- --'f' NicoD.

Caldwell
June20th,200g
English106-5.Rose
Project1

JeffreyOliveiraet Al.:

My Explorationof the Law Career

As I sat in the officeof Mr. Jeffreyoliveira,

Attorney-at-Law,
I glancedaroundat allthe
l uxu r io u a
s n dspacious
d6corand I thou g h tt o my s e lf ", l wo n d e r
wh a t t h isg u y , sh o u s elo o k s
li ke? "wh ile it'strue that mostlawyers
m a k ea n ic elif ef o r t h e ms e lv e st h, e wo rk p u t
in a n dth e
tim e i nvo lvedmakesyou reallythinkthat
it ' swo rt h it . B e f o remy in t e rv ie wwit h Mr.
o liv e ira h
,e
aske dw hy I wasinterested
in becominga la wy e r.r t o o k a n o t h e rg la n c e
a ro u n dt h e ro o m a n d
sa id '"w ho wouldn'twant to be a lawye r? "
A f t e rg e t t in ga la u g hf ro m h im, I t o ld h im a b o u tm y
ch ild h o o dam bitionto becomea lawyer
a n d a b o u tmy Min i-L a ws c h o o ld a y sa t . , s ma rt , , c a m p

her ea t Pu r d ueand my short-lived

careerin h ig hs c h o o d
l e b a t ea n df o re n s ic s .

Andso our gameof 20 Questions

b e g a n I. s t a rt e db y le t t in gh im k n o wt h a t
I wa n t e dt o
k nowa l ot m oreaboutwhat happens
in an d a f t e rla w s c h o o a
l so p p o s e dt o u n d e rg ra da n d p r e -
l ar vsch o o l'As a studentin the P re-Lawpro g ra m
h e rea t p u rd u e t, h e id e ao f wh a t t o d o
before
i a''vscho o ha
l sbeendrilledinto my heada n d
I wa n t e dt o s p a reh im t h e b o re d o m.A
lo o ko f
p tea sa nsu
t r p r isecameoverMr.
oliveira ' sf a c e ,wh o h a sb e e np ra c t ic in g
c iv illa w in t h e f o rm o f
p er so n ailnju r ylaw for sometwenty years ,
o r ma y b eit wa ss mirk .Het h e n s a id ,, , s c h o o l
me .
' ell m e wh a t I haveto do to get into lar.',
s c h o o l. L
" it t led id Mr. o liv e irak n o w,b u t
I h a dd o n e
- , ' r ese a r ch .l sat up in my plushciient,s
c h a ira n d b e g a n .
 NicoD. Caldwell
June2oth,2oo8
English106-5.Rose
Project1

To get into law school,you mus t ,o f c o u rs ea, t t e n da n u n d e rg ra d u a tpero g ra ma n dy o u

e a p ro g ra mo f rig o ro u s
degree.lt's als oimp o rt a n t t op a rt ic ip a t in
m u stob taina B achelor's

u n d e rg ra d u a tgera d ep o in ta v e ra g eo r UGP A
stu d yan dto get the bestgradesyou ca nb e c a u s e

is alsove r yimportant.Majordoesn'tre a llyma t t e r,s o lo n ga s it is a ma jo rwh ic hd e ma n d s

l a s o n in ga,n d p ro b l e m
readingandwriting,oralad v o c a c yn,e g o t ia t io na,n a ly t ic are
sub stan ti al

. en,in betweenyourjuniorye a ra n d s e n io ry e a r,y o u s h o u ldp la nt o t a k et h e L S A T .

solvin gTh

analyticreasoning,
The L SATtests l a s o n in ga,n d re a d in gc o mp re h e n s ioTnh. et e s t is
logi c are

b r o ke nu p into 4 35-minutemultiplech o ic es e c t io n s(o n eis n ' tg ra d e d a

) n d a 3 5 -min u t ewri t i n g

se cti ontha t is not graded,but will alsob e s e n tt o t h e la w s c h o o lst h a t y o u d e s ig n a t yeo u r

sco r e sto . Duringyour senioryearis th e t ime t o a p p lyt o la w s c h o o lsa n dv o ila ,y o u ' rein la w

o n t h e s u b je c e
that'swheremy k n o wle d g e
sch o o l.U nfortunately, t nds.

"Wow,you reallyknowyourstu f f .S o ,wh y a rey o u h e rea g a in ? We

" s h a re da n o t h er

l e ?" We ll,la w s c h o o l
la u g ha n d lbeganto askmy question ss;o ,in g e n e ra l,wh a t is la w s c h o o lik

is i n a wo r d :hard.Y oulearneverythin g y o u 'nlle e dt o k n o wa b o u tla w;it s h is t o ryd, if f e re nt

s t h e t h re ey e a rst h a t y o u ar e
fie ld s,a n d allthe casesthat set up the b a s isf o r a llju ris d ic t io nin

in scho o l.Whenyou'renot in class,you ' red o in gc la s swo rk ,wh e ny o u ' ren o t d o in gc la s swo r k ,

yo u 'r estudyingand when you'renot s t u d y in g . . . weyll,

o u ' rea lwa y ss t u d y in gO
. h ,a n d s le e p.

\Ve ll,sle e pis a luxuryyou'rerarelyaffo rd e dS. t u d y in gla w is a lif ec o mmit me n tY. o u

I
NicoD. Caldwell
June2oth,2oo8
English106-5.Rose
Project1

o f t e n t ime s '
because
ha veto ea t,S leep,and breathethe law a n d c a s e sa n d p re c e d e n t s

l ifewill be dependentuponwh a t y o u k n o w' "

so m e o n e 's

the
"Th atsoundsintense,"lthough ta s I s h if t e din my c h a ira b it ' Mr' o liv e iran o t ic e d

, a n a t t e mp tt o ma k et h e c a re e rs e e mmo r e
lookin my eyesandstarteda g a in in
d isco u r a g ed

. g re a tma n o n c es a id ,' L a wis n o t a

, this is reallywhat you wa n t t o d o , it ' Se a s y A
ap p e a lin g"lf
p e rs on a l l y '
atfirst it cans e e mt o u g h ,b u t in t h e e n d it ' ll b e g re a ta n d I
, t a calling,'and
car e e r bu

l u s u a llyma p p e do u t f o r y o u ' lik eu n d e rg ra dw' i t h

ha veno r egrets.Thefirstyearof law sch o o is

, ilP ro c e d u ree' t c ' I n y ou r

you need,likeCons t it u t io n aL la w,L a wy e rin gCiv
a llthe b a sicclasses

s c e rt a inc a t e g o rieosf la w,lik ep ro pe r t y

seco n dve a r,you get morefreedomto c h o o s ec la s s ein

c o u rS e s ' "
o r tor ts a n dfinallyin your lastyearyou d o e x t e rn s h iposr c lin ic a l

f ro m V a lp oin t h e ' B O s(h e

, o g ra d u a t e d
I r eallypickeda winner!Mr. Oliv e irawh

I c o n t in u e do n t o my n e x t
wo u ld n 'tsaywhen),reallyknewwhat h e rv a st a lk ln ga b o u t ,s o

schoolto norv.ho r, vd id y o u g e t h e re ?Ho w d id y o u c h o o s es o lo

q u e sti on :sofrom lar,v

"well, I alwaysknewlwa n t e d t o s t ic kt o c iv illa w,s o wh e n I d id my e x t e rn s h i pI '

p r a cti tio n ing?

lik e dme , s o in t h e s u m m e r
ch o sea lo calpersonalinjurylaw firm t o s h a d o wu n d e r.T h eo wn e r

, ic hlt o o k , a n dwh e n lg ra d u a t e da n dt o o k t h e B a r
opportun it ywh
h e o ffe r e dme an rnternship

fiveyears later, he offered me

Exam lgo: a :ob doing go'ernment offlceworkfull-titi{1.."

he decidedto stop
:ae .: .:':-^:, il 3. a ra:rrrb'erof hi s legal counseland 3 years later, when

and stayedfor 5years'

over, I became One of the asSociates,
i:.- ir€ oUSlneSS
 NicoD.C aldwell
June2oth.2oo8
106-5.
English Rose
Project1

Afterthat, I decidedto open up my own practiceand havebeenhereeversince.Contraryto

popularbelief,I didn'tstartout makinglotsof money.Much of my life immediatelyafterlaw

schoolwas spentpayingbackstudentloansand simplymakinga namefor myselfas lawyer.

You know,this stuffdoesn'thappenovernight.That'swhy I saybe surethis is reallywhat you

want to do and you'llgo far, I guaranteeit."

n'
hopeto d", di$lffmaybe
with a manwho doeswhatI someday
Soendedmy interview
-r''

is unknown,but my want
not personalinjurylaw, but onlytime will tell.The roadto my success

for ju sti ceandmyyearningtolearnt h e L a wis c e rt a in a n d p re s eltnht .a n k e d Mr. O liv e ira f o r a l l

h ishe lpa n d as he walkedme out of hiso f f ic e ,we e x c h a n g epdle a s a n t rieIss. h o o kh ish a nda n d

as I headedfor the door he stoppedme for one finalquestion,"Sodo you stillwant to be a

I put my headdownf o r a s e c o n dt,a k in gin a llt h a t h e h a dt o ld me in o ur

la wye rso meday?"

in ter vie w.Thenllifted my headand s a id ," Did Ro e v . Wa d eg u a ra n t e e t h erig h t t o a b o rt io n s

fo r allwo men?"Mr. Oliveirasimplysmile da n d re t u rn e dt o h iso f f ic e . -{rrJ*r"

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