Summary: Interview Of A Legal Professional

Interview of a Legal Professional
Chelsea Kurtz
LS100-Unit 8
Professor Emily Ryan
June 5, 2014

Questions for Attorney Barrett Painter
1. What are the educational requirements to become an attorney?
You have to have a 4 year degree and 3 years of law school.
2. Daily tasks and duties (a typical day on the job)
Just depends on the day if you are in court prepare for court, go to court, meet with your client. If you are in the office I will work on cases and call my clients.
3. Have you encountered any ethical problems and how did you resolve it?
Well you hope you don’t have these problems but if you do you look at the rules then consult with a professional responsible for a person’s actions.
It appeared to me that his responses to my questions asked were sincere and to the point. The educational requirements in order to become an attorney, are obtaining a four year degree, and three years law school. Barrett also mentioned passing the bar exam to be able to practice law. As he explained, a normal day at the office varied. Depending upon the day, if he wasn’t in court daily tasks were calling clients and working on cases. Mr. Painter didn’t go into a lot of detail in regards to ethical issues he may have encountered at work. He said that if such an issue arising you consult with a professional for the persons actions. Barrett also mentioned a database he may pull up on his computer about certain issues. In my opinion, if you are an attorney I am sure ethical issues arise in court frequently. The answer that really caught my attention when I asked him if was difficult to manage family and work life. I was always curious about this question considering all of the work involved being an attorney. Attorneys always seem to be working whether it is, creating cases, contacting clients, clients calling you when you are not at the office, hours upon hours of investigation in a single case, and the list goes on. His sincere response was that his dad, who was a former attorney, taught him that when work is over its family time. This reminds me of the saying, “when work is over, leave it at the
When he passed the bar exam he worked with his father for the first eight years practicing real estate law. I was curious when he first became an attorney if he felt like he had to drive himself in the ground to make it. Barrett’s response concluded he didn’t and that he was fortunate because, if he encountered issues he would seek help or advice from his dad. Barrett has experience as an attorney in many fields of law including real estate, family, and criminal law. There were a few questions I asked that seemed to be sensitive topics following his answers. Mr. Painter explained the best aspects of his job were seeing happy parents, who adopted a child, and the worst were the effects drugs and alcohol has on children. My favorite answer was my last question asked. I was always interested in knowing if attorneys ever feel emotional involved in certain cases. To Barrett’s response he told me that it really depended on the case, and you always want to represent your client in the best way possible, but when it involves children it can get emotional. I enjoyed hearing his honest answer to this particular question. I can only imagine certain cases to be emotional to an attorney involving