second week

In my second week in DC I met my lawyer and officially started my job. My partner, Patrick Callahan is from San Diego California. He passionately cares about civil rights and wants to eventually work for the ACLU. We are paired up so that one person has a car in order to go into the field and conduct our investigations. Patrick has been a decent navigator, he reads off the directions from Map Quest with skill and competency. Driving in the city has been a challenge thus far, it seems that city drivers love the horn. They use it for many many purposes; had a bad day? Use the horn.
My lawyer, Amit Mehta, has a lot of experience with interns, which is good for all of us. He knows what to expect from us but also understands that our time is limited. Nevertheless, we were thrown directly into the game and given a list of tasks on the first day that seemed impossible. Amit is in the felony two trial division, therefore we will mostly be investigating gun cases such as armed robberies, criminal misdemeanors, and serious assaults. Luckily our lawyer also has a staff investigator who has been invaluable in helping us get used to our assignments and answering our questions. Rarely have I asked more questions in my life. The work itself is challenging but endlessly interesting. Everyday we do something different and meet someone very different from myself. I feel sometimes like I’m playing a constant game, the goal in mind is to charm people into giving me information or stuff they do not want to give. Thankfully, I seem to be winning.