So you want to be a lawyer?

This web site is designed in accordance with an interview assignment for Composition 3160 at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Our group interviewed Mr. Paul Schweiger who is a lawyer at the law firm Sieben, Grose, Von Holtum, McCoy, & Carey, Ltd.

Mr. Schweiger has been practicing law for a long time.  Mr. Schweiger graduated first in his class at Gilbert High School in 1968.  The next fall he enrolled as a math major at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.  He continued with this course of study for two years before enrolling in an organic chemistry summer course at the University of Minnesota Duluth.  The following fall he transferred to the Institute of Technology program at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.  There he received his Bachelor's Degree in chemistry and began working for 3M as a research chemist.  Mr. Schweiger decided that he did not want to be a chemist for the rest of his life so he decided to take the LSAT and go to law school.  After graduating from William Mitchell Law School, he began his career as a lawyer.

Mr. Schweiger deals with personal injury and medical malpractice cases.  Communication and writing skills are very important aspects of his career.  Verbal communication is important when dealing with witnesses because he needs to be persuasive enough to get the answers he needs.  Mr. Schweiger also has plenty of experience using writing skills for his job.  Writing opening statements and closing arguments for the court cases is important.  Mr. Schweiger also dictates letters in which his secretaries then type for him.  There are still a lot of writing skills used when dictating though.  He also has to proofread the letters over after his secretary types them.  Overall, communication and writing skills are important for lawyers.

Through the analysis of the writing samples, our group found interesting information about the law career.  The two types of writings that Mr. Schweiger frequently uses in his career are demand letters and complaints.  The writings used are very formal.  A letterhead and a justified margin make the document official.  The writing samples are concise and to the point so not to lead the reader into a subjective belief of the facts.  According to the evidence from these two writing samples, the legal profession uses writing often and is usually very formal and organized with the information they are providing.

Overall, Mr. Schweiger gave our group a lot of insight on the law profession.  He recommends law to everyone and believes that it is a great career in which you can learn something new all the time.  Our group gained knowledge about the everyday chores of a lawyer and also about the writing skills needed for the job.  So to answer the question, "do you want to be a lawyer", our group would have to say "yes".