Personal Narrative: A Career As An Elder Law Attorney

Laura Owings is the law firm's first-year associate who works in nursing-home abuse practice. She graduated sixth out of 123 in her class at the University of Memphis. Owings said, "In law school, anything I'm working on, it's all theory. Here it's people's lives and it's kind of scary and I think it's good to be kind of scared. It keeps me on top of my game." Owings said she chose her field because nursing home abuse affects some of the most vulnerable members of society and the number of claims are predicted to rise as the baby boom generation enervates.

After checking every photo taken during the investigation, the Deputy District Attorney, Michelle Trego asked the detectives to interview the witnesses again. “We want to make certain she pays for this crime,” Michelle said riding up in the elevator with Detective Wallace.

At present, I am about to embark on my final phase of my long-term educational goals in that I have been accepted to ASU Law, and will begin my graduate program in the fall of 2018. When I began my journey at community college, I had intentions to transfer to a four year university to complete my undergraduate degree, followed by law school. I exceeded these goals as I will be graduating in six weeks with not one, but two undergraduate degrees. Furthermore, I will not have any gaps in transitioning directly into law school since I have already overcome the hurdle of the application process. Fortunately, I was granted acceptance at ASU Law prior to my undergraduate degree conferrals. With this in mind, I plan to achieve the goal of completing

Prior to returning to college, I worked as a paralegal in various areas of law. The majority of my paralegal career was focused on family and criminal law. My views have changed and evolved over time in how I have witnessed individuals that get caught in the legal system. A good number of legal issues stem from situations that an individual has as much control over as their eye color and the longer I worked in the legal field the more I observed how punishing people for uncontrollable issues in their lives is cruel and unproductive. Eventually, the fruitless legal circle became exhausting and I found myself burnt out, although I still wanted to help the clients I worked with. Consequently, when I considered going back to school, I knew that

Though I have another year and a half before I complete my schooling, it is always important to find out as much information about my future field of work. Knowing what is to be expected when going in for a job interview will not only be a bonus for myself, but allow me to feel confident when giving answers.

Choosing a career is a very stressful, meaningful, and sometimes exciting thing. While choosing a career you have to think about many different aspects. There are so many choices and decisions that have to be made. Will you get into the right college? Will you be able to succeed in life? Will you make enough money to later support a family? Most importantly, do you love it? I have gone from a Veterinarian, a police officer, a lawyer, and a federal agent specializing in crimes against children. Even though those were all careers I thought were right for me, they were not. My chosen career and true passion is a Prosecuting Attorney, and eventually Attorney General.

Throughout high school, I continuously explored a wide variety of courses in an attempt to figure out what career path I may want to pursue. As senior year drew closer, the business field became more enticing. Furthermore, my aspirations were significantly impacted on the evening of September 14, 2016. I woke up that day and left for school as if it were any other day. After school, I drove to the softball field because we had a game and it just so happened to be Senior Night: the last home game. When it came time for my first at bat, I stepped up to the plate and hit a line drive between the first and second basemen, successfully making it to first base. The next player up to bat hit a double; I rounded second and sprinted for third. I clearly remember my coach kneeling on the ground to signal me to slide into third base. For some unknown reason, I hesitated and slid too late. I knew it was a bad slide, but I was focusing on whether or not I was safe. Then reality set in, I was safe, but I was not physically capable of standing up.

I interviewed a woman that works with my mother and have known for several years now. She had been summoned and questioned by attorneys six times. She was only selected three of the six times to serve on the jury. Her first thought was “oh crap.” Although it may not be seen as a very nice response, but it is a very natural human response and she is not the only one who has reacted in that way. She was very nervous receiving the summons; it was something new and practically unknown to her. Some of the questions she was asked were if she owns a gun, if she has a gun in the house, about her education, and mostly just general questions. There is one question that stood out from the others though. Once when being asked by an attorney, she

Ask someone, and chances are, they’ll argue that health comes first. Doctors say it, parents repeat it, media promotes it, but in actuality, not many of those who suggest making health a priority can truly say that they’ve never jeopardized their health, whether that be through something as small as skimping on sleep or as big as stressing themselves out, for their job. While some might not consider it one, maintaining a certain BMI is another health benefit that goes neglected, especially in modeling, a career that carries the stigma of only consisting of starving girls who need to “eat a burger”. Luckily, I never had to worry about my weight mainly because I danced 22 hours a week, something I could maintain in middle school only because I was homeschooled. Once I started high school, however, I found it hard to stick to this rigorous schedule, so it wasn’t long

Sometime in October, I asked you for help, to please find out about this particular attorney disciplinary record, this was with respect to my son's accident. You expressed that you were going to inquire, look into more about the attorney in question once you return to work on Tuesday from your Columbus holiday. I was looking forward for your info. to explore into the possibilities of attaining and secure a good attorney to represent my son in the event of filing a law suit against the person who hit my son on his bike. But to my bad luck, lo and behold, Gina NEVER followed suit on her promise.

I am a recent graduate and licensed attorney from the University of Iowa College of Law and I am writing to apply for your open Assistant County Attorney position in the Woodbury County Attorney’s Office. During law school I gained extensive legal experience in Iowa with a focus on criminal law. I worked in the Des Moines Adult Public Defender’s Office, which gave me valuable insight into how criminal defense attorneys approach a case. More recently, I worked in the Linn County Attorney’s Office. I was able to manage my own caseload and further develop my trial skills. Working for the Linn County Attorney’s Office validated my purpose for going to law school, to become a criminal prosecutor. I thoroughly enjoyed working as a prosecutor

After six years of working in purchasing in the manufacturing industry, it was time for a career change. I needed to work in a field I was passionate about and had opportunities to grow and advance. This change led me to Allen Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa, as the Compliance Contract Coordinator. Having previous experience with contracts, I had confidence about this new opportunity and was eager to gain experience in health care.

In my role as a Guardian ad litem for the Richland County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) I counseled clients in order to determine what was in the child’s best interest (residence, education, healthcare and life skills). My clients were juveniles whom had prior criminal records and was also categorized as juvenile delinquents. In addition, their guardians additionally had prior open and closed cases with the Department of Social Services. I remained calm at all times and I never took things personal when the outcomes were not successful. I was very successful as a Guardian ad litem and an asset to the Judiciary and the Department of Juvenile Justice because I listened to all parties involved thoroughly and conducted all necessary

For the past two summers I had the pleasure of working with an amazing judge. Working with her was the best opportunity that I ever had. The judge’s accomplishments and how she has far she has come in her career especially being a minority, inspired me to believe that I can do anything I set my mind to and nothing can stop me. During my internship period I had the chance to study numerous court cases, file documents and more. Being the fact that I want to pursue a career as a lawyer, my experience at the Criminal Justice Center expanded my knowledge in my career choice and what I was getting myself into. It is one thing to know what you want to be when you grow up but being able to get a firsthand experience was truly memorable and inspirational.

When I started my law career, I didn’t set out to be a “father’s rights” attorney. I was just taking on cases. I found, much to my delight and my client’s pleasure, that I was very good at what I did, and generally I did well for my clients, whether they were a mother or father. And I still represent as many mothers as I do fathers. But a particular case came into the door one day that had a profound effect on my thinking.