Prior to my stay here in Fordham, I had been to every New York City burrough except for Brooklyn. I can now say that I have been to all of the burroughs. A few days ago, as a part of my internship, I was attending a CLARO program in downtown Manhattan. CLARO stands for Civil Legal Assistance Resource Office. There, citizens who are being sued for the alleged failure to pay debts are offered legal advice by a team of volunteer lawyers and law students. Most people that come in are anxious about their situation. Oftentimes the lawsuit against them will be without merit. When a volunteer lawyer is able to be of help, as is almost always the case, they walk out visibly relieved and grateful for the help.
Being relatively foreign to New York City, and especially its convoluted subway system, I had some trouble determining which subway train to take back to my room in midtown. Fortunately, I found the right track; unfortunately, the train went in the 'wrong' direction. When I was crossing water, I knew something was wrong. Turns out, I wound up in Brooklyn, late at night, wondering what on earth went wrong. Obviously, I made it back to my room safe and sound. I simply got back on the subway headed for Manhattan.
Despite my minor detour, I am still very much enjoying my experience here at the Feerick Center. Recently, I sat in on a meeting with the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs and the Chief Administrative Judge of New York State, Ann Pfau. The meeting concerned what steps needed to be taken to mandate an education requirement for the licensing of process servers. Process servers are the people that serve court documents to individuals that have business before the court. Usually, a process server is not somebody you want to see knocking on your door. They generally deliver bad news. Anybody can serve process in New York State over the age of 18 and not a party to the action (the legal dispute). Those are pretty slim standards, and so, in order to ensure more effective service of process, groups are working to require an education requirement, such as training and taking an exam prior to being eligible to serve process. In any case, that is what I have been working on for the past couple of weeks.
I am still getting used to the environment and culture. Everybody seems to be in a rush to go to their job, the restaurant, a meeting, or home or the ten thousand other things to do in New York City. To relax for a change I went to Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center (just one block away) to see the New York Philharmonic, one of the premiere orchestras on the planet. I was able to get a student discount and only had to pay $14, compared to some people who I'm sure payed over $100 for their seat. The performance was amazing, and the music hall, which I had never been to, was a sight to behold.
Being relatively foreign to New York City, and especially its convoluted subway system, I had some trouble determining which subway train to take back to my room in midtown. Fortunately, I found the right track; unfortunately, the train went in the 'wrong' direction. When I was crossing water, I knew something was wrong. Turns out, I wound up in Brooklyn, late at night, wondering what on earth went wrong. Obviously, I made it back to my room safe and sound. I simply got back on the subway headed for Manhattan.
Despite my minor detour, I am still very much enjoying my experience here at the Feerick Center. Recently, I sat in on a meeting with the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs and the Chief Administrative Judge of New York State, Ann Pfau. The meeting concerned what steps needed to be taken to mandate an education requirement for the licensing of process servers. Process servers are the people that serve court documents to individuals that have business before the court. Usually, a process server is not somebody you want to see knocking on your door. They generally deliver bad news. Anybody can serve process in New York State over the age of 18 and not a party to the action (the legal dispute). Those are pretty slim standards, and so, in order to ensure more effective service of process, groups are working to require an education requirement, such as training and taking an exam prior to being eligible to serve process. In any case, that is what I have been working on for the past couple of weeks.
I am still getting used to the environment and culture. Everybody seems to be in a rush to go to their job, the restaurant, a meeting, or home or the ten thousand other things to do in New York City. To relax for a change I went to Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center (just one block away) to see the New York Philharmonic, one of the premiere orchestras on the planet. I was able to get a student discount and only had to pay $14, compared to some people who I'm sure payed over $100 for their seat. The performance was amazing, and the music hall, which I had never been to, was a sight to behold.
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