Organization Overview and Culture

While I was interning at the Law Office of Matthew Pavone, the actual office was within a suite shared by two other lawyers. Although the suite was shared, the two other lawyers had nothing to do with Matt's office.

Matthew Pavone is a criminal, civil, and litigation lawyer who also does mediation. Another lawyer who is in the suite, Daryl Weinroth, is a trust and estate lawyer. The final lawyer sharing the suite is Scott Lueders, a family lawyer.

In addition, Matt has a paralegal/office manager, Laura Benge. Scott has a

legal assistant, Melanie. Daryl has two part-time legal assistants/secretaries, Ann and Erin. He also has a paralegal, Robin, who comes in when she is needed.

Since this is a professional office, there exists a dress code. However, under Matt's office, the dress code is casual. Most articles of clothing are okay except for torn denim, short shorts and skirts, and other unprofessional-like clothes.

The office, in itself, is medium-sized. When you walk in, you find yourself in the middle of the office, with Ann/Erin sitting at their desk (depending on what day it is since they come in during different days). Beyond the short, straight walkway, if you walk to your left, the first door you see (on the left) is Daryl's. Walking a little beyond that, you'll find (on your right) Scott's office. Past Scott's office, on your left, is the small conference room. The conference room is shared by all three attorneys, and there's a

sign-up sheet to use it. Going back to the front of the office, if you walk to your right, there are two doors, one on your left and one on your right. The left door is the opening to Matt's office,

and the right leads to Laura's office, which I shared with her during my internship. Past these two doors, the hallway ends and there's an open space. On your right, you would find Melanie at her desk, and on your left, you would find Robin. Going to the end of the room, you would reach the fax machine and copier/scanner.

In Laura's office, we have twelve full file cabinets, her desk and her computer, my desk and my laptop, and many office supplies. I spent most of my time divided between her office and the copy machine. Sometimes I went into Matt's office, but only to get books that I needed to update or if I needed to deliver him something.