After five months my contract ended. It was a pretty good job, and I'm glad I had it.
Most of my time was spent researching forensics policy and writing up some briefs for practitioners. The law is pretty neat (heh), so expect a post about that at some point in the future. A not insignificant amount of time was spent in meetings. I guess that's just how office jobs are.
The part-time nature of the job was nice, as I didn't have to change my lifestyle too much. That kind of fell apart once I went full time for the last two weeks. I'd try to go into work once every two weeks, which meant commuting for about 2 hours each way. That really took it out of me, but it was a good excuse to listen to some podcasts.
All in all, I've developed some useful skills. Namely, reading STEM papers and writing for audiences that don't just want a legal analysis. The statistics classes I took almost a decade ago did a lot of heavy lifting, especially in the workshop at the end with a bunch of statisticians.
Also I finished before my background check got completed so I never got any ID and had to beg for a guest pass every time I came in. And I still have the work laptop.
After finishing, I upgraded my old computer and have been enjoying Elden Ring. I have an interview for a (salaried) PhD in another country next week, and was asked about my availability to come back should the project get more funding. Who knows what the future will hold?
Update: I was not successful