Friday, June 30, 2017

A Summer in the Public Defender’s Office

The Public Defender’s Office deals with a variety of criminal law cases that take place within Lackawanna County. Although I have already spent time in the office working with social services, I have really enjoyed my new assignment with the attorneys in the office. I hope that my time with the attorneys will allow me to better understand the role they play within the criminal justice system and get a more detailed look at what happens throughout their days. I have quickly learned that there is never a typical day within the office. With that being said, I am confident that following this internship I will leave with a vast amount of knowledge regarding hearings, petitions, files, and different stages of the criminal court process. In addition to the procedural side, I anticipate that I will be able to interact with clients and learn more about their lives. I have already spent some time with attorneys while they are interviewing clients and reading through Pre-Sentence Investigation reports that review their life history in great detail.  I chose to pursue a second internship in the office so that I would be more informed when making a career decision. I have been considering pursuing a law degree since developing an interest in the criminal justice system and am hoping that a more in depth look will be able to steer me in the right direction.

Delia Gavin
Counseling & Human Services

2 comments:

  1. Your internship sounds great, Delia! I'm from Lackawanna County and I definitely see some pretty interesting cases covered by the local media. That's awesome that you can learn more about the criminal justice system and the careers that exist in it from the attorneys firsthand.

    I hope you're having a great summer and best of luck with the rest of your internship.

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  2. Delia, your internship sounds so fascinating and like a great experience! I think that it’s interesting that you get to see more than one side of Lackawanna County government; both the social services department and the attorney’s office. Being able to leave an internship with valuable experience and knowledge leaves you in a great place to further your career down the road. I think it’s great that this internship experience has led you to consider pursuing a law degree, and I can’t wait to hear more about the rest of your experience you had this summer!

    Best,
    Caitlin

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