 |
|
|
A Week in the Life of Sara Doran
Sara was a summer associate in the firm’s Chicago office in 2007 while in her second year at University of Michigan Law School. Sara shared her experience during one week of her summer at RDB.
Monday
Morning
9:00 a.m. I arrive at RDB’s Chicago office on the 30th floor of a building in the Loop. As I’m getting a cup of coffee in the break room Chris White, an associate, invites me to observe motions call in Illinois state court. Both the state and federal courthouses are within walking distance of the office, so I’ve been able to observe court proceedings many times over the summer.
9:15 a.m. Chris White, the two other summer associates and I head over to Court. Motions call is finely orchestrated chaos…at one point I counted 36 attorneys in the small courtroom! The judge runs through each motion quickly, assigning dates and times to waiting attorneys. One of my fellow summer associates worked on research for the motion that Chris will be arguing, which adds an extra level of excitement to the proceedings. Once Chris gets up to argue the hearing it only takes a minute or two, and the judge grants the motion.
11:00 a.m. Once back in the office I take a few minutes to enter my time from the previous week onto sheets for my secretary to enter into the computer. Time entry has been one of the most difficult tasks for me to master during my summer at RDB, but I’m finally getting the hang of tracking my time in six minute increments.
I am working on research for a coverage analysis with associate Alex Mahler and partner Scott Turner. Our client is an insurance company that has asked us to advise it about whether it must defend one of its insureds. The insurance policy contains several exclusions and exceptions, and the facts of the case are complicated. I spend the rest of the morning researching Illinois law on insurance coverage issues, but I don’t find any cases on point.
Noon. Partner Scott Turner takes all of the summers out to lunch at Vivere, a nice Italian restaurant next door to the office. Throughout the summer we have had lunch with almost all of the partners and with all of the associates. It’s a great opportunity to get to know the attorneys in a quiet and informal setting.
Afternoon
Back in my office I return to researching an issue from my coverage analysis assignment, but after about half an hour I decide to switch gears. My long-term assignment is a 50-state survey of contractual liability exclusions in insurance policies, which gives me a chance to get to know the issue very well. It’s also nice to be working on more than one assignment at once, in case I need a break from thinking about a particular question.
3:45 p.m. One of the other summer associates comes into my office and asks me to quickly proof an assignment of hers before she hands it in. The summer program coordinator encouraged us to read one another’s work before turning it in, and it’s been very helpful throughout the summer. It always helps to have a fresh pair of eyes look at a document. I mark a few commas that she has missed and spend a few minutes discussing her memo with her. It’s an interesting memo about whether an insurer can cancel a policy if the insured made misrepresentations in its application, and she did a great job of clearly setting out the state of the law on the issue.
I spend the rest of the day working on my 50-state survey, and then head down to the gym in our office building. It’s a nice little gym, and I love the convenience of being able to work out before heading home for the evening.
|
|