To start my second day at the Polanco law firm, I spent more time finishing my filing project from the previous day. When I had finally alphabetized the last of the Z’s, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. The messy, overflowing storage room had turned into a strictly organized roadmap of the firms previous cases. While we were organizing, one lawyer was complaining about how their client was still detained despite the fact that he had paid $5,000 bail. He had worked through 3 different lawyers before contacting this firm! After the files were all in their boxes and the boxes in their places, we spent some time organizing receipts and making copies. While the work was sometimes tedious, I recognized that it was, in the grand scheme of things, a small but crucial step towards helping others reach justice. I spoke during this time with one of the law school interns and we talked about how the political climate in America has effected human rights and immigration law. As the daughter of an immigrant, she told me that her mom and her had come to the conclusion that human rights have always been a huge problem for immigrants. She explained that underlying racism has been present in our country for years, the only difference is now the public is paying more attention.
I spent the second half of my day working with one of the lawyers at the firm to enter data about her cases into her electronic data base and make labels to put on case files. Through this process I had the opportunity to read the notes on her closed case files as I was transcribing. Through this process I got to learn a lot about the problems her clients faced and served as part of a wake up call to me. One of her notes read something along the lines of “There is nothing more I can do. Case Closed”. This line definitely took me off guard and helped me see the ugly side to working in a law firm: losing cases. Today was another day full or learning and worldly realizations.
