Extras · 1 of 4

A typical day

Open the counter, take filings from lawyers and from people representing themselves, check each one against the rules and enter it in the case management system. Prepare the day's docket for the judge, then sit in the courtroom: swearing in witnesses, marking exhibits, recording what the judge orders and keeping the minutes. Afternoons are payments, fines, warrants, sealing orders and phone calls. Everything you touch becomes part of a public record that someone may read years from now.