Some of you may have heard that our Legal Assistant Janet Horne will be headed back to law school this fall (more on that later). To help things run smoothly in Janet’s absence, we’ve asked Hannah to be a part of our team here at the Johnson Jensen office.
Hannah hails from Bloomington and is a recent Butler grad, where she was President of the Student Honors Council and a member of Spanish Club, Model U.N., Alpha Phi Fraternity, and Phi Beta Kappa. Read on for Hannah’s perspective on what it’s like to join a law office straight out of college.
So, Hannah. What brought you to the Johnson Jensen office?
At Butler, I studied International Studies and Spanish. I had minors in History and Peace and Conflict Studies. I’m interested in foreign policy and public policy and immigration. But I’m also interested in pursuing a law career, so this position I thought would be a good way to narrow down my interests.
As I learn more and more about the system, I’ll probably be more inclined to go to law school. I’m interested in international relations. I think that with globalization, everything’s become a lot more interconnected, and there are a lot more international issues that affect everyone. I like to look at issues on a macro scale, holistically, as they affect everyone. If there’s a problem, it can’t necessarily be fixed by just addressing one thing. It’s a number of things. You have to be creative to come up with solutions for the complex issues we’re facing today.
What’s a typical day at the office like for you?
I’m being trained on everything from entry of a new client to getting their paperwork done and correspondence. I went from knowing nothing about law or injury law to getting the basics of everything. Right now I’m helping to create a submission to the medical review panel for a medical malpractice case.
What’s the most challenging part of the job so far?
Definitely learning all the terminology, the legal-ese. I also didn’t realize how much work went into law behind the scenes. I have a lot of respect for all the paralegals. It wasn’t really anything I had thought about before. All the paralegals and legal assistants have to balance a lot of clients at the same time. They have to know everything about each case, who to contact, a lot of steps that go into a case and things to balance all at once.
What’s it like working with the team at Johnson Jensen?
I’ve been mostly working with Janet. Janet is involved in basically every case. She knows how to do everything. If anyone needs help, they know Janet will help. She has a really great attitude, and she’s really patient, which is part of what makes her so great at what she does. A lot of clients aren’t educated in the legal system, so it’s really important for a legal professional to be able to articulate what they’re doing and what’s happening so anyone can understand the process.
Bob and Travis are both really hardworking and easy to talk to. I can tell they’re very empathetic with clients. Even when they were interviewing me, I felt really at ease talking to them. They’re very confident. If you’re going to hire someone to be your attorney, you need to have faith in their skills. You need someone you feel comfortable talking to.
