I sat down with Ms. Leslie Jennings on a rainy Wednesday afternoon. Here in a small and quiet office Ms. Jennings sits and waits patiently to be interviewed. With the look of excitement on her face, we started talking about decision-making and responsibility. I hope to discover the correct way to go about making wise decision and taking responsibilities for your actions. This is her story...
I am Leslie Jennings and I'm an immigration lawyer. I have been a lawyer for more than 15 years and I like my job. I sit down with people who have problems and try to find information about them that may be useful to helping me solve the problem. In my childhood education was very important. My mom made me and my sibling read. She said if the Kennedy's made their children read, so then we had to read. Than that’s when I got my first shot at being a lawyer. In my old college there was a law school that they opened and I decided to apply. At first I was too shy and leaving high school and my first years of law school I didn’t think I was able to do this. Being a female made this even harder. I went to school was with 3 other males and they always told me I was wrong. Every research I did they told me I was wrong but I never listened, because if I did I wouldn't be a lawyer. And those same guys that told me I wasn’t going to make it, they don’t have a licensed of there own to be a lawyer.
I was so determined because in my mind I knew as African American women I wanted to be something that is useful. I started watching law shows like L.A law and I remember Angela Davis, who was lawyer in California who defended prisoners who were mistreated and things like that just made me want to be a lawyer even more. After watching these law shows I started seeing that maybe this could be a good experience for me.
I attended college during the civil rights movement and it was very hard for African Americans to get a good education at this time. I took a few years off school before I finally decided to go back and study law. Law school wasn't easy at all. There were many times I found myself thinking about dropping out, but I pushed myself and never did. Despite the fact that I was poor my determination was too strong to let anything come in my way of succeeding. Compassion is a very big thing to have, help because it’s the right thing to do and because you want to. I think this is the reason why I am an immigration lawyer and not a criminal defense attorney. My personality does not want to defend someone who did something against the law. I think its way of teaching you how to lie. For example, I don’t not want to defend someone who robbed a bank. Because all you’re doing is lying to the jury and the judge and making them think your client wasn't apart of any robbery. 25 percent of law is about criminal law, and that’s a very big percent compared to the rest of the law categories. But it was a decision that I made because I knew it would be best for me. I am a free thinker and I’m also a Muslim, because of my beliefs in god, if a decision doesn’t feel right, than most likely it isn’t.
Sometimes we have clients that convince the lawyer to go against the law. Sometimes we have lawyers that don’t follow the code of ethics. They think there superior and use their powers for the wrong reasons. But not every lawyer is irresponsible and wise decisions. We do have lawyers that are responsible. They listen to there clients and try to help their clients solve their problems and still enforce the law. We lawyers must represent our clients zealously, but at the same time still be respectful towards the other lawyers. That’s why I think its very important for me to choose my own clients because if not than you can find yourselves in situation where you may have to go against the law. Being a lawyer you have to have good connections. I want positive clients that are willing to help themselves as much as I’m willing to help them. They’re my clients because they are my friends or I feel I can have a good relationship, and that we can solve this problem together.
My responsibilities as an immigration lawyer is to keep the trust of my clients, make sure my clients aren't arrested for being here illegally, and I also make sure I have a translator. As in immigration lawyer I have clients that speak different language(s) than I do so it’s my responsibility to hire a translator. Also I have to be careful on how I give out
information. I always have to think like judges. I have to be logical and compare everything to the law. I also had to learn how to read between the lines and take notes on peoples reaction. It’s mostly cause and effect, if they react this way that’s because of this. Make sure everything makes sense to you first before you try to persuade others.Decision-making and responsibility is extremely important in law. I have to be careful on the decisions I make because it doesn’t only affect me but my family. If I choose to take a long case than I wouldn’t be able to see my kids. Basically what I'm saying is being wise about your decision. Think about the consequences and always take responsibility for your actions.
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