“I was doing the exact type of work that the attorneys were doing”
My name is John Guccioni, I am a rising 3L at NY Law School.
Q: What are your career goals?
A: Other than just getting a job, I have interest in transactional law, including real estate and trust and estates and some other fields.
Q: Do you believe you got the experience you wanted out of this institution?
A: Absolutely, I had a fantastic experience. I wanted to get some insight of the local transactional real estate law and was fortunate enough to have received a very complete hands on practical experience to actually been doing the everyday work that I see the attorneys I was working for were doing.
Q: And can you tell me more about the your specific work at ALB?
A: Sure. I was working with the transactional side of the firm which is actually smaller part of the law firm. I was working primarily with an attorney and a paralegal. The majority of my time was spent doing administrative work, such as UCC documents, requesting agreements such as XXX, copies of lien searched and title reports and few times a week, 3-4 times a week or 5 days a week I would have at least one closing that I would attend as a settlement agent for either a real property or a coop closing.
Q: What practice areas did you get exposed to while working at ALB?
A: I worked primarily for an attorney that did primarily bank closings. She was lead attorney working for a variety of different banks so I was working primarily with her.
Q: Can you tell us a little more about what your experience was like while working here, maybe on a personal level or certain things that you believe you gained from it?
A: Sure. I had a great experience. I have worked variety of other firms where the experience you gained was primarily legal research or something where you are disconnected from the actual lawyers work. That wasn’t the case here. I was doing the exact type of work that attorneys were doing, I was going to actual closings by myself representing the lenders and got a really great experience doing real hands on administrative work in addition to legal work where I learned a great deal about the process, the documentation involved.
Q: And did the firm help you prepare for the tasks the you performed while you were there?
A: Absolutely. I think also the firm did a very good job of mixing of throwing you to the defense to see if you could swim. I was given great instruction and guidance where I requested it, if I had any questions the attorneys or the paralegals were more than happy to take their time and explain things to me, but at the same time I was also given a good enough amount of responsibility where I was able to get a really good personal experience.
Q: And which of these tasks you think you enjoyed the most?
A: Hands down going to closings. It was a fantastic experience to not only get to see the end result of all the files I’ve been working on, but to get to see the various parties involved from the buyers and sellers and their attorneys to the title closers and members of the coop corporations, as well as brokers and pay-off bank attorneys and to sort be a part of this process which is a happy process where someone is selling a home and someone else is buying.
Q: Can you tell us what your most memorable moment at ALB PC was?
A: It’s tough. I had a lot good memories here. The people that work here are absolutely fantastic. What would stand out to me would be the first closing I ever went to, just because it was a little hectic. The firm has a lot of work and I was asked to go to the Empire State Building, at believe at the 55th floor, and asked to do a closing with sort of a very basic understanding of what was going on in the documents involved and what was happening. But I was able to get through it, thanks to I had a good instruction from the paralegal and the attorney I was working with. And even though I was a little stressed out on the inside, I was able to get everything I needed to from the closing and it went successfully.
Q: And just one key thing that your specifically learned at ALB PC?
A: One key thing. That’s tough. I learned a lot. I hadn’t taken a real estate course in law school, I had no prior experience with real estate, I learned a ton of what goes into the entire process of buying a home, getting financing and funding from a bank, the documentation needed from the bank in order to close on the files and I really learned a great deal about the process.
Q: And do you have any comments for future legal associates or just in general about working here?
A: Again, I had a fantastic experience, everyone here is really great. I’ve learned a great deal, this was not sort of an Ivory Tower type of summer associateship where I did legal research and didn’t get a taste of attorney’s work. I felt like I was doing something really important at all times, that I was helping the firm and helping the attorneys and I had a good time.
Q: Thank you John.