Regina Ames
   reginaames@yahoo.com

Name: Regina Ames

Introductory comments: In reading this evaluation, you should keep in mind that it is based on my observations, notes, and recollections from the past several months. It is also full of my opinions. You should feel free to disregard, dismiss and discount any of these opinions which you think are wrong. This is written in the spirit of trying to give you things to think about in your future practice and career. I urge you to be self- reflective about what is said here, and be willing to consider it, but also be willing to ignore it if you believe it to be off-base. Lest you think that this sounds a mite defensive, you should also know that I have gotten very positive feedback about many of my past evaluations in terms of their capturing valuable and accurate insights. Finally, it is my hope that at some point in the future you re-read this, and see if it has any currency at that time. Hopefully, re-reading this will prompt you to engage in further introspection which will enhance your career and personal development even more.

1. Writing Assignments

Since I have previously given you written comments on your Mrs. G and Differences papers, I will comment here on your translation and justice papers, as well as on your unguided reflection essays.

Your translation and justice papers drew largely on your client's case for application and illustration of the issues presented in the readings. You did a good job of identifying the traits of an effective translator and applying them to your own case. I thought it was interesting that you identified the role of "mediator" as an important skill of an effective translator. While you recognized that this was not the role you would assume in a social security case, you did note that this could be an appropriate role in some cases. I wonder if you anticipate any difficulty in adopting this role given the intense partisanship you felt in your own client's case?

In your justice paper, I appreciate your willingness to disagree with Edmond Cahn. While I do think that a sense of justice is a relative concept, I also understand your point about appreciating positive aspects of one's life and embracing the justice in those positives.

Your unguided papers picked up on interesting aspects of your client experiences. It is gratifying to read that you gained a lot from taking the course. You were willing to take a hard look at yourself in this process which is a tribute to your openness and commitment to excellence.

2. Class Participation

You were a very reliable class participant. I particularly appreciate the gentle way (on multiple occasions) that you took on some of your classmates who were seemingly very negatively judgmental of their clients. I liked the way you matter-of-factly described your client and his limitations; explained your own philosophy; and concluded by saying that you really had no choice but to provide these services for your client, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to do it on his own without a great deal of effort. I hope that your classmates heard about your willingness to "do whatever it took." to provide services to your client.

You always came to class prepared to discuss the material or issues at hand. You added humor and were willing to admit to your own biases and limitations. Your comments were constructive and often refreshing in perspective. Thank you for putting yourself out there!

3. Simulation Exercises

I'll comment here on your mock interview and the mock hearing you did with Nancy Stuart. You prepared seriously and thoroughly for your mock client interview with Mae. You were active in the critique session, and were willing to think about the points we discussed (level of formality comes to mind as an issue which we discussed). You were eager to develop your skills, and this was shown by your willingness to disagree and yet be open to different viewpoints.

Nancy Stuart remarked that you had a wonderful relationship with your client. You had to cajole your client into being honest - both as to negative and positive aspects of his case. You were able to do this effectively because of your high level of preparation and because of the trusting relationship you had with your client.

4. Attorney-Client Interactions

Building on what I've already written about this, you developed a wonderful relationship with your client on multiple levels. On a professional level, you were able to demonstrate your competence by being well-prepared for every interaction, and by knowing the law and being able to explain it to the client.

You also developed trust with the client by being enormously accommodating, but doing it in such a non-judgmental, matter-of-fact way. This disarmed the client, who I think was prepared for a much more bureaucratic interaction with you before he got to know you.

Finally, you developed a genuine personal relationship with the client and his family. You cared about your client and his family, and demonstrated this by, again, going out of your way to bestow kindnesses on them which went well beyond what is expected or "required" of attorneys. Yet, you were able, I think, to maintain a professional distance which is required to prepare well for your client's case. Unless you can see the weak spots of your client and his case, you aren't doing the client any favors in representing them. You were willing to confront the client as to the negative aspects of his case, and deal with your client honestly about these concerns.

I greatly admire your openness to the possibilities that deep relationships with clients might offer. I would only caution you to the very real possibility of being burned by this openness, too. Undoubtedly, there will come a time when you feel betrayed or deeply hurt by a client.

5. Professional Relationships

As an extrovert, you are easy to get along with. You are friendly, engaging and energetic. These traits are reflected in the wonderful relationships you had with others here at the clinic.

In addition, you were able to develop respectful relationships with various players with whom you came into contact this semester. In particular, you were able to get a very supportive letter from Dr. Bayard because of an effective phone interaction followed by a very helpful letter explaining what the standards are in an SSI case.

Similarly, you impressed the ALJ by the extraordinary amount of work you did in organizing the medical records in a meaningful way, by the well-written brief which you'd written, and by your high level of preparation at the hearing. Whether true or not, you conveyed a high level of confidence in your manner, and seemed to anticipate all of the judge's questions. He was quite complimentary as to all of this as well !

While you and Mae did not work extremely closely, l think that you provided moral support to each other.

6. Theory of the Case Development and Implementation/Case Planning/Fact Investigation

This was one of your strengths. You did a very thorough case planning memo. While you didn't do a fact investigation plan per se, you had a good sense of the factual record which needed to be developed. On a parallel track, you had a good outline of your letter brief fairly early on, which was helpful to seeing what facts you needed. You were persistent in tracking down leads for treating physician information. You also acquired some medical expertise in the areas of sleep apnea, Hepatitis C and liver dysfunction, obesity, psychological disorders, and diabetes. I was impressed with the breadth of knowledge you acquired over a relatively short period of time.

7. Oral Advocacy

You performed well under pressure. As noted above, you seemed to anticipate the judge's questions, and spoke authoritatively, yet deferentially to the judge. In part because of your preparation, your direct examination went very smoothly.

8. Written Advocacy

You write very well, and many of my edits went more to style and organization, rather than to substance. You were also able to effectively incorporate personal and humanizing aspects of your client's case into the letter brief. In this sense, you were an effective translator of the client's story for a particular audience. Good job!

9. Practice Management

You were absolutely outstanding in this area (though I think the files need to be organized a bit). You tackled a massive organizational challenge in making sense of the medical records in your client's OHA file. Your idea of doing a summary was a great one. It made a huge difference at the hearing, when we realized that our submission hadn't made it to the file, but it also made it easy for the judge to find things in the existing record.

Another one of your strengths is your ability to manage time. You were juggling a lot of demands this semester. I was concerned at first about your ability to accomplish everything you had to in a timely manner. You allowed extra time to accommodate the unexpected - which I particularly appreciated as your supervisor. It was reassuring to me to be able to depend on you, but also that if a delay or glitch of some sort occurred, that we had plenty of time to work with.

10. Professional Responsibility

There were no glaring ethical dilemmas that you had to confront this semester. Yet, there was a concern which you picked up on pretty early on. It's best illustrated by the client requesting a copy of the questions and answers which you had prepared for the hearing. You deftly advised him that this was not the best course, and reassured him that by answering the questions as honestly as he could, he would be fine. I sensed that he was so eager - almost desperate - to be thought of as a worthy person, that he worried that the slightest deviance from "the story" would undermine his credibility. You did a good job of convincing him otherwise.

11. Reflective Skills Development

You brought a highly developed sense of yourself to this class. You have already spent a lot of time being self-reflective, but perhaps not so much in the context of acting like a lawyer. Your guided and unguided papers lead me to believe that you have gained an even better sense of the sort of lawyer you hope to be. I hope that the class had given you much food for thought in this regard.

12. Personal Development

I hope that your clinic experience fulfilled your desire to obtain "practical" skills development. You certainly learned that you can juggle multiple demands on your time - even when one of them is a client's case where you feel personally "on-the-hook" for a positive result.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Regina, I have certainly enjoyed working with you. You are responsible, committed, dependable, have a great head on your shoulders, and have a great sense of yourself. You will have a fulfilling and rewarding career - regardless of the direction it takes. I wish you the best of luck.

Miye