Victoria Cottrell (Law Plus) Los Angeles Externship Programme

I spent ten weeks as an extern in the Los Angeles Courts. In the summer of third year, I was chosen as the UL student to part take in the Irish American Bar District Courts Externship programme. I got my J1 and travelled over to Los Angeles to spend 8 weeks working in the Federal Courts and 2 weeks working in the Superior Court. The Irish American Bar Association is a group of people working in the legal sector with roots in Ireland and every year they bring over six Irish Law students to work in the Courts for the Summer.

There was a Law student picked from UCC, UCD, NUIG, QUB and Trinity. We all became close friends because we worked, travelled and went to events together.

Each student was paired with a judge in the Federal Court for 4 weeks and then we swapped for the next four weeks. This expanded my knowledge of how justice can be dealt differently. The first four weeks I was in Judge Hatter’s chambers, who is a senior judge but in the next for weeks I was paired with Judge Blumenfeld who was appointed in the last three years.

During my time in the Federal Courts, I got to draft memos, sit in on court proceedings and discuss cases with the judge in their chamber. I was able to see where a case begins and the consequences of a judge’s ruling. I got to see every stage of a court proceeding from examining a First Complaint to visiting a Prison. I saw how the Court processes cases from inside the judge’s chambers. I even got to sit in on a Court of Appeal case.

Furthermore, I spent two weeks in the Superior Courts under Judge Murphy but was sent out to meet to heads of multiple courthouses such as Children’s and Criminal. I saw how America’s dual systems of law worked side by side. The State Courts are run very differently to the Federal Court with the State Court handling much more cases.

I also made great American friends because the judges had other externs from American law schools. I learned a lot about how I could qualify in America and how they are taught law.

Besides form making great friends this externship also introduced me to incredibly impressive and influential individuals. I got to know some of the top attorneys in the city, senior judges and people who have had a cultural impact on our society. It was also comforting to hear that many people in positions of power weren’t always the top students. One of the top attorneys in the city told me if he was judged purely on academics he would never even come close to where he was today. This showed me that there are many ways to get to the position you want.

Although I got a wonderful education on the American Courts the Irish American Bar Association also brought us to several events like the Hollywood Bowl, Oxnard and the California Club. We also went on many solo adventures like climbing Hollywood Hill, riding the rollercoaster in Universal Studios and swimming at Santa Monica beach.

This experience has shown me a completely different operation of the common law. After completing this Externship and flying back to Ireland I felt enlightened about my path for the future, which will hopefully involve returning to Los Angeles.