September 8, 2014 at 4:28 p.m.

LUHS grad finishes second year as intern in Oneida County DA's office

LUHS grad finishes second year as intern in Oneida County DA's office
LUHS grad finishes second year as intern in Oneida County DA's office

By Jamie Taylor-jamie@rivernewsonline.com

A 2008 Lakeland Union High School graduate who is starting her third year at the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison recently finished her second summer as an intern with the Oneida County District Attorney's office.

As she was growing up, Noel Lawrence said she didn't think much about her future career. As the daughter of Natalie Tyler and Tom Lawrence II, who have a joint law practice in Minocqua, becoming a lawyer just seemed like the natural thing to do.

"I think it was just what I expected of myself, I never really thought about it," Lawrence said. "But when it was time to go to college and start to solidify my career plans, it just seemed natural. It's just the right thing to do for me."

Lawrence said UW-Madison, where she completed her undergraduate work, does not have a pre-law program specialty for undergraduates.

"They encourage you to do something a little different so you get a diverse background. So I actually did English Literature. I intended to do something else, but I took a couple Shakespeare classes and really, really enjoyed it, I got some amazing professors," she said. "So I said, for the four years that I'm an undergrad, I'm going to enjoy myself and do something I'm good at and really have fun with. So I did mostly Shakespearean Literature for four years and I really enjoyed it."

When it came time to apply to law school, she had some concern that her bachelor's degree would not translate well into the "three very intense years" of law school. But she said her nervousness disappeared quickly.

"The intense writing aspect of it, being careful what you say, learning how to say things the right way, redoing the sentence structure, that sort of things really helped me in law school, in general, actually," she said.

While she always felt that she would become a lawyer, criminal law was not on her radar. She thought she would most likely specialize in family law, like her mother.

"I always said I don't know what kind of law I want to practice, but I know it's not going to be criminal law. Then I kind of fell into this internship last summer and came back again this summer and I'm kind of hooked now. It's really interesting and something I think I want to pursue, at least for a while," she said.

After spending time learning from the lawyers in the Oneida County District Attorney's office Lawrence said she may want to be a prosecutor, at least for a period of time.

"I want to come back to the area, but there aren't always available positions to prosecute," she said. "But I'm definitely open to other areas. I think that family law is definitely something I am interested in and I've taken a lot of classes in and spoken to a lot of people about that."

The internship she just completed is part of the law school's Frank J. Remington Center's Prosecution Project, which is designed for students between their second and third years. Students are interviewed and then assigned to counties based on whether they would be a good fit for where they will be assigned.

"Last year, for some odd reason, no one had applied for the Oneida County position," Lawrence said. "There were a couple counties that didn't get students. There weren't people available. They didn't know the area and nobody local wanted the position. Last summer, when I was starting to panic about what I was going to do in the summertime, I was even looking at a few positions in Madison. That would have been fine. I was even excited about a few of them. Then I heard there was nobody in the opening up here."

Although she was between her first and second years of law school, and not eligible to appear in court under the student practice rule, she called Oneida County District Attorney Michael Schiek and asked to be considered.

"Normally we get applications through the law school. Last year we didn't get any except for Ms. Lawrence's. And even though she didn't qualify because she couldn't practice under the student practice rule, we said if you want to come and hang out, we'll show you what we do," Schiek said. "(I told her) you can't talk in court, you can't sign any pleadings, you can't talk to any potential defendants, (but) if you want to come and do research, we'll sign off on things. She did that last year and this year she became eligible (under the student practice rule) and again she was one of only two applicants."

"That worked out perfectly, because even though I couldn't make appearances and help out as much as I would have liked, I got an introductory crash course in this is how the criminal system works, which is phenomenal. I couldn't have asked for a better first year job," Lawrence said.

Lawrence said she took two introductory courses in criminal law but did not expect that she would ever use the skills she learned.

"That was an interesting change for me, thinking I'll probably go into family law -- that's where my mind was at -- to criminal law, which is really intriguing and interesting and now I have to focus on this for a while," she said.

This summer, since she was certified under the student practice rule, Lawrence could actually do most things that actual lawyers can do in court. She called cases and made recommendations on bond.

"I've done just about everything this summer," she said. "Mike and Steve (Michlig), and Jodi (Bednar-Clemens) now as a part-time DA, are really immersive in what they do. Last summer I tagged along with them and I learned how they do things, so this summer I was able to apply that. It has been an absolutely amazing experience for me.

"Obviously, we thought she did a great job last year, so we decided to give her an opportunity this year. Last year when she couldn't do anything, she was wanting to. On some of the arguments we would say go research a bail issue for me, and she would do the research for us and we'd do the argument," Schiek said. "She did a lot of the research, it just came out of our mouths. But this year, to be able to do the research and then be able to argue it, that's what I think she was really looking forward to (doing) last year. It's different sitting and watching people do things and actually having to do it all yourself."

Lawrence said a lot of things have surprised her along the way.

"I didn't have a lot of pre-conceived notions that were going to get shattered," she said. "Everything is just so new to me that everything is interesting. There are some things, like the sentence credit issue, that will come up. Intuitively; it didn't make a lot of sense to me. But once you get into it and start seeing how the legal system works and the practical issues and all these different aspects come in, all of a sudden it all gets clarified."

Some things she had learned about school turned out to be different in the real world once she started working on criminal cases. Plea agreements were the biggest eye opener.

"When we learned about it in school, we're learning about it kind of in a sanitized, generalized 'this is how it might work' way," Lawrence said. "But when you come home to a small county, where most of the players know everybody else, for sure all the local lawyers have formed their own relationships going in, it's really interesting to see how it actually works on the ground. Especially because it is a big difference between a large county and a small county, which is why I am so grateful to have this opportunity because I don't think I would have gotten this kind of experience in a large county."

Lawrence said she can imagine that larger counties with higher caseloads would have their own way of doing things.

"For me, I prefer that hometown feel to it, that's a good thing," she said. "You get to see the defendants as real people and the victims as real people. And that's something I don't think you would get in a big city."

Although she would love for a job opening to be available in the area once she earns her law degree next spring, she knows that's not likely.

"Right now, what I'm thinking is for me, professionally, it would probably be better to go somewhere else for a couple years. I don't want to stay away for very long, this is my home, and this is where I want to be," she said. "But I think if I can get experience somewhere else then come back I will be a much more well-rounded person professionally and personally. I've always lived in either Minocqua or Madison. I think it would be good to go somewhere else for a short period of time to get some experience."

The high point of the 12-week summer internship for Lawrence was working on a jury trial with Bednar-Clemens where she got to make the opening statement and cross-examine the defendant on the witness stand.

"I think we had three or four (trials) scheduled for that day, but we didn't really expect any of them to come to fruition," she said. "Then suddenly we had two or three different jury trials scheduled for the same day. But they all got bumped off for the one Jodi had. It was a theft case and it was really interesting, I learned a lot from it."

Coming into contact with some of the same people repeatedly for multiple cases has been an education in itself.

"For better or worse, you get to know the people," she said. "And that is just an amazing experience for a young lawyer, though. Learning how people think and how it all works."

Lawrence said that there were some types of cases that took longer to get used to than others.

"There have been a couple sexual assault cases that have really stuck with me, particularly when they involve children. That's just hard, and that's something I wasn't really mentally prepared for," she said. "I never thought how I would react in that type of situation. That was a learning experience for me, you have to look at it a different kind of way then how you might react if you're not involved."

She also said she has found the drug cases to be real eye-openers.

"I just had no idea how that whole world works. So seeing all the different actors involved, the dealers, the users and everyone is at a different stage in that process. That has been really interesting, to see how addiction works. And some of the people you see, you see repeatedly. You see the tragedy occurring in front of you. And it's one of those things where there are some mechanisms in place where maybe you can intervene and other times you just can't," Lawrence said.

Looking back at all she has learned Lawrence said she is glad she followed her hunch to come back home and work in the district attorney's office instead of going with one of the Madison law firms.

"I have some classmates that went to do their summers in some high-powered firms," she said. "Some of them loved it and some of them hated it."

Assistant District Attorney Michlig, who has been in the district attorney's office for 25 years, said there have been several former interns that have come through the Oneida County District Attorney's office that have gone on to become prosecutors in other counties. Milwaukee County District Attorney John T. Chisholm is an example.

"I used to give him a hard time when he was here," Michlig said. "Now look at him."

After two summers of immersive experience, Lawrence is heading back to the classroom to start to her final year of law school but she may make one more appearance in Oneida County Circuit Court. She said there is a chance she will be coming back in October to work on another jury trial.

Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at jtaylor@lakelandtimes.com.

Comments:

You must login to comment.

Sign in
RHINELANDER

WEATHER SPONSORED BY

Latest News

Events

July

SU
MO
TU
WE
TH
FR
SA
29
30
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT
29 30 1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31 1 2

To Submit an Event Sign in first

Today's Events

No calendar events have been scheduled for today.