New York State Bar Pro Bono Internship | Seeing a Different Kind of Legal Professional at JRF

From studying law to practicing for 10 years, I was of course no stranger to the "name" of the Judicial Reform Foundation (hereinafter referred to as JRF), regardless of whether opinions were positive or negative. However, as someone indifferent to politics and public interest, I had never truly understood JRF's work. In June 2022, to fulfill the pro bono internship requirement for the New York State bar exam, I undertook a short-term internship at JRF. Below is a brief sharing of my internship tasks and reflections, offered as a reference for those in need (Volunteer Form Link).    

The internship tasks were very flexible. At the beginning, the responsible staff lawyer added everyone to a LINE group and posted JRF work requests from time to time (first come, first served). The tasks I encountered included writing short legal current affairs pieces, seminar presentations and English-to-Chinese subtitle translation, finding comparative law materials, writing articles, and organizing literature. All these tasks could be completed in my own time and emailed to the staff lawyer. The time spent organizing and searching for materials could all be counted toward my hours. In addition, those with plenty of time could discuss scheduling shifts at the JRF office with the staff lawyer. I scheduled one day myself, and the tasks were more dynamic, such as attending court hearings, writing court observation diaries after hearings, or helping out whenever JRF staff members approached those on duty with requests. A small perk of being on-duty was chatting with the lawyers and legal professionals in the office, occasionally getting food, and most importantly, being able to eat at the nearby Liang Chi Chicken Rice.  

Regarding the calculation of hours, I used an Excel spreadsheet to list the dates, work descriptions, and time spent. Once the hours were fulfilled, there was no need to submit them to the responsible staff lawyer for confirmation (Heaven watches what people do), and I only needed to notify him and make an appointment for him to sign. After the staff lawyer signed, I simply had to find a notary public for notarization myself.    

I would also like to specially add some reflections (not sponsored, unpaid, and not forced). What left the deepest impression on me this past month was the belief and passion of JRF's internal lawyers, legal professionals, and staff toward Taiwan's legal reform. This past month, in order to monitor the Shih Mu-ch'in scandal series, JRF continuously filed briefs during court sessions demanding that the Disciplinary Court hold open trials. On the day of the hearing (which happened to be my on-duty day, so I went along), they even waited outside the courtroom for the court clerk to demand an open trial. After observing the case, they held a meeting to discuss how to present it, hoping to get more people to join the ranks of monitoring prosecutors and investigative units—they were more serious and dedicated than I am when binge-watching TV shows. In contrast, priding myself on being a "lawyer," I spend my days waiting to get off work, placing online shopping orders, and planning travel itineraries, while they quietly cultivate and strive for Taiwan's judicial reform, which filled me with a deep sense of shame.    

Thank you JRF for giving me the hours, and thank you for teaching me a lesson.