OUR CLIENT
Rafiah Davis
Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania
Norristown, Pennsylvania
The door
buzzed as it unlocked, and a Legal Aid attorney and I walked into the
holding cell to meet with a man who had just been picked up for breaking
into an abandoned building. As the attorney and I sat in the tiny cell and
listened to the ruddy-faced man ramble on about wanting to get out and smoke
more crack, my mind flashed back to last summer when as an intern with the
Public Defenders, I routinely witnessed these kinds of conversations.
However, this time I was not watching some attorney figure out how to get
this guy out. I was there to watch the Legal Aid attorney convince this
man to agree to stop beating up his wife (our client) and to allow her and
their two teenage children to move back into the family home.
Unfortunately, the man would not agree, but when we went to court our client
was granted the order. It occurred to me at that moment that I love this
work! I felt so much better about trying to help a client get her life back
together, than I would have felt about trying to help this man get back to
his crack pipe.
This summer
marked my 10th internship. My internships have run the gamut, but
I have to say that this summer at Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania in
the Norristown office has been one of the best. From the moment I walked
into the office, I felt welcome. The attorneys have answered all of my
questions and have allowed me to tag along with them, without any
complaints. They have been available and approachable and have really made
sure that I was learning.
The best part
of the summer has been the cases. Each has been intriguing in its own way.
Some have been funny. Others have been not so funny. But, all summer I
felt like I was fighting the good fight. Legal Aid takes on a variety of
cases, including custody, Protection from Abuse, landlord/tenant,
unemployment, and disability. I knew very little about these issues before
I got here. But, now I’m being prepped to represent clients in these kinds
of actions, and I have even been invited back here to work during the school
semester.
