Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 8th, 2017
Daily Journal #1
Within the first few hours on my first day of internships, I experienced so many new
things that I have never done before. My day started bright in early right at 7:45. I headed over to
the law firm, and got to meet about 5 lawyers who worked there. However my mentor and I did
not stay there very long.
Our next journey was on to the court house. We traveled from downtown all the way to
El Cajon. The first thing I noticed when I got there was how many people were dressed
unprofessionally, and I always thought that if you had a court date you would try to dress to
impress. I also feel like when you dress nice it gives others a better impression of you and that
could help a lot with how the judge rules your case. The second thing that was really interesting Commented [1]: Good observations! This is
something interesting you could talk to your mentor
to me that I never thought of before was how much waiting around lawyers have to do before about. When it comes to the court system, can
apperance have an affect on a case's outcome.
cases and it can get pretty boring but once the session starts it is pretty entertaining and
intriguing.
After court was finished we headed back to meet a client who wanted to talk to Sam
about the chargers they have gotten recently. I cant talk about what happened in the meeting
because that is confidential but I can talk about what it was like being there. So at first when the
client came I thought that Sam might tell me to step out of the room because everything that
would be said in that room could be used in a case. However he didnt and instead told the client
that everything that would be said would be safe and I was his intern and that in a way gave me a
lot of confidence for these upcoming weeks of internship. Commented [2]: Sounds like you have a great mentor.

After wrapping up with that client it was pretty much the end of the day. He told me that
he wanted me to just shadow him today so I could get a feel of what the internship entails for the
next few weeks but that I will be receiving more work to do as we go on.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 9th, 2017
Daily Journal #2
The second day of internships. Today was very similar to yesterday, and I feel like I am
starting to get a better idea of what a day in the life of a lawyer looks like and it is helping me
decide if I am fully invested in this line of work, and would potentially want this as a future
career of mine. I have discovered that if I want to do this career as an adult it can be extremely
stressful however the payoff of helping your client overcomes that, and you could really be
making your mark on the earth and changing people's lives.
Today once again started bright and early right at 8:00. We proceeded to head to the law
office so that we could gather all the information we needed to complete the upcoming cases of
the day. The courthouse that we went to was located in Downtown, San Diego. The first thing
that I noticed when I got there was that this courthouse was much more busy than the El Cajon
and it it seemed a whole lot bigger than El Cajon. When we first got there Sam told me that we
would have to wait a little while for all the other lawyers to show up.
This did sort of take a little longer than I anticipated. However it was still really
interesting because Sam introduced me to one of the judges, who was on our case. He also
introduced me to many other lawyers that he knew in the building. Its pretty cool to me how
Sam is like a celebrity when it comes to the world of law, he knows so many people in the field.
If I end up continuing with this as an adult I would hope to be like him and very known and the
best at what I do.
Later on in the day Sam gave me exactly what I had wanted and expected with this
internship which was getting more involved with his clients and their cases. So right now I
started off by receiving case files and writing a page summary on them so that Sam can get a
quick idea of what charges his clients are facing and it makes it a lot easier on him and saves him
a lot of time. As I was doing that I noticed that reading articles in class for humanities honors and
biology honors and having to do annotations and reflections helped me easily do this task. Commented [3]: We are happy to hear this.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 10th, 2017
 Daily Journal #3
Today was pretty interesting we had more clients come in and discuss their charges against them. Commented [4]: Don't forget to indent.

Every time I hear about what people get themselves into it shocks me. I start to think about how
I'm glad that I have nothing against me and I have not committed any crimes. However I can't
help but to think how could you get caught so easily in certain circumstances, sometimes i'll put
myself in that same exact position and think about how I would've handled it instead of being so
carelessly like some of these people. Commented [5]: Great to analyze why someone
committed a crime. Also take some time to analyze the
We also went to the downtown court today and Sam won a case. He was able to get a man out of environment and background of the clients. Does this
play a factor into their actions?
prison and into work furlough. Everyday I get to witness how good of a lawyer Sam is and how
many people love him as a lawyer. I am also getting notice how Sam knows pretty much
everyone when we step into the court building. Today I was also introduced to Ricky Laster who
is the executive director of the Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention. He was a
really nice fellow old black man who wore a flat cap. We had a little chat before a court case
about me and what school I go to, and I told him about HTHCV internship program and how I
was granted the opportunity of working with Sam in criminal defense law. He raved about Sam
and how he was a great lawyer and I am really lucky to be working with him, I even found out
that they work in the same building, and that hes on the 10th floor and Sams on the 18th.
Today was also really cool because I met another judge! So far everyone that I have met
is super nice and always give me good advice. I think its cool how they let me do things that a
normal person cannot. Also how they trust me to be confidential with all the information that
they disclose and allows me to really feel apart of the environment and that they respect me as if
I were an adult.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 11th, 2017
Daily Journal #4
Today came out swinging! We started the day off in the office right at 7:30 we grabbed
our files and were on our way to the Downtown Court House. We started the day with a
restraining order case. Sam told me that he hasnt done a civil case in over a year and it was
different than what he has been used to lately. Once again the court took a while to start up but
its pretty much routine now and I am getting used to it. It was pretty wild though because today
was the first time someone besides a lawyer or judge has tried to talk to me in the courtroom.
There was 2 ladies sitting next to me and and one pointed out that they liked my socks that I was
currently wearing. Then another one asked if I was there because I had a restraining order case I
told them no and that I am in intern and we all chuckled. It was kind of weird though in my
opinion because they kept trying to talk to me and were being really loud in the courtroom and it
was a little unprofessional and it was making feel awkward. Commented [6]: Hmm...sounds like two students in
my afternoon class.
However finally the court opened up and started to take on cases. I noticed that some
people started to make the judge get very frustrated and act like they know what theyre talking
about. This is a very bad thing to do though because it can make the judge look at you in a
different perspective and perhaps not call the case as fairly as before. Commented [7]: Great analysis!

As the judge called Sams client it was very interesting to hear about her case, because I
didnt know what it was about. The recipient of the restraining order didnt come to the trial. Her
situation sounded really scary prior to the case but she came out with a win and a 3 year
restraining order that can have an extension.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 12th, 2017
Daily Journal #5
Today was absolutely wild, and my longest day yet! I totaled 11 hours in 1 day. I started
my day bright and earlier than usual at 7:00am! My mentor told me that we had a big hearing in
court today that related to a cocaine dealer that was facing trial. This was different than any other
day though because normally I just sit in the seats that are in the back with the general public and
watch Sam do his thing from the sidelines. But today the deputy asked me if I wanted to sit up on
the table with Sam and the defendant! Im not even gonna lie it was super sick. Even though I
was just a few feet closer it was a different feeling than normal. One of the ladies called me over
and asked me to state my full name and legal title so that I could be written into the court
transcript, which in my opinion made me pretty official if I do say so myself. Commented [8]: Do say so!

We had another court case but then we headed back to the office to finish up some work
that we had left the day prior. I finished up writing a synopsis of a case where a guy committed a
battery charge on two individuals in a Dennys parking lot. I have noticed that doing so much
papers in just one week has had a major impact on my writing skills and I feel like I am
developing into a better writer. I have been able to write papers a lot easier and I hope that this
skill I am acquiring will benefit me a lot in college. Commented [9]: Something to showcase in your
TPoLs
The next thing we did was take a road trip to Vista for a court hearing for one of his
clients that wanted to get off of probation earlier. We also visited the Vista Detention Facility
(Jail) so that Sam could communicate with one of his clients. We stayed there a pretty long time,
I couldnt go inside yet because they hadnt run a background check and cleared me but I still
saw some characters while I was there. Overall it was a pretty interesting day filled with new
experiences and this is exactly what I expected out of internships.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 15th, 2017
Daily Journal #6
Day 6, my second week on the job. Today wasnt very long, I actually consider it a short
day. Today we actually didnt go straight to the office like normally, but instead went straight to
the court. Today once again since it was a pretty big hearing the deputy allowed me to sit up
front on the table with Sam. As our client came out of custody he shook my hand and I was
afraid I was going to get charged with a misdemeanor because it is illegal to talk to the prisoners
unless youre a lawyer but I figured since I am with Sam everything was chill and id be fine.
The hearing was pretty interesting the people offered him 9 years right off the bat but
with prop 57 it would have really been around 4-5 years in prison. The reason they offered him
so much is because of his past criminal history. Most of his close family was in attendance for
his hearing. Rightfully so they were upset by this offer because they didnt want to see him gone
for so long. Sam reflected to them everything that was going on in court and how this case could
potentially face trial which the family was very decisive about.
The case ended up not having a conclusion and was extended until later May which is
good because I will be able to see the outcome of the case on my last few days of internships.
Even though it is my second week I am kinda sad that internships is going by so quickly I am
hoping I can work with Sam again during the summer because this is really interesting things
that I have been experiencing. The rest of my day after the hearing consisted of finishing up Commented [10]: You should definitely speak with him
about this.
some case file synopsis and having our teacher check-in.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 16th, 2017
Daily Journal #7
Today wasnt as hectic as most days have been. We started a little earlier than normal at
7:30am we headed down to the law firm to collect information for the day's upcoming case.
After we finished that it was about 20 minutes into our day, we headed down to the Downtown
Superior Court where Sam had a hearing for one of his clients that stole a car.
Once again I was given the opportunity to sit up at the table with the defendant. They
asked me for my name and credentials and they inserted me into the transcript to make me an
official part of the case hearing. The hearing was actually pretty long it lasted about 2 hours.
When they first start the hearing it is sort of hard to follow along because they use a lot of legal
terms and I kind of have to piece two and two together. As the trial goes along and they bring up
witnesses to the stand it becomes much easier to understand because they ask them questions
about the incident and how it affected them. Its cool to see how Sam operates in the courtroom,
because he sort of in a way has to come up with reaction questions on spot because you cant
really plan on what the other side is going to say during their statement. Ive learned that the
main point is to raise suspicion of if the situation really happened how they say it did. When I
watched the OJ Simpson vs The People Trial, they did this exact thing with the glove that was
found on the crime scene, when they made him put it on and it didnt fit and it made everyone
suspicious of if he actually committed the murder which he eventually got acquitted for later on.
After we completed that hearing we went back to the firm so that we could talk to some
potential clients. The case they were asking for help on consisted of legal help with their housing
situation and getting a bad tenant out of there. Then after that we went to the El Cajon court and
Sam had a case, then after that we went back to the firm to talk to 2 more clients and that
wrapped up our day!

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 17th, 2017
Daily Journal #8
Today was really interesting me and my mentor traveled from one point of San Diego all
the way to the other. We started our day pretty early at 7:15am and went on our way up to Vista
for a court case. The drive wasnt too long probably around 45 minutes to get there and then
once we got there it took about 20 minutes for the actual court to open up. Then once it finally
opened up Sams client failed to appear due to being in the hospital. So the actual hearing lasted
for about 5 minutes which I felt like was a waste of time. Then we were on our way back to San Commented [11]: Have you talked to your mentor
about how he deals with time that feels "wasted."
Diego. After we got back down to San Diego we had to go to Chula Vista for the jail so that Sam
could talk to one of his clients. The jail was gross I hate going there because I am lowkey a
germaphobe and dont like sitting in the seats there, because I dont know whos been there
before.
They didnt allow me to go inside the actual jail because I wasnt 18 and didnt have a
legitimate reason other than being an intern, to be inside so I had to sit and wait for about an hour
till Sam came back with information from his client. After we talked to the client in jail we
headed back to the office so that we could talk to another potential client to help file for a
restraining order. I cant give much details on the case, but I will say that it was a pretty crazy
situation and I hope that they will be able to get one soon. Then we went to the Downtown Court
for another case, and that ended pretty quick as well. Finally after that are day was pretty much
over and we headed home.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 18th, 2017
Daily Journal #9
Today started super early! Right at 7am my mentor picked me up, and we headed all the
way up to Vista again for court. This time the ride seemed even longer than usual, I dont know
if it was because I was still tired or if it was traffic but it seemed really long. Once we finally got
there we were a little bit early so we checked-in. However this time was a little different the
deputy in the courtroom didnt allow me to be in there with all the other lawyers (I usually am
allowed). Which is cool I understood so I stepped outside and waited with the rest of the general
public. However since there was a lot of people all the seats kind of filled up pretty quick with
family members and people like that, so I decided that I would stay outside (Also I think youre
not allowed to stand in a courtroom). I was a little disappointed because I was missing out on a
hearing that I had interest in but it was alright because I got to see another case.
 The Vista courthouse took forever to get out of because I think that they were
overbooked with cases so we didnt get out of there until like 11:45 which was almost a total of
around 4 hours. After we got out we headed up a little east to Escondido where we met one of
Sams clients. He ended up giving him a ride to his job. I think this is ways of how you keep a Commented [12]: Why do you think Sammer goes
above and beyond for his clients? And how can you
good relationship with your clients. Like Sam didnt have to give him a ride of course, but he did incorporate his philosophy into your own daily
practices?
and thats just one of the reasons why his clients love him so much, and hirer him more and give
him cases.
After Escondido we picked up another one of Sams clients and took him to the
Downtown courthouse where Sam proceeded to fight for his case. After we finished that up we
headed back to the office so that we could finish up some more work and phone calls that we had
left to do from before. Overall I would say it was one of my more busier days and it was fun
because we traveled from north county all the way to downtown. Commented [13]: Neat way to see San Diego.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 19th, 2017
Daily Journal #10
Today was pretty eventful. We started pretty early and got off to a pretty good start. We
started our day by heading to the downtown office. We stayed there for about 45 minutes so that
Sam could grab everything he needed for the upcoming court cases and review his notes so he
could be ready on the hearing. As he was getting all his things together I decided to get a head
start on my office work and wrote up a summary on one of the case files. It was pretty cool case
a lot was going on, it contained a burglary and some other charges. Sometimes its really hard to
summarize case files because there is so much work that you have to sort through and make sure
that you can get all the perfect pieces to help the case. Commented [14]: Good skills to develop for the
research you'll do in college.
After that, our next move was onto the downtown court. We always walk to the court
from the office because its only two blocks and its a good quick exercise. I would say the only
annoying thing that I have to do everyday at work is when we go through a metal detectors, I
always have to take off my blazer jacket, belt, and phone. Its super repetitive and it seems so
pointless because I would never take a weapon in there, but its necessary because there is some
crazy people in there.
After we finally got in there, Sam had a super interesting case, best one yet in my
opinion. I cant talk about the details because I was instructed not to, but it felt like the closest
thing to an actual trial Ive actually witnessed so far. They brought a bunch of people to the stand
to see if they would help decide if the case was worthy enough of trial or not. A lot of the people
on the stand did not want to be there, I determined that it was because it had a lot to do with their
street credibility, and they much rather handle all business outside of court and out on the streets. Commented [15]: Talk to your mentor about this
observation you made.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 22nd, 2017
Daily Journal #11
First day of the 3rd week its so crazy to think that internships are closer to ending than it
was when we first started. I am definitely looking forward to continuing this internship during
the summer. Me and my mentor kind of discussed a potential job opportunity with a little more
responsibility than what I have right now by becoming his secretary and answering a lot of his
phone calls if he isnt available at the moment. Commented [16]: Congrats! That will be such a cool
experience.
Today was a little bit different than all the others. We were barely in the office today
probably a full total of around 20 minutes between lunch and the morning time. We ended up
spending most of our day in the El Cajon court house. I dont know if it was because it was
Monday or not but today seemed super slow. The morning there took forever we were probably
there for about 4 hours. We were waiting on other DAs and for the Judge to be ready. That is the
only thing I dont like about being a lawyer is that there is so much waiting involved with such
little action in the courtroom. When I first thought of being a lawyer I had absolutely no idea that
so much waiting around would be occurring. I also noticed that being a lawyer is organized
chaos. You must keep your calendar organized I noticed that Sam is always checking his
calendar so he can see what he has planned for the day and if he didnt have that it would be
wild. It has let me know that I should start either using my phone to keep organized or start using
a planner because it will help me a bunch in college.
The court case was pretty interesting it was actually someone I know from when I was
little. It was cool to see him again but not under these circumstances. However it seemed like he
was in a much better place in which he had been prior. Sam was able to get him off with a pretty
good deal considering what he had done. I am looking forward to what this week holds and what
I will learn.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 23rd, 2017
Daily Journal #12
Today was pretty interesting it started off pretty normal. We got to the law firm and picked up
our files so we would be ready for the day. We proceeded to head down to the Downtown
Courthouse. Sam had a court hearing in another department as I waited with another client in a
courtroom for his hearing. When Sam came back he started the hearing it lasted about 20-30
minutes before it ended. Once it did, he had one more downstairs in a different department and
then we left and started to head back to the office, as we were he said he was starting to feel
really sick and that he was going home and we had an early day today. So tomorrow will
probably be jam packed because we will have to finish all the work that was left from today.
Lawrence Dean Tims
11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 24th, 2017
Daily Journal #13
Today was pretty similar to every other day it wasnt anything out of the ordinary. We
headed to the office and were there for about an hour. I started to write a case file on one of
Sams clients. I was able to finish finding most of the information from the police report.
However it was time for us to head over to court. Today court was going to be in El Cajon, this
isnt my favorite court to go to because its pretty slow. Also something that's pretty funny about
that court is that you will always see some characters in there. People are always acting wild,
playing music on their phone real loud or yelling and stuff like that. Commented [17]: Why do you think that is?

As we were in court we had to do a lot of waiting around. I think that we were waiting on
the defense attorney to finish up another case, it lasted for about an hour before everything got
ready. Once it did a couple of cases got called up before Sams. Once his case came up since
Sam's client failed to appear to court they issued a warrant out for his arrest posted at $50,000.
After I heard that I started to think about how much money bounty hunters make and it's pretty
good. Then I started to think about Dog the Bounty Hunter and had a good laugh.
After court we went back to lunch and there is this place right across the street from the
office building and one of my favorite things to eat is a sandwich, and this place happened to be
a DELI! This made my day, I had the tastiest sandwich and it put me in the greatest mood ever.
After lunch we headed back to the office and finished up the work that had been there since the
morning time. Then we went home!
Lawrence Dean Tims
11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 25th, 2017
Daily Journal #14
Today was a long day!!! I started bright and early at 7am and finished a 6pm. Today we
didnt spend much time in the office we grabbed our files and left to the downtown court. Sam
had a really big hearing for one of the clients that I had met in the office one day. His case was
pretty intense he was charged with battery. As the case started everything seemed to be going
pretty normal how it always is. When Sam got called up to stage the judge asked him where the
defendant was, and Sam told her that he was getting an ankle brace on. Then one of the wildest
things Ive ever seen in a court happened.
The judge just started to flip out on Sam! She was saying how it was unprofessional for
his client to not have the brace on and he was irresponsible and how she couldnt believe it. Sam
was trying to explain how it wasnt his fault and it was his first day on the case and once he
found out he made calls to get the brace on him as quick as possible, but he couldnt really argue
with a judge because then the judge wouldnt like him. It was crazy because it was in front of
everyone and she was just embarrassing him and it wasnt even his fault it was the prosecutors
fault for not telling Sams client. The judge then had Sam's client arrested and put into custody
and set his bond at $250,000 which was uncalled for and done out of anger.
After that all happened Sam went back into chambers and explained to her the entire
situation and pretty much how she completely overreacted and made him look like a horrible
attorney in front of me (Intern) and the defendant's family. So then as I was waiting for Sam to
come back from chambers so we head to the office to work I see the judge walking towards me.
She then went on to introduce herself and tell me how I was interning with an amazing attorney
and she apologized for what happened earlier and how it was a big misunderstanding and wished
me the best on my future. The whole situation today was pretty wild and it definitely spiced
things up for internships.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 26, 2017
Daily Journal #15
Today was pretty interesting, it was another long day for us. We visited 3 different
courthouses today: Vista, El Cajon, and Downtown. We first went to the office really early so we
could talk to a potential client about a speeding ticket case on his motorcycle, it didnt take to
long for the meeting to end. Then we went to the downtown court. Sam had 2 cases there, the
first one was a hearing on a guy who had damaged a police vehicle. When I met the guy he
seemed pretty normal and chill, its weird to think that he did the crime. The hearing was pretty
short it ended up getting extended to a later date. Sam tried to raise a doubt that maybe it wasnt
him who dented the car but instead something else caused it, because the officer didnt directly
see the incident. The next case involved a restraining order and the man was granted a 3 year
restraining order from his ex-wife.
We went back to the office and then went to go get lunch at chipotle and I got a good
burrito! After we finished lunch we were on our way to the El Cajon case where Sam only had 1
case this time. At this court we had to wait a little while before the case started. I witnessed an
interesting scenario where this guy who was representing himself for a restraining order case
repeatedly kept interrupting the judge. The judge was getting super frustrated and low key kind
of yelled at the guy to stop talking so he can tell him what he can do, the guy ended up not being
able to get a restraining order from a guy who shot him.
After Sam wrapped up in El Cajon we went up to Vista and he had a case and visited one
of his clients in jail. The case hearing didnt last too long, it was probably around 30 minutes.
The jail took a little longer at around an hour, I wish I could get inside the jail but I need to get
some sort of actual identification (license) and I also think I need to be over 18. After he visited
his client that was the end of our day and we headed back.
Lawrence Dean Tims
11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 30, 2017
Daily Journal #16
So today was the first day back from Memorial Day weekend. We started our day a little
earlier than last time at around 8am. We headed straight to the downtown courthouse. Where we
met one of Sams clients mom. I have see her throughout my internship quite a few times now.
Her daughter had committed around 30 felonies! However Sam is such a good lower that he got
her charges lowered to a substantial amount. Its actually pretty amazing for what he was able to
accomplish with this case considering what he had to start with in the beginning. Today he had a
case where she committed a misdemeanor. We were there for about a couple of hours before
they told us that the case hasnt been filed yet. So the deputy informed us that we would have to
come later to start the case.
After that happened we headed back to the law firm office. I began to work on my case
files. I finished looking at all of the information in the case in about an hour because it was a
pretty deep case with a lot of things and people involved with it. After that I had to summarize all
of it into about a page of writing. After I finished that I sent it off to Sam and he approved it.
Then we headed to lunch where his wife joined us at Chipotle. After that we went back to the
downtown court. Sam had to get off of a case because the client was not paying him for his
work. Sam is still really cool though because he offered to help the guy find a new attorney when
he couldve just left him and never talked to him again.
Then he had a case where his client FTAd (Failed to Appear) because she apparently had
to go to the ER on her court date which is really sketchy. After Sam told the judge his client
wasnt there and he wrapped up the case he had to go to the bank and fix some fraudulent charge
and then that ended our day.
Lawrence Dean Tims
11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
May 31, 2017
Daily Journal #17
Today was pretty cool. It wasnt to hectic today. It was actually just a lot of driving
around. We started off by going to the law office; we were there for about an hour. Sam gave me
a discovery so that I could decode it and make a summary. He told me this would be the last one
id be doing for the internship because the next two days we would be in court a lot.
This discovery involved a burglary and possession of drugs. This discovery was sort of
long it had around 50 pages that I had to look through. Throughout the duration of my internship
I have learned that the quickest way of finding out how to search through a discovery is to look
and read through the longest police report, which tends to be the police officer that was first on
scene when the incident started to occur rather than the officer who showed up later. The reason
being is because it tends to have the most detail of the incident occurring. After you read through
that you should look to see what the official chargers were, and see if there is any photos
extracted from the incident. Then once you have completed all of that, you should glance over
the other police reports that were given to see if any additional facts were given about the case
which sometimes hold to be true.
After we left the office we went to the downtown court where Sam met one of his clients.
He proceeded to do the hearing for them. It was fairly short, we were only there for like an hour.
Once we finished with the downtown court we drove up to the vista court. This court case was
extremely short it was just a hearing for continuing dates. After that it was pretty much the end
of the day and we went home.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
June 1st, 2017
Daily Journal #18
The second to last day of internships!!! Its sad that this is really coming to an end. Today
we went to court in the morning than we were driving around a lot. Today in the court was
actually a pretty long hearing it was an older case that he had prior to me coming internship so I
was little confused from what it was about. I pretty much got the jist that it was a battery charge
with another individual. After that case Sam had to go to another courtroom ad withdrawal from
a case because his client couldn't hold his end of the deal and pay for his service. Then later on
we went to Vista court for a case.
While in Vista it took a little while for things to get going. We had 2 cases up there today.
The courthouse in Vista is pretty big, it is also newer than most of the other courts. There is also
a jail right next to it, pretty much like all courts. Sam told me that the Vista jail is full of white
supremacist. Whereas other jails in San Diego group together bloods, crips, or lincoln park gang.
I asked him why they separate them to all one jail, and he told me that its because in the past it
would cause a whole bunch of fights in the jails so they decided to separate them and it has been
working better ever since.
On the way back from Vista I decided to redo my interview because the sound on the
other one wasnt clear enough for me to hear. We pretty much talked about the same things with
a little more added to it. It was really informative for me because he gave me a lot of tips moving
on with in the future and he told me somethings I should do research on.

Lawrence Dean Tims

11th Grade
Ms. Colleen
June 2nd, 2017
 Daily Journal #19
The last day of internship!!! Sad day because I really enjoyed internships but not really
because I am coming back to work in a month for summer. I didnt expect today that long, but
boy was I wrong. The whole first half of the day was court. It was in downtown. Once we got
there Sam started to talk to the family of his client and they were pretty much wondering if they
were gonna get to see him today because he was in custody. They were also wondering what was
the gameplan Sam had for his case. Sam told them everything he was planning on doing, and if
that wasnt going to work they would take it to trial and try to beat off as man charges as possible
that he was facing.
After that he went to another courtroom that dealt with misdemeanors for one of his
clients. I also learned that over a certain amount of time that some felonies can get dropped into
misdemeanors if they arent major like murder or rape but some charges that can be reduced into
misdemeanors are battery, assault, grand theft, and possession of a controlled substance. I
thought that was really cool because most of the time when someone has a felony on their record
they cannot obtain a job and a lot of the time it was from something years ago. So it is cool that
this law is giving people a new start in life.
After court we went back to the office where Sam met one of his now former clients
because they found a new lawyer up closer to them in north county, and they were asking for a
partial refund. It was interesting though because the lawyer they went with didnt even graduate
from law school he just passed the Bar Exam, and Sam is a much better lawyer but to each is
own. After that since I didnt have a lot of money on me I went and bought Sam and I a slurpee
from 7/11 as an appreciation for the internship and told him that I was looking forward to
summertime when I come back.