A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE

Jocelyn Mallory
North Penn Legal Services
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

I was placed at the North Penn Legal Services in Bethlehem Pennsylvania for my MLK internship.  This office handles primarily Family Law cases, Bankruptcy filings, and Landlord-Tenant actions.  The attorneys provide free legal services to low-income individuals in need of legal counsel and/or representation in Northampton and Lehigh counties.  My focuses were on the Custody and Child Support aspects of Family Law.   

During my first year of law school, I was uncertain which sector of the law I wanted to choose as a career path.  I had a strong interest in Family Law but was unclear as to what exactly that encompassed and lacked the real-world legal experience to determine whether I would actually enjoy working in that particular field.    After I was offered a MLK placement in the Bethlehem office, I had a phone conversation with the Managing Attorney, Lori Molloy, about the different areas of law practiced in the Bethlehem office.  Although I wanted to pursue Family Law during my internship, I was open to any legal experience I might gain in my placement.  I was excited to learn that they received a large amount of Family Law cases.  Lori said she would try to have my focus be on Custody but would teach me about whatever area of law she was working on at the time.  And, fortunately for me, that’s exactly what she did. 

I was taken to observe many Custody Conferences and Hearings in Lehigh and Northampton counties with both Leah Finlayson, NPLS staff attorney, and Lori.  This gave me invaluable, first-hand experience at viewing how the legal process works.  I attended and participated in several Custody Workshops held in the office.  Custody Workshops are provided for individuals identified as having a present custody issue. Twice a month, 10-15 people are invited to the workshops conducted by a NPLS attorney.  They are informed of the current PA laws pertaining to Custody and are assisted in filling out and/or filing custody documents with the court.  This was an extremely enlightening and valuable learning experience because I also gained knowledge of the pertinent laws relating to Custody, how to prepare and file legal documents, and how to interact with clients.  The attorneys who conducted the workshops were very knowledgeable and personable which, I believe, made an often stressful and upsetting topic a little easier to handle for the workshop participants.

  Lori and the other attorneys at NPLS gave me the opportunity to do interesting, legal research regarding various Custody and Child Support topics related to their client cases.  It was thrilling to see research that I found actually being filed in court (Preliminary Objections and Brief) and being applied in hearings.