Partnership with California State University, Bakersfield

The Kern County Law Library’s mission statement is to provide and maintain access to legal information resources for the legal community and residents of Kern County.

When residents of Kern County complete their education and begin work as members of the legal community, all too often, they relocate to other parts of the state.

A program has been created at Cal. State University, Bakersfield to introduce the future lawyers of Kern to key components in our county’s legal system, and hopefully inspire them to become permanent fixtures of Kern’s legal community.

Pre-Law students at Cal State are working as externs to perform supervised work in the District Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, private law firms, and the Kern County Law Library.

This page is devoted to highlighting the work of the externs who have worked at Kern County Law Library, where we hope to see them return as local practitioners after they are sworn in as members of the California State Bar.

Fall Term, 2021 – Jagr Alindajao

Mr. Alindajao is a student of History at CSUB, and was selected to be part of the first of what we hope will be many succesful semesters of externships.

Mr. Alindajao assisted the Kern County Law Library in numerous ways during his term, including, but not limited to:

•   Participating in revising the Kern County Law Library’s web content

•   Researching a host of subjects in order to provide self-represented litigants accessible information for common topics

•   Updating the print collection at Kern County Law Library

•   Updating out-of-date forms in form packets used by members of the public

•   Fielding customer inquiries via telephone and email, as well as during in-person appointments

•   Retrieving updated information to assist residents of Kern County in branch locations

Spring Term, 2022 – Benjamin Smothermon

Mr. Smothermon is a student of Criminal Justice at CSUB and is the recipient of his department’s award for Outstanding Graduate, the highest honor conferred by the department.

Mr. Smothermon’s contributions to the library were numerous during our reopening, and include:

•   Reviewed and updated library print collection, including California Code of Regulations, Matthew Bender Pleading and Practice, Rutter Group Practice Guides, and more

•   Performed site visits to local institutions for information to improve access to library patrons

•   Conducted telephone interviews with partner organizations for details regarding their services

•   Transcribed patron voice messages and returned patron calls for information and reference service

•   Enhanced patron-access video library with time stamps and outlines for reference materials

•   Reviewed statewide reference materials for application in Kern County, and applied this information to provide general assistance to visitors to the library

Mr. Smothermon contributed in ways which proved indispensible in allowing the library to reopen its doors to the public in a time of limited staffing.

Fall Term, 2022 – Narges Obaid

Ms. Obaid was kind enough to devote eight hours per week to the Kern County Law Library while keeping an unbelievably busy schedule.  Though her class schedule featured nearly double a full-time number of educational units, she still split her free time among Kern County Law Library, the City of Bakersfield, and other leadership programs.  She is on the Dean’s List, she is a member of honor societies at CSUB, and will graduate with honors.  She graduated Magna Cum Laude from CSUB in Spring 2023

Ms. Obaid’s valuable contributions to the library included, but were not limited to:

•   Reviewing and updating library print collection, including California Code of Regulations, Matthew Bender Pleading and Practice, Rutter Group Practice Guides, California Plumbing Code, California Electrical Code, California Building Code, and more

•   Visiting and relaying information about organizations whose functions overlap with common research goals of library patrons

•   Conducting research to gather information for patrons to assist with procedural aspects of common projects like name changes and petitioning for probate

•   Transcribing patron voice messages and returning patron calls for information and reference service

•   Enhancing the library’s cross-reference ability by researching tools and services offered by other county law libraries

•   Assisting with testing new research database software for enhanced patron experience upon rollout to the general public

•   Performing research to provide resources in response to inmate requests

•   Condensing commonly used forms packets for efficiency

Spring Term, 2023 – Brenden Clerico

Mr. Clerico expects to graduate with his BA in Political Science from CSUB, and then to pursue a JD and practice family law.  During his remaining time at CSUB, the faculty of the Political Science department have recognized his academic excellence by nominating him to tutor fellow students.  His fellow students will be well-served, as evidenced by his exceptional skill in describing difficult concepts to those encountering them for the first time during his time at the law library.

Mr. Clerico’s valuable contributions to the library included, but were not limited to:

•   Reviewing and updating the library print collection

•   Assisting with the law library website’s maintenance, compliance with the Brown Act for public access to law library Board of Trustees meetings, and ensuring accuracy of web content by reviewing form packets to reflect Judicial Council updates

•   Participating in the law library’s ongoing project to gather information for patrons to assist with procedural aspects of common projects like name changes and petitioning for probate

•   Transcribing patron voice messages and returning patron calls for information and reference service, as well as taking an active role in addressing in-person patron research inquiries

•   Assisting in the preparation of a petition to allow greater access to criminal record clearing for individuals newly eligible for relief under recent legislative updates

•   Contributing to the return of Law Day, an annual information event pairing litigants with volunteer attorneys that had been suspended for three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic

•   Performing research to provide resources in response to inmate requests

•   Updating self-help materials for simplified probate procedures for ease of access for remote research