Winding Down the Internship

My time is coming to a close here at the EEOC and I am hoping to actually pick up a permanent job from this little gig that I had. I have grown to love the litigation field and work well with the lawyers. From simple cases to extremely large cases with dozens of discriminated invidividuals it has all been a real eye opener. I cannot beleive so many companies still practice unfair discrimination practices. I have seen racism, sexism, pregnancy cases, age cases, and even national origin discrimination. It is pretty pathetic that companies resort to this kind of behavior. I have even seen cases where management was aware of the problems, but looked the other way for the sheer sake of profit. I have witnessed companies get caught, sued, pay millions of dollars only to let the discrimination continue and end up in court again a few years later.

What an eye opener.

Theresa

Money Problems Still Abound

Working this internship with the EEOC has really opened my eyes up to Government spending. Our budget pretty much being released on a monthly  basis. This really makes it difficult to accomplish the job. Most everything we do is relied upon for money. From scheduling court reporters to buying siimple office supplies nothing seems immune to a low budget. We are all learing to be frugal and only use what is needed and use supplies until they are really gone.

With a fast paced litigation environment, money can affect the lives of many people. Attorneys have to be real careful on how they prepare for cases. Most cases require at least 4 depositions and that can get quite costly. Even though the government has to slow down spending, the court deadlines keep coming. Judges don't really care if you do not have the money to do the job.

We will see what the future holds for us........

Theresa

Career Post

Based on a desired change of lifestyle, I chose to speak with many people the past few weeks about my future career. I am looking at either entering a graduate program or entering the military to pursue a career in engineering or the medical field. I spoke at great lengths with the ASU Nursing Program representative about Nursing of Physician Assistant Programs. Based on my age, I would have to receive a direct commission into the military. There are few programs in the military that offer direct commissions. Nursing, engineering and computer sciences are a few. After speaking with the Nursing representative, I immediately began to look into nursing and PA programs. The PA programs would require less education and will let me join the military much quicker. The computer sciences path will require about another 8 months or so of education.

I have spoken with many recruiters from all branches of the military and am still trying to decide what is the best option for me. Arizona State University offers all the education I need for any path I choose so at least that part of planning has been made easy for me. My husband is retired Air Force, so of course that would be the first choice. However, I have told him to be prepared to be the spouse of a Naval Officer as well. I will let you know in a future post exactly what I am going to do. I still have a few appointments to meet with ASU Representatives as well as the Graduate program rep with ASU.

Theresa

Career Service Blog - Grad Fair

I attended the grad fair held at the UCent Bookstore on last Wednesday. I was looking forward to picking up my husbands Graduate hood, cap, and gown and also picking up my graduation wear for Spring. I was also looking forward to speaking with a few potential job employers. However, I soon found that this was only for graduation information and materials. I would have expected to speak to future employers. Would it not make sense to set up a few booths since an employer would have a captive audience of graduating students? I did get to speak with the representatives that sold the announcements, rings, etc. I was really looking forward to speaking with others. I know other job fairs are held throughout the year, but this was one place where most graduates were going to and you had them captive. While I was there, I counted at least 35 other students picking up stuff. Not to mention the dozens of others that were in there just to pick up school supplies. This seemed the perfect location to be a head hunter. I might make this a suggestion to the school for future GRAD fairs. Even inviting two or three may make a difference in a Graduates future.

Halloween Party

This week end I will be hosting my first ever Halloween party for my nieces and nephews. I recently moved into my new house which is sitting on over an acre in rural Buckeye. I have always wanted a large house on more property so I can host parties such as this. My brothers and sisters have always been the ones to have parties and I felt it was time that I did my share. I am looking forward to having the kids dress up in their costumes, bob for apples, carve pumpkins and roast hot dogs and marshmallows on a campfire. I am very excited and cannot wait for it to all come together.

I will keep you posted on how the party came out.

Records Staging Training

This week I sat through 48 hours of Records Management Staging and Archiving Storage Training. The government requires all agencies to keep records for a certain period of time based on subject matter. Some records are only kept a few months, whereas other records are kept up to 56 years. After sitting through this training I have to wonder where in the world are all these records going too? Just in our office alone I see hundreds of thousands of documents created for many court cases. Times that number by the number of offices throughout the country and it is extremely mind boggling. I envision large buildings spread out throughout the country filled from first floor to top floor with boxes. One of the reasons for such an organized staging activity is so that if an organization needs to recall the item from storage it can be done quickly and efficiently. In my prior job with the government, I sent a request to recall a file from staging and it took six months to get it back.

Theresa

Outreach Programs

I have been heavily involved lately in the outreach programs offered at my internship. We make ourselves available to travel to businesses to give training on the prevention of discrimination. This training covers age, race, sex, gender and also national origin training. Most businesses and employees do not understand what is or is not discrimination.I am still amazed at the number of people who think discrimination does not exist in the workplace. There are many companies who turn the other cheek when claims of discrimination are made. Fortunately, we are here to curb those businesses. It can cost a business millions of dollars if they are found guilty of disrcimination.

Theresa

Slow Week at Work

Well it has been a long week here at my internship, but not because of too much work; it is because of having to catch up with the smaller projects because a lack of real work. This week was focused on learning how to send closed cases to the National Record Center for archiving. We had to go through hundreds of folders, paper by paper to make sure we were not staging duplicates and other documents that do not require archiving. What a pain in the butt. Tedious and time consuming. We also had a chance to clean up the database before the new fiscal year gets into full swing. However, one thing that was not worked on was the budget. We are working off of a continuing resolution and money is super tight. Everything from computers to paper clips needs to be examined for need before it can be purchased. Soon a real budget could be passed and the purse strings may get a little looser.

Having a great time learning legal work and how the process flows. Keep posted as I will have more riveting information later as time progresses. Until then, be safe.

Theresa

A New Dawning

Ah.......the rise of a new Fiscal Year. More budgetary headaches, less money, the need for more stuff...the fun has just begun. As I start out a new fiscal year with my organization, we are tasked to do more with less money. As usual fashion over the past decade, we are starting out with a temporary continuing resolution to carry us through until Congress can decide how much allowance they should give us. Reminds me of the days of dad opening his wallet and deciding how much green I could have. Unfortunately, not enough green at this job means that cuts have to be made. Paper is less and less so copying is decreased. Electronic filing is now the way to go.

Even though we are short on funds, other companies that we deal with are not. They still slay us with mounds and mounds of paperwork. This year starts out looking like I will become a reviewer of documents for a short while. A good chance to really learn what the case is about. I look forward to the future here (with or without funding.)

Theresa

End of a Fiscal Year

Well....the end of the fiscal year has come and what an end it was. My organizatoin was tasked with filing as many cases as possible with the District Court. So much work goes into this process. It actually started months ago with what began in an investigative stage. Now, we are at the litigation stage and that is where my office takes over. Now that they are filed, the pretrial litigiation period starts. So much more to do before we can even reach a court date. Deadlines are set, motions are drafted, court decisions are made by the assigned judge. What a roller coaster ride of emotions. Busy times, slow times, confused times are all ahead of me. I will keep you all posted on my progress. Should be a very interesting time for the office. Hope to learn as much as a I can during my internship about the civil court process. This will be a real eye opener to say the least.

Best of luck to me,

Theresa

End of the week and time for a refreshment

Well, it has been a full week here and the work never let up. The end of the fiscal year is fast upon us and yet there is still much left to do. Timelines are approaching and sometimes it feels as though we will not make it. However, with hard work and perseverance it will all get done. Today I spent most of the day copying and mailing files to other attorneys offices. I have also spend a lot of time on the phone arranging for depositions and court reporters. It seems that when you get one step done, 2 more steps appear that need to be handled. How someone does this job on a permanent basis is way beyond me. However, given a chance to work full time here would be a plus. I have learned much in the short time that I have been here and look forward to learning much more in the weeks to come.

Theresa

Appellate Level Work

I have been working all morning on coping, scanning and emailing trial exhibits for a case that went to appeal a few months back. There must have been over 500 pages that I had to work with. However, I am only half done. I now need to do the same thing with the Defendant's exhibits that were admitted by the court. This will take more time as I need to locate the exhibits in our vast paper disaster area. After this daughnting task, I will have to assemble them for our attorneys to use as well as the D.C. attorneys who actually handle the appeal at their level.

Not to worry, even though my little brain is about to explode, I will survive this little escapade and be ready to move on to bigger and better tasks. One little tidbit that I will touch on in a later blog is the difference in leadership styles and techniques that exist between two Federal Government agencies. For now.....back to my paper mountain.

Good Day all,

Theresa

After Graduation

I have decided that I want to stay with ASU after finishig my undergraduate. I am looking at the Graduate programs and debating Urban or Public Policy. I am tinkering with the idea of doing a dual Master's. Any thoughts from my fellow students? I have always had the passion for urban work, but after taking some PUP and PAF courses I am torn. Both offer what I am looking for and either one (or both) will certainly give me that leg up needed out in the world. I have greatly enjoyed my time with ASU and look forward to staying with them no matter what choice I made. Is anyone else out there looking at staying on and pursuing higher education? I look forward to hearing from you.

Theresa

Legal Work

After working for a few weeks in the legal environment, I have acheived a greated appreciation for the court systems. When it comes to the rights of the alleged wrongdoers, those in the civil courts are afforded just as much protection as those accused of crimes in the criminal side of the justice system. As with the prosecution of a criminal case, the plaintiff has the burden of proof. We have to show proof that discrimination, regardless of how slight, has occurred before a jury can find for the side of the Government. If that is not done, then the case must fall for the side of the defendant. Clear and convincing evidence must exist for a findings of what amounts to guilty. The Government and the other side are given over  a year to build there case by taking depositions, gathering information, interviewing witnesses and submitting many, many briefs to the Judge. Nationwide, there are hundreds of cases being litigated. There are many more at the lower investigative stages. I will report more about that in future blogs. For now, the legal side is giving me more than a run for my money.

Happy days everyone,

Theresa

Possible Trip to DC

Great news. I may have a chance to travel to DC next month and see the headquarters for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Should be a great time and I look forward to meeting those in charge. While there I will get to see how the Appellate levels handle cases that are sent for appeal. In most cases, if a case is lost at the local district level, we appeal to the 9th Circuit which is actually in San Francisco. The 9th Circuit will review all evidence, briefs, and other documents submitted and will either approve or deny a request for appeal.

If approved, then our office will work with our headquarters to start the ball rolling in anticipation of winning a new trial with high hopes of winning the second time around. The appeal could take months or even years to work its way through the system. Only time will tell. Since I will be ini DC I intend to visit Capital Hill to really see Government in action. Should be an excellent opportunity to learn.

Theresa

My Weekend

Just wanted to blog about what exciting things I did over the holiday weekend. I felt that I needed a much needed break from the Phoenix area so I jumped in my car and drove myself to San Diego. I got a hotel room on Coronado Island, settled myself on the beach, opened a nice cool beverage, and dug my school books out of the bag. Yes, sad but true. You see, I am currently taking 5 classess and it is apparent that if I want a vacation, my books have to travel with me. I am anticipating graduating in the Spring and I guess you have to take the good with the bad.

But not to fear, I ensured that I had plenty of "me" time in California. I saw the Midway ship, my homework, the Zoo, my homework, a few nightclubs, my homework, the beach, my homework, romantic dinners, my homework.............

I hope you all had an enjoyable long weekend.

Theresa

Civil Case Timeline

I am now grasping on to why it takes so long for a case to progress through the court systems. First, once a case is brought to the attention of the agency, an investigation is conducted. Now, this investigation can last from six months to a few years. Once completed, the case is filed with the courts, where it will sit for another year or two. There is much back and forth activity between our office and the lawyers for the other side before it eventually is heard in front of a judge. Even though many years of work could go into a case, there is still an outside chance that the case could be settled before an actual trial date. It seems like an awful lot of work just to end up settling for a certain dollar amount.

In between all of this time, there are mounds of paperwork that still needs to be done. I think we kill an entire forest over one case. More paper than you will ever see in a lifetime. You get the idea.

Theresa

Week 2

Week 2 was an exciting time here at my internship. I actually got to meet quite a few of the Federal District Judges at the Sandra Day O'Connor courthouse. Sitting through a couple of court actions really opened my eyes up as to how the Justice system really works. It became clear that the defendant is given many chances to be protected. The system is designed so that the Plaintiff's side is required to prove their case. I am very excited to be working here and cannot wait for a "real" trial to begin.

I have also been involved in many of the behind the scenes actions for the government. I love getting to know everything that is going on. Should be an interesting few months.

Theresa

Music and Stuff

Thought I would take a post to let people know of my musical tastes. Although I primarily lean towards the 70's stylings of music, I listen to pretty much anything. Lately, I have had more of an ear towards country. Last summer I took a trip to California to see Phil Vassar in concert. Though not one of my favorites, it was a birthday gift for my husband. However, after seeing Phil in concert I have become a little more of a fan. He has a great voice, but the lyrics his songs are sometimes "a bit much." I am also a huge Billy Joel fan and have been for many years. How he could become such an angry man and ruin his marriage to Christie Brinkley is beyond me. I have a vast Ipod collection (over 8,000 songs) and when I choose "random" selections I get a variety of music. Country, pop, rap, jazz, etc will stream through my headphones for hours.

Let me know what you like in music.

Theresa

Week 1 of Internship

Well, week one went by without a hitch. I spent most of the week sitting through depositions and witness interviews. I thought I really knew how to interview someone, but after sitting through interviews with a seasoned paralegal I realized I was wrong. It is not just about the question you ask, but how you arrange your questions. Each question and subsequent question fell perfectly in line so that a story could actually be told with the answers received. I also spent time sifting through hundreds of pages of evidence looking for potential questions to ask in future deposition. I am amazed at what a legal person can see in a simple document. Without legal training, I would skim it and miss areas that need clarification from a witness.

An exciting week was spent listening and learning.  I cannot wait to learn and do more. What an exciting field of expertise.

Theresa

My New Internship Position

Greetings classmates,

I thought I would share with you the location of where I will be doing my internship. I was fortunate enough to land an intership with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Phoenix. This government agency oversees businesses and companies to ensure that employees are not being discriminated at their work places. From what I can tell so far, discrimination is more common place than I thought. I will be helping the attorneys and paralegals with court filings, scheduling of depositions, interviewing witnesses, and a myriad of other projects.

I will also be having contact with the local District Courts for the purposes of filing motions, pleadings, and other court related documents. It also looks like a may be performing legal research to ensure that the law the office is using is current and has not been overturned at higher court levels. I am very excited to be working for this agency. I may even be able to attend a few trials if the cases proceed to that level. I will keep you informed on what I am doing as I progress through my internship.

Theresa

Introductions

Welcome to my blog fellow classmates. I am Theresa Hays and will be graduating in the Spring. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here at ASU and look forward to continuing my education in the Graduate program. I work for the Federal Government and am a mother to two wonderful sons. I have lived in Arizona most of my life, but at some point, would like to move back East so that I can enjoy some green and maybe some cooler temperatures.

Though I have started my education later in life than most people, I feel that I have put forth serious effort to complete my education and still work a full time job with the Government. I have found that online courses have been quite beneficial for someone in my situation. You only need the drive, desire, and discipline to make it successful.

Again, welcome to my blog and I look forward to reading yours.

Theresa