come in the day before. Because of the communication, I was not informed, nor did they recall my schedule of times I was going to be there. Nevertheless, without those factors playing a part, the pros overrule the cons.
Like in the beginning, I would tremendously recommend this law firm as a place to complete one’s internship. First off, the atmosphere is welcoming. Who does not what to have that experience when the first come in? The atmosphere is what pulls a person in at the beginning, thus later establishing an opinion about the place. There is a bright smile from a receptionist at the front desk, anxious to assist you. Second, tied along with the atmosphere, it could not be done without the staff. They are willing to help someone coming in as an intern and are more than willing to lead the way and show you new things. Third, the flexible schedule. In my case, I was only able to attend Tuesdays and Thursday 10 to 12 and Wednesdays 3 to 5. Even though it gets in got the way of Valerie leaving early, she would stay in later on Wednesday afternoon so I could put in those two hours.
In conclusion, my experience in an internship at Lamunyon Law Firm was an extremely informative, as well as helpful in knowing about the elements within a law firm. With the help of Valerie, the legal assistant, I was able to view her daily duties, as well as the other two, and get a feel for the business. Between the case reading and talks with Mr. Lamunyon, I got a glimpse into a world I had no seen before besides the ones on television and classroom. Between my daily duties of filing documents in their corresponding area to processing payments, I was able to offer a hand when it was needed and overall done correctly. As for the truly welcoming environment positive to the miscommunication as a negative, alike any business, this law firm saw it too well, but it did not influence my decision when it came to recommend this law firm. Little things like those such as the communication can be easily adjusted, but for the sake of time, it was not obligatory to do so. This internship truly helped me gain a bit of knowledge as to whether law as a future career is the right path, as for now it is the right one for me.