Week six was a short week and boy did it fly by! On Monday, I turned in two assignments to Meredith Fee—one was a letter providing notice for claims of spoliation of evidence and indemnification, and the other was a compilation of detailed case briefs for an upcoming presentation. The case briefs related to personal injury and the developments that have occurred in Florida over the last year. It was interesting to read and learn how the case law for this area has changed, and the balance required between the courts and the legislature in altering the direction of a particular jurisprudence. I also had the direct and cross examination workshop on Monday. I had been drafting a little each day since we received the packet, editing and rearranging questions where I thought was necessary as I read through them. I was grateful to have taken the trial advocacy course at Stetson last semester, because it helped calm my nerves knowing how to structure different types of questions, as well as generally knowing what to expect when delivering them. I was nervous, as always, but overall, I felt confident in the information I was able to elicit and received great feedback from Charlie Mitchell from the Orlando office that I will refer to when working on the mock trial examinations.

On Tuesday, I worked on writing the last set of summaries for the liability assessment report Rob Blank was creating for the case relating to the scene inspection I went to two weeks ago. Helping document each step of the case has really been beneficial in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the issues and the potential liability, because I’ve become very familiar with who is involved, who witnessed what and who was helping where. Also on Tuesday, I was able to attend a lunch welcoming the Tampa office’s newest attorney, Rebecca Arends! It was a warm walk, but a great and relaxing time at Harpoon Harry’s (our second time there this summer!).

Wednesday flew by.  Not only was it the day before the Fourth, but I was able to finalize and submit three assignments. I drafted two motions for protective orders for Tyler Derr on the case I had drafted a motion to compel for last week, and also completed my memorandum for Carie Hall regarding asserting a claim for contribution. It felt great to be able to check those to-do items off of my list and move on to the next; plus it was perfect timing being able to start fresh with new assignments right after the holiday. Then after lunch, there was a birthday celebration for Steve Berlin and Jeanine Jennus! A delicious ice cream cake with turquoise icing that ultimately stained everyone’s teeth that color, which was definitely a trending look. Ice cream is the one food I’ll likely forever be in denial that it is supposed to be off-limits to someone who’s lactose intolerant (like me). I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! 

It was nice to have a little breather during the week on Thursday to enjoy the holiday and rest. Yet, while I might have physically had the day off, that didn’t keep my brain from thinking about assignments and mentally planning what tasks I needed to do and when! I received an assignment on Tuesday from Meredith regarding research and drafting a few motions relating to the Wrongful Death Act. On Friday, I was able to do the research for this and even complete majority of the assignment. The Act was much more complex than I’d expected so I had to rely on the case law to guide me in my analysis. This weekend, I’ll be tying up any loose ends for research that I think I’ll still need to complete the other assignments and turn them in on Monday.