What it's like in an office

The topic may appear to be straightforward but moving from a school environment to an office can be quite confronting to some. I thought I would go over some quick tips for coping for your first few weeks in an office environment.

If you’re an intern this might give you a heads up on somethings to look out for!

1.      The noise level is quiet

When you’re studying getting to control the noise in your environment is pretty standard. More over, if you’re at school you can always tell your friends nearby to be quiet if they’re disturbing you. In an office that’s not always the case

Depending on whether you’re in a cubicle or hot desking things can get pretty noisy. Not only are there employees who some how forget to put their phone on silent every day – but you can also over hear the inevitable work calls where you can’t move them to another room because they need /all/ that stuff on their desk.

2.      Doors open and closed is an issue

Some how on this blog I always end up talking about the weirdest of things. I don’t know if it’s just that I’m a little bit too picky – but one of the things that I’ve really struggled with is knowing when to shut someone’s door.

There seems to be a lot of unwritten rules about this. Generally, we’d think phone call – shut the door, no call open the door. But…depending on where you work, who it is and how tense the conversation is you can be opening and closing that door all day long!

If you’re interning be prepared for a lot of awkward hesitations in the doorway. Whether you’re knocking on an open door, closed door, door way, or just staring at the people inside hoping they give you an idea of whether you’re meant to be inside or not – there’s a lot of awkwardness when you first arrived in an office.

But rest assured you’re not the first socially awkward person to have no idea what you’re doing!

3.      The printer is always broken

If you thought that your library printer was never working – then prepare yourself for the office printer. Not only are you going to be cursing out a printer that never works, you’re going to be joining a group of people who are overly tense and also cursing out a printer that is never working.

The exciting thing is – there’s always one person in the office that everyone expects to be able to fix the printer. Fingers crossed it’s not the new intern who has no idea what they’re doing! More often than not by the time the printer is actually printing pieces of paper out there’s 100 documents backed up in the system and you’re going to be using up a forest worth of paper on documents people have already forgotten about.

4.      Emailing vs. talking

Continuing on with the theme of administrative issues – whether you should email someone or talk to them is a new issue that you never imagined would exist. Except somehow when you come to work with someone within a 100 square meter radius it’s an issue. It’s either an issue because 1. You just made a coffee and really can’t be bothered to get up to talk to them or 2. If you go to talk to them they’re going to want to see it and the printer isn’t working.

But if you do print it you a. have to worry that it’s not going to get through to them and b. they may have questions which starts a confusingly long email chain that gets everyone aggravated.

Choose wisely.

But all in all, it’s fun working with lots of people who are passionate about what they’re doing. An internship can introduce you to industry challenges, critical flaws in your education and reveal whether you truly enjoy the work or if it’s time to adjust your career trajectory.

Don’t shy away from an opportunity to work in an office environment – embrace the challenge and let me know how you go either on my Instagram; lulu_hensman or my tumblr thisisluluh.tumblr.com

Or leave a comment below!

Social media and the havoc it can wreck on your professional life

Many people underestimate the power of the social media. When it was first design the recruiters who were hiring you probably hadn’t even heard of facebook. But the online community has climbed the priority scale in the last ten years. Now you can forget about recruiters not considering your social media. It’s the most unique snapshot of your life – and it can either set you up for success or failure.

 You’d think that your own private facebook account or twitter would only bother you and your friends. But many times of the years employees have lost jobs for inappropriate comments or behavior online. It is often the first port of call for any employer, especially before they hire someone that they haven’t considered. It used to be that only the references – those three mobile numbers you stick at the end of your resume – would represent you and your personality. However, modern employers have a far better opportunity to gain insight into the next person that they are bringing into their company.

According to the recruitment agency ‘Jobvite’ 93% of companies who hired in 2014 used some kind of social media to assess their hiring decisions. If there was 93% in 2014 – it’s hard to imagine why that number would have increased. To take it further, 61% of the reactions to the profiles were negative, and meant that many of those job seekers were turned away.

There are several characteristics that you should be wary of when posting on your online accounts

1.      References to drugs, profanity or sexual posts

According to the survey around 70% of recruiters reflect negatively on these types of posts.

2.      Alcohol or guns

44% of recruiters find these topics to be concerning. While some may find that this is cumbersome to remove all references to these topics – try instead for a measured response. Most adults drink, the reference wasn’t so much to moderate drinking, but extensive references to it.

3.      Your attitude

Much like being in public you want to present your best self. We can all be a little irritable and grumpy when we’ve had a bad day but try not to react online. It’s best to grumble to yourself most of the time. One Yale dean lost her job after leaving rude yelp reviews online.  Jane Chu posted a review of a restaurant in America where she called the owners ‘white trash.’ Obviously this behavior is offensive and wouldn’t be acceptable in normal conversation – so it’s best to apply the same rules in online behavior.

If you wouldn’t say it to your mother, best not to post it.

4.      Watch your spelling and grammar

66% of those surveyed said that they would definitely be turned off a future employee if they saw posts with bad spelling and grammar. If you’re like me and you’re applying for a literacy centric position – it’s especially important that you’re displaying these skills publicly. Many job applicants don’t get to submit a job portfolio, so in many ways your facebook, twitter and linkedin tell your employer what you would be like to work with.

But don’t back away from your social media just yet, according to a study initiated by Careerbuilder, 29% of recruiters found something that drove them to offer the job to a candidate. From the high level of online recruiters, it’s clear that making sure you put a good foot forward can boost your chances. Forbes magazine explains that candidates have a second opportunity to explain that they’re a wellrounded person with the right qualities and personality to fit the company. 

To boost your chances of showing your advantages as an employee work towards creating meaningful connections online and sharing content that positively promotes your work value.

Good ways to do this include;

Connecting with online interest groups like ‘Women in Business,’ ‘Climate Change Action’ or ‘Young Lawyers for Change’. These groups all display that you are a proactive person with a strong interest in a relevant area of the field your aiming to work with.

Additionally, posting some of your work online (Where there are no copyright or privacy issues) can allow employers to have a better understanding of your skills and abilities. Often a candidate can come across stronger this way then they did in the interview when everything was rushed.

But it’s not just job seekers that have to mind their manners online – current hires are 41% more likely to be investigated than candidates. While this information isn’t necessarily used against the candidate, 26% of employers said that they had found information that forced them to either reprimand or fire an employee.

Terry Frei, who was a columnist for several years tweeted out that he was ‘very uncomfortable’ with a Japanese driver winning the Indianapolis 500. The ultimate consequence was that he lost his position in the Denver Post and the company sent out a post publicly condemning his statement and apologizing for his actions.

To manage your social media the best plan of action is to assess what qualities your employer is likely to be looking for. From there do your best to make sure that you show those qualities that you genuinely possess and are interested in. Never try to force a fake interest in something, you can end up in some really tight spots if you do! Don’t be afraid to actively participate in the online community, but like I said before – the online world is no different to the real world. 

The Clerkship Chronicles; On Wednesdays We Wear Black

You’d think that the professionals of law would be serious dignified people who never kowtowed to the vices of the public. The television series and movies certainly make it clear that the law is a special profession in which emotions are stripped away after your law degree and instead are replaced with a desperate desire to tear down all other competitors.

 This image of a lawyer is certainly the greatest pop culture reference -and you will see many jokes in which lawyers are referred to as ‘sharks.’ However, after spending six months embroiled in the reality of the legal profession I think perhaps the more apt description of a lawyer – at the very least a barrister – is a teenage girl.

Getting stereotypical here, teenage girls love to gossip, wear the right clothes and heaven forbid that you fall out of the right crowd. If any of these things happen it’s next to the end of the universe and you cannot possibly imagine continuing on with your day.

Let me tell you – this is EXACTLY what it is like as a clerk. Watching the barristers in court is hilarious – and if you ever go in to court to watch a trial (Which you totally should) these analogies will play over and over in your head.

To begin with; You must wear the right clothes.

#rebellion; young clerk dares
to wear pink!

The title of the article is ‘on Wednesdays, we wear black’. It was a phrase that stuck in my head when I was attending a trial last week. I was wearing an orange skirt -which seems like a whimsical fact to give you, but I must tell you that I gathered so many odd looks and security asked me if I was lost because if you’re not a client you must wear black. Trust me – when you’re clerking you want a wardrobe like Wednesday Addams, because you will wear black, with black accents. Occasional whites and greys are forgivable on juniors like myself-  but oh-my-god should you not wear ‘orange.’

The clerkship chronicles are all about honesty and truly telling you what it’s like to be a clerk so I will begrudgingly admit that I found this hilarious. I spent half the day reminding myself to act like a grownup every time someone commented on the color of my skirt. I never imagined that something so simple would mean so much.

What’s more amusing than the tragic fashion decisions of a junior clerk is the submission made by flustered barristers most Monday mornings. Usually it’s the junior barristers who make this mistake but once or twice an elder barrister will be caught out, and its comedy gold.

Picture this; it’s 8:00 am in the morning at the supreme court. Bleary eyed and clutching the first coffee of the day a barrister enters the court room. They sit down and set their coffee on the table before spinning in their chair to tell their colleague the latest update to the brief when they realize that their learned friend is sitting, with their gown elegantly draped behind them and a wig adorning their head.

You can see the blood drain out of their face when they realize that they were meant to wear robes on this occasion - and to their horror they have not worn their robes!

The humiliation of this occasion is only made worse when the Queen B of the court room - the judge raises their eyebrows at them upon entering the room. The ultimate despair of a barrister is for the judge to notice that they’ve done something wrong. As, much like teenagers, to lose your image in front of the most popular girl in school (or the one in charge) is to forfeit your entire reputation.

The barrister then must be forced to stutter their way through an apology, and thank his honor for their kindest curtesy when they are told they may be permitted to appear at the bar ‘unrobed.’

Even better than wearing the wrong clothes – is what barristers do when they’re both in robes. I like to compare it to a peacock dance.

Instead of laughing I take discrete
pictures of the court room ;)

A barrister’s robe (At least in Australia) is reasonably long, and can be flung about when you’re walking. It also has a tassel and a small bag near the nape of the neck. This heralds back to the early practice of law in England where those wishing for the advocacy of a barrister would place money in the pouch before the barrister would speak for them. Now it remains empty -  but don’t think the robe no longer serves a purpose!

Before a defence barrister stands up to speak they will always make sure to swing the end of their robe towards the center of the bar and then stand up with a flourish. The result looks something like a peacock throwing its tail towards an enemy to frighten them. I think in many ways this is what’s going on, because the implicit suggestion is that ‘my robe is bigger than yours, therefore I am correct.’ But, be warned, I haven’t had the gall to ask any barrister why exactly they do this yet – so I am only speculating.

Prosecution barristers tend to leave their opposition to flick their gowns about the court room. Yet, don’t think they’re innocent of this postulation. Prosecution barristers prefer to grab at the lectern (I like think the sheriff officers like to leave only one at the bar table so that they can watch the tug of war between the two sides). Once they grab the lectern they pull it over to their side, making it obvious that it is ‘their turn’ to speak and that the defence shall have no lectern to speak at. This obviously indicates that the prosecution has more important things to talk about than the defence, who are usually left to stand without a lectern – unless they grab back at the stand.

What makes this even better is when there is a dispute over an objection in which the defence and prosecution only stand up for a minute to thirty seconds at a time and there’s a constant; flick, grab, flick, grab that goes on.

At least I'm still a student! Finding out
I had to limit my wardrobe at a later date
could've been /devastating/ !!

 The Australian legal system is an adversarial legal system meaning that there are two sides which battle it out in order to seek the truth behind an event and determine the guilt or innocence of an accused. The adversarial nature of this system brings about one of the most complex social arrangements that I think exists in Australia. And to explain the judge’s role in this weird social verse, they are the Queen B. Think back to high school where there was the super popular girl with her two best friends who were always battling it out to be the only best friend of the popular girl. Defence and prosecution are the two best friends of the popular girl – and at the end of the day she’ll only favor one.

So, if you were wondering what it was like to be a clerk and you’re still too young to do an internship just watch mean girls – you’ll get a good idea of what it’s like to be in a real-life court room ;) 

Lulu Hensman

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Legal face; The Clerkship Chronicles

Hello everyone! Another installment to ‘the clerkship chronicles’ you can read the other installment on this series by selecting the title on the side bar. I wanted to talk today about embarrassment, and a recent episode I had in the office with one of the top solicitors in th

Trust me - these files are barely
a quarter of what's there

e city.

Embarrassment is the curse of a legal junior. It does not matter whether you do something right, wrong or in between; you will wake up at one o’clock in the morning wondering why on earth you did that thing. It’s guaranteed that at least once you’ll spend the entire night reading as many articles you can get your hands on so that you never look that dumb again.

I spend much time in my senior’s office where we are meeting clients, colleagues and other legal personnel. It is an unusual experience because his office is stuffed with books, paper, and memorabilia. I would liken it to a dragon’s den of treasure – but I do not think he would appreciate the reference! So, I will not mention it, and instead say that he uses an abstract filing system.

Back to task, I, usually, am tucked in a corner of his office pouring over a client’s file or a legal tome. Everyone knows how much I love to be surrounded by books and I don’t bother to unload one book off my lap and pick up another – especially when I’m in the middle of a paper trail.

This crazy method of filing papers and stacking books is fine until someone comes in to visit. If they are staying long enough, it is pretty hard to pretend I don’t exist. So, I introduce myself, or they introduce themselves – either way, you better be prepared for some awkward shuffling.

To extract myself from the immense pile of papers and law books that are sitting on my lap, I have found that I have to scoop my hips up and then cradle the papers on my lap with one hand. If not done in a fluid motion we can have a cascade of highlighters, papers and heavy textbooks hitting the floor. This is such an awkward experience – as I then have to dart about the office trying to stop the other piles of books and files from being knocked over. It’s a bit of a whack-a-mole situation.

Universities may encourage group work
- but I can see some advantages to self study!

One time I was introduced to one of the top solicitors in the city. It was very exciting, and of course, my coordinated-self did not ‘grip’ the books before I stood up. The books flew from beneath my fingers, and my feet were covered in pens and various loose handouts before I knew it. Of course, with the world being as it is – murphy’s law applied and three other piles tipped over right next to him. Safe to say, the carpet was well hidden from view.

Social etiquette books are split on what to do when you drop something. Some suggest that you should wait for an appropriate moment before you attempt to gather what you can while others suggest that you clear the mess up immediately and apologize for your clumsiness.

Well, that’s a lot of help. In these situations, you’re basically on your own – so I’d recommend taking your cue from someone else. At least if you both do the wrong thing it feels a lot less awkward.

You may now be wondering how I reacted to completely destroying the precarious filing system that existed within my senior’s office – while standing in front of a very important lawyer. Well…over the past few months, I seem to have developed what I like to call ‘legal face.’ It is not an attractive thing to have, trust me, but it is a real thing. It is where something happens, be it funny, sad, shocking or embarrassing and you revert to an immediate frown. Except it’s not a small frown – think a grumpy cat combined with a smirk. If you’re really curious look at this.  

All in all - I'd earned some time to read
in the sun.

Naturally, at this moment all three of the people in the office, including myself, could not fathom whether this moment was funny or embarrassing-  and a uniform ‘legal face’ was the only appropriate reaction. – Why anyone bothers watching suits when there are far better ways to display the humorous realities of the legal profession I don’t know.  

After several tedious moments of pointedly ignoring the mess I had created, he shook my hand and sat down, as did I. The mess on the floor remained steadfastly ignored until he and my senior both left to get a file. Then I madly gathered them up, all the while wishing I had not chosen that day to wear my soft pink blush, because my face looked like a baby flamingo.  

I cannot pitch in on the social etiquette side of the equation – but to all future law students, be prepared. However agile and dexterous you are at home, forget about it under pressure. Possibly not the most positive message – but if I told you that you were never going to make an embarrassing mistake again when you started a clerkship I’d be a serious liar. 

A bow for the judge

Despite my best efforts, this new year has brought about the discussion of updating my blog. I am sure that you were all incredibly bored during the holiday break – and missed my blogs dearly! However, this year signals a great change for The Underage Lawyer, both the social media and the writer.

It is our third year of blogging together, and I am very excited to introduce a new blog series. This series is going to signal a change in The Underage Lawyer, as I move from purely reading textbooks to delving into the reality of the legal world.

As I commence my second year of law, I think it is evident to most that I have graduated from the precocious wannabe lawyer. I am now something akin to a semi-lost law clerk. I say semi lost because as you will discover in this upcoming series, life as a law clerk isn’t as simple as the textbooks suggest. There is awkwardness and a distinct lack of sophistication as I negotiate the path from the textbook to the court.

Although I cannot publish names, dates or juicy case details, I can promise you to accurately details the mishaps of my daily events at court. Already in the last six months, I have made enough mistakes to make a soap opera.

Ready for the day!

Firstly, an introduction to the two most important places in a clerk’s adventure.

One; the office where my senior/boss/supervisor works. The office is important as a lot of the time I'm situated there. The room consists mostly of books and unsorted files. A desk, trinkets, and three chairs accompany this messy array of records.

Two: The courtroom. Far less time is spent here than the movies suggest, but there’s a lot of time to marvel at the excitement of it never the less. In the courtroom beware, many odd rules and rooms might land you in strife.

The first day I spent on my clerkship I was attending a case in court. As a clerk, I don’t have to stand up or say anything. I get to follow behind the barrister and hold any important notes as well as take notes for myself. It’s a lot like being a secretary because the more you can keep track of the files and where they are the better you’ll do.

If you’re ever going to be a clerk I’d recommend working on your memory retention –  the ability to remember cases is a godsend! Try to remember both cases you’ve worked in and the cases you have used as precedents. In fields like family and criminal law you’ll use the same precedents again and again, so the faster you remember them the better you will be able to follow legal arguments in court.

But back to the case, this wasn’t a jury trial – it was a sentencing proceeding. This is a far more casual affair in which the judge lays down what he will punish the convicted with, and any mitigating factors are considered (although sometimes it happens before this date).

Hanging out in the witness room
before a case!

Of course, most court behaviors must accompany this proceeding but who knew there were so many! While law books write about deference to the judge and court to show respect to the justice that is present it’s a lot different to act it out in court. The act of respect usually takes form in a bow towards the judge and this bow feels pretty awkward.

In school, I thought I knew what it felt like to bow to a judge. You bend slightly, straighten and then take your seat.

If only it were that simple!

 In a courtroom, you feel especially concerned about not making a fool of yourself. So as the excited but terrified junior I have I had no idea what to do when the judge entered the room. I knew to bow of course – but how deep, how long and in what direction?

Most people would assume that you can just copy the barristers and solicitors that surround you – but beware - they are seldom useful when you’re not sure what to do. The different members of the court room all appear to have different ideas about what they’re doing Not that they’re all vastly different, but they’ll all have varying degrees of duration, depth, and direction – so don't look to them for help!

Peppermint chocolate...I burned a lot
of calories with all that bowing!!

Older barristers and solicitors make their bow confident, ending their bow with a sophisticated nod to the judge. Most of them will have worked with the same judge several times before, and their professional relationship shows by the ease of the gesture. However, younger solicitors and barristers perform a quick head bob, much like a bird pecking for worms. They appear almost unsure if they’re meant to be bowing at all. So, when you’re trying to figure out what to do, stick with short and straightforward. At least that way you can’t be caught still bowing while the others are sitting down! 

Who knew something so simple could be so awkward?

As a first day on the job, it was a surprisingly simple thing that tripped me up. There is no need to fret if you’re just beginning your legal career in high school or at uni. We’re all going to make mistakes, and something as simple as a bow can’t end your chances forever. Remember when you’re feeling awkward you’re probably not alone – so just do your best!