Working: Conversations With Essential Workers

• Publication year: 2023
• Author: Written by Justice Elizabeth A. Grimes

WORKING: CONVERSATIONS WITH ESSENTIAL WORKERS

BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE COURT SYSTEM

Written by Justice Elizabeth A. Grimes^*

Inspired by Studs Terkel's 1974 masterpiece Working, which rang out the voices of workers from all walks of life who described what they did all day and how they felt about their work, we decided to talk to some of the essential workers in the court system. This is the first of what may become an occasional series of interviews in which people who are not lawyers or judges talk about the work they do to support and keep the court system running smoothly.

Below are the words of Mabel Harman, an appellate court judicial assistant; Beverlee Nagata, a court reporter for the superior court; Erin Stenberg, a deputy juvenile correctional officer; Ed Nicholas, a deputy sheriff assigned to the courts; and Darnice Benton, an appellate court custodian. They were interviewed by Justice Elizabeth A. Grimes.

Mabel Harman, the judicial assistant

Editor's note. I joined Division Eight of the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, in April 2010. Mabel was my first judicial assistant. I needed all the help I could get from Mabel in earning the respect of my colleagues. Less than a year after I started with the Court of Appeal, Mabel decorated our conference room for a birthday party for me and invited everyone in Division Eight. The conference room was packed. With fanfare, Mabel entered with my birthday cake, candles blazing, announcing she made it herself, her famous sponge cake. Everyone sang happy birthday, I blew out the candles, and Mabel handed me the knife, saying, "Would you like to cut the cake, Your Honor?"

With trembling hands, I carefully ran the knife around all four edges of the cake. Mabel stood by my side, striking a serene and beatific pose, as I began to cut the cake. I couldn't cut it. My huge smile faded slowly as I experienced failure in being unable to cut Mabel's famous sponge cake. I grew desperate as the moments passed, and everyone's faces became puzzled, even impatient. Finally, I asked Mabel to help me cut the cake. She then revealed that the cake was made of polyester kitchen sponges, wrapped in tortillas topped with icing to conceal the true nature of the cake. Everyone broke out in laughter.

Later that afternoon, I told Mabel she was fired. She and the other members of my chambers staff broke into more peals of laughter. Mabel stayed with me until her retirement.

Here is Mabel's version of working as a judicial assistant (JA) in Division Eight.

"I joined Division Eight in 2002 as a judicial assistant to the writs attorneys. I was a writs JA for eight years until I joined your

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chambers, three years before I retired. I came to you in the twilight of my working years. I brought with me all the legal skills, personal values and life experiences I had acquired. At previous law firms, I enjoyed doing appellate work the most, so getting a job at the Court of Appeal was the best and most rewarding place to finish my legal career.

"When you were appointed to Division Eight, I heard you were strict and tough. It was intimidating. I was ready to take on this new adventure, but I was scared. My job was to introduce you to the procedures we used in the court, explain how everything worked, introduce you to other staff, and show you where to find the copy room. [Editor's note: The copy room housed the refrigerator and the bottled water dispenser, and it was the proverbial water fountain where people chatted.] Part of my thinking was to protect you, help you get your bearings.

"I often heard you laughing with your colleagues in chambers, so I realized you had a good sense of humor. But others did not have a chance to see that side of you. I wanted to convince people you were not so scary and had a sense of humor, so I planned to throw you a birthday party. I asked other people what they thought of my birthday idea with the sponge cake. People were skeptical about the idea, but I went ahead anyway, and you doubled over with laughter upon discovering actual sponges in the cake. The idea turned out well, or so I thought. Afterward, when you said I was fired, it stung. No one had ever said that to me. I had meant well."

Mabel had worked as a legal secretary in the city attorney's office and at three law firms before she joined the court. Mabel said, "I wanted to be treated as an adult human being, not a juvenile who had to be monitored. At private law firms, you had to sign in and sign out. It was assumed you would do whatever you were told to do, and no one cared what you thought. I felt a lot of stress all around me, and I saw how the newest attorneys, especially unmarried ones, were expected to spend their weekends in the office. What kind of life is that? So I saw and felt firsthand the costs of working in high-profit, production-oriented law firms. In contrast, the court is not a profit-driven business, and many top-notch research attorneys trade making big bucks for quality of life. The work-life balance is far better at the Court of Appeal, and less stress creates a much healthier and enjoyable work environment."

"I earned a B.A. in music and taught piano to support myself in college. I am a fast typist from playing the piano. When I was first out of college, I did typesetting for a community newsletter. Of course — I was good at any keyboard. In my early years as a legal secretary, I worked for a lawyer who used a dictaphone. I used a transcriber and a Selectric typewriter to put his work product in writing. My desk was right outside my boss's office. He had a booming voice, and he left his office door open while he dictated. I could hear him clearly as he spoke, clicking the dictaphone off to think and clicking it back on to resume dictation when he had formed the next thought. Sitting at my desk, I decided to start transcribing as he spoke. When he finished and came out with the tape, I listened to the last moments of his dictation, finished the document, and brought it into his office a couple minutes later. I surprised him. It was a game I played to see if I could keep up."

"I had heard from a night typist at a law firm, who worked as a JA during the day, that the Court of Appeal was going to add Division Eight. This was the opportunity I had hoped for. I applied and got the job as the writs JA, which for me was a great place to start. I wasn't stuck in one justice's chambers with just a few people. I worked for the whole division, so in doing writs work, I got to know the justices, JA's, and research attorneys in every chamber. I wanted to establish good relationships and build a team spirit. That camaraderie, working together as a team for the good of the whole, creates a positive environment.

"I love bringing people together. I organized potluck lunches, birthday parties and even a holiday tea party for the division. I developed the reputation for becoming the glue that held the division together. (I understand that the work style has changed since the pandemic and there is nothing to glue together anymore.)

"Your research attorneys were a dream team and I loved working with them. Not one was a slacker. You set a high bar for quality and timeliness, and I respected that. Everyone did such good work. It felt like we were a well-oiled machine. Other than cite-checking, there often was not a whole lot of clean-up for me to do before circulating a draft opinion. If I felt the need to go in on weekends to catch up with my work, I would do that to keep the process moving. No one ever asked me to do that; I took pride in doing good and timely work. It's not difficult to go the extra mile when you work with people you respect and enjoy, and you know appreciate you."

When asked to summarize her philosophy about how she wanted to treat the people with whom she worked, Mabel said, "I like getting to know people. I notice how they decorate their desk or office, how they relate to me

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and others, and eventually I figure out their strengths and perhaps weaknesses. If I see an opportunity to encourage, support or affirm a coworker, I want to do that. Affirming personal worth is very important to me. I want to affirm people in their value apart from what they produce. At several offices, I encouraged people to develop their own voice, establish boundaries, and to communicate well. If I heard someone say something inappropriate to a coworker, I urged them to speak up and say I don't appreciate that kind of comment. I encouraged people to take a chance, let people know how you really feel. That gives you a chance to see who they are; will they respect you? Lastly, my philosophy in life is to be a light wherever I am — to live with integrity, honesty, care, humility, and to enjoy humor. I am certainly a work in progress, but these are values I cherish."

Beverlee Nagata, the court reporter. Beverlee has been a court reporter with the Los Angeles Superior Court since April 2001. She is a Registered Merit Reporter and a Certified Realtime Reporter. She has been assigned to courtrooms in the Stanley Mosk, Downey, Bellflower, Compton, and Governor George Deukmejian Courthouses. Her most recent assignment was to a busy probate courtroom in Stanley Mosk, the Central Civil Courthouse. Great change is underway regarding courtroom court reporters: Los Angeles Superior Court will no longer provide court reporters in probate, family law, and writs and receivers departments as of November 14, 2022. Attorneys and others will have to hire their own court reporters if they want a record of the proceedings, as no electronic recording will be permitted. All displaced court reporters will become floaters. The Compton Courthouse offered Beverlee a floating spot, and she accepted the new assignment in October 2022 so she could work closer to her home in Orange County. She...