Why_I_Want_to_Become_a_Legal_Professional

NORMA ROGERS Professor Chiacchia PA105-01 24 May 2011 Why I Want to Become a Legal Professional The legal profession consists of many interesting and challenging careers including judges, lawyers, paralegals, legal secretaries, researchers, legal analysts, and others. These positions offer opportunities for diversity, growth, financial stability, and personal satisfaction in various areas of the law. I want to be a lawyer to represent non-profit agencies that cannot afford to hire an attorney; to advocate for true restoration and rehabilitation of offenders; and to set an example for my children and grandchildren. By becoming a lawyer, I can make a difference in people’s lives and in this world. Until recently, I worked for a wonderful non-profit agency that provided vocational assessments, skills training, job placement, and other services to developmentally disabled and disadvantaged individuals. These individuals came to our agency with no hope of meaningful skills or the ability to find and maintain a job. Many of them were severely handicapped, mentally incapacitated, welfare recipients, ex-offenders, and generally those individuals who had been cast aside by other agencies and society as a whole. Our agency was founded long ago on the premise of moving these very people from dependence to independence through work and it did just that for so many years. However, beginning in 2005, the agency experienced substantial cutbacks in funding and referrals and private donations decreased. All of these events coupled with the economic instability in our State in particular sent the agency into a downward financial spiral which only worsened as time passed. As a result, numerous vendors filed lawsuits against the agency which it could not afford to defend. Creditors were beating down our doors, judgments mounted, and bank levies followed. The vast majority of our clients and other individuals were forced to stay at home or be placed in other agencies against their will, and some even returned to the streets and crime. Had I been a lawyer during this most difficult time, I would have been able to defend each of the lawsuits on behalf of our agency and perhaps save it from the financial devastation that forced it into bankruptcy liquidation so that it could have continued to help those who needed us most. Further, all too often across our country we hear of individuals returning to prison for one crime or another. There is much talk about restoration and rehabilitation for ex-offenders from corrections officials, but it appears that little is being done. It seems that most ex-offenders leave prison after many years with no life skills or job training. They have nothing do in prison other than to become angrier and more capable of criminal activity. This is a vicious cycle that can only be broken when each State and its corrections department institute programs that address total restoration and rehabilitation while the offenders are incarcerated rather than returning them to society in the same or worse condition than when they entered prison. As an attorney, I will advocate for such programs in the hopes of reducing crime and the rate of recidivism in this country. Lastly, aside from my husband, my children and grandchildren are the joys of my life. My children have grown up and have been contributing members of society. My grandchildren are doing well in elementary and high school. I have worked most of my life as a legal secretary and paralegal. My husband is a machine operator for life; it is his passion. As my parents wanted more for me, I want more for my children and grandchildren. I want to show them that it is never too late as long as we have breath to make a change in ourselves and in the lives of those around us. I want them to know that it is our responsibility to work to achieve justice where there is injustice; to help those who cannot help themselves; and to be the voice of those who cannot speak for themselves. As a lawyer and an advocate, my children and grandchildren will see my words in action and prayerfully will follow. In conclusion, I want to be a lawyer because lawyers can and do make a difference in this world and the lives of people in so many ways.