Members of Elon Law's Classes of 2015 and 2016 served this summer in executive and judicial branches of state and federal government, law firms, the offices of corporate counsel and in public interest positions.
Elon Law students served in locations across North Carolina and the United States, including Asheville, High Point, Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C., Norfolk, Va., Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Pa. and Albany, N.Y. To highlight the range of their summer work experiences, the placements of thirty-one Elon Law students are featured below.
FEDERAL EXECUTIVE BRANCH POSITIONS
Janean Bryant L’15 interned with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, working in areas of employment law, administrative law and civil rights law.
Katherine Lester L’15 interned in the summer honors program in the enforcement division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Philadelphia, Pa, working mostly with the Market Abuse Unit. This follows Lester’s prior work during law school with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Nicholas Livengood L’15 interned with the U.S. Coast Guard Legal Services Command in Norfolk, Va., focusing on procurement law, military justice, claims and mission support. His work has involved the Freedom of Information Act, Uniform Code of Military Justice, and sexual assault prevention.
Genna Petre L’15 worked through the U.S. Department of Justice Honors Program at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Office of General Counsel, Employment Law & Ethics Branch in Washington, D.C.
“Elon Law prides itself on creating lawyer-leaders, and I think that has been very important in my work experience,” Petre said. “I have learned to think about problems in different ways in order to reach an outcome on my own, instead of continuously seeking guidance from others. As a result, I accomplished more this summer than I ever hoped.”
Timothy Prosky L’ 15 assisted the Office of Chief Counsel at the IRS this summer in Greensboro with tax litigation preparation.
Holly Wilcox L’16 worked in the U.S. Dept. of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review in Charlotte, N.C., drafting opinions for the three Immigration Judges of the Charlotte Immigration Court.
FEDERAL JUDICIAL BRANCH POSITIONS
Matthew Millisor, left, and Brian Korman, right, members of the Class of 2016 at Elon Law, are summer law clerks in the Office of the U.S. Bankruptcy Administrator for the Middle District of N.C. They are pictured with William P. Miller, Bankruptcy Administrator for the Middle District of N.C.
Bree Shadrick L’15 worked with Chief Judge William L. Osteen, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of N.C. Shadrick also worked for Judge James L. Gale at the North Carolina Business Court.
“It has been a privilege to work with two respected judges and to see the difference between state and federal court and the different issues that they deal with,” Shadrick said. “My summer work experiences have been invaluable in advancing my legal career and education.”
CORPORATE COUNSEL POSITIONS
Kelly Holder L’15 worked with VF Corporation’s Global Director of Ethics and Compliance and other members of the VF Law Department on projects including Commercial and Competition Law, Intellectual Property, Corporate Law (Securities and Mergers &Acquisitions), Ethics and Compliance, Procurement, Innovation and Contracts.
“The attorneys and members of the VF community as a whole made me feel extremely welcome, provided me with great learning opportunities and gave me great feedback,” Holder said. “Because I worked for a global corporation, I had the opportunity to collaborate with attorneys both in the United States and around the world.”
Ian Phillips L’ 15 worked in the real estate division of The Carroll Companies in Greensboro, N.C.
“I actively participated in numerous areas along the real estate development spectrum,” Phillips said. “From purchasing raw land to financing, building and marketing finished real estate projects, this experience equipped me with highly relevant business, legal and problem-solving tools.”
Wendeline Shea L’15 worked for the North Carolina State Bar this summer. In her time at the State Bar, Shea drafted substances of grievance and reports of counsel, compiled a countrywide comparison of attorney trust accounting rules and analyzed and reviewed contracts and applications for prepaid legal service plan registration.
“The State Bar attorneys are passionate about doing the right thing and strive to help attorneys and clients throughout North Carolina,” Shea said. “If you have the chance to observe Star Bar attorneys in Disciplinary Hearing Commission trials, you will experience how great their work is and how much they truly care about upholding the integrity of our profession.”
PRIVATE PRACTICE POSITIONS
Morgan Leigh Furman L’16 was a law clerk at Rawls McNeilis + Mitchell, P.C. in Richmond, Va., a law firm specializing in medical malpractice defense, FTCA veterans’ claims and vaccine injuries.
Mark Henkle L’15, Brett Lane L’15, Nicole Patino L’15 and Stephanie Petrich L’16 were law clerks for the Law Offices of Fred T. Hamlet this summer, focusing on labor and employment law for both corporate employers and individual employees.
Brian Sharpe L’16 was law clerk this summer to the managing partner of DRP Law Firm in Asheville, N.C. The primary areas of law in which Sharpe was engaged included personal injury, workers’ compensation, medical malpractice, commercial litigation, foreclosure defense, criminal defense and adversarial proceedings in bankruptcy court.
Brittany Teague L’15 was a law clerk at Tuggle Duggins P.A. in Greensboro this summer, working primarily in the corporate/transactional section of the law firm.
PUBLIC INTEREST POSITIONS
Meredith Harris L’15 and Samuele Viscuso L’15 worked at the law school’s Elder Law Clinic in areas such as elder abuse, estate planning, child custody and veteran’s benefits.
“My experience in the clinic was immensely valuable for the personal development and practical experience it provided,” Viscuso said. “This summer, I helped a client petition the court for full legal and physical custody of a child. I drafted and executed estate-planning documents for several clients. The practice of law is hard to imagine without seeing its actual operation in real time. I was very fortunate to work with the director of the Elder Law Clinic and my Supervising Attorney, Hannah B. Vaughan. Ms. Vaughan was a tremendous advocate for all of her clients and she seemed to have a stellar relationship with every attorney from Greensboro that she encountered.”
Karizza Mendoza L’16 and Hayley Sherman L’15 worked at Elon Law’s Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic. They assisted refugees and asylum seekers with their naturalization process, family reunification and adjustment of status. Their clients came from countries including Somalia, the Congo, Eritrea, Sudan, Gabon, Burundi and Burma.
“Hearing firsthand all of the struggles these refugees faced only made my desire to help them stronger, and working at the clinic overall has shown me a career path I did not even know I wanted to take before,” Sherman said. “It is truly rewarding to be able to help people who really need your help and are grateful to receive it. The value of my employment experience at the immigration clinic is boundless, as I was able to find out what it is like to be an advocate, interact with clients and help those in need as a lawyer.”
State Executive Branch Positions
John Dow L’16 worked at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), assisting staff attorneys with litigation ranging from the creation of complaints, to conducting hearings, to drafting settlement offers, penalties and easements. Dow’s work was within the Remediation Bureau, which focuses on the regulation of petroleum and hazardous materials in all their various states. The two main projects that Dow worked on were the prosecution of petroleum storage violators and managing hydrogeologic aspects of a major CERCLA-based suit (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act).
“I always thought that I was interested in environmental law, but now I am sure this is the field for me,” Dow said. “Because of this experience I now have a good idea about the nature of environmental law practice. This internship helped me learn to integrate my legal and technical expertise, improved my legal writing skills, my ability to think logically and helped me to learn to talk and walk like a lawyer.”
Anne Evangelista L’16 interned at the N.C. Department of Justice in Raleigh, working in the areas of Workers’ Compensation, Civil Procedure, Torts and Criminal Law. She worked on a North Carolina Court of Appeals Criminal Brief for the State, wrote Settlement Agreements, Consent Orders and Motions, and observed Mediations, Depositions, Hearings and Oral Arguments, all under supervision of attorneys in the department.
Andrew Henkle L’16 interned with the Guilford County Public Defender’s Office in High Point, N.C., focusing on criminal law.
Patrick Keeley L’15 worked for the Tort Claims Section of the North Carolina Department of Justice this summer, helping defend the state against claims brought against a department or agency of the state under the Tort Claims Act.
STATE JUDICIAL BRANCH POSITIONS
Chad Archer L’15 interned for Associate Justice Cheri L. Beasley of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. He also externed for Judge James L. Gale of the North Carolina Business Court in Greensboro.
“I enjoyed both of my summer employment experiences tremendously,” Archer said. “Prior to this summer, I had interned at the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the chambers of the Honorable Robert C. Hunter, and was considering a post-graduation judicial clerkship. My summer experiences have only strengthened my desire to pursue that course. Additionally, my time at the Business Court in particular has reaffirmed my interest in pursuing a career in business or tax law.”
Angelique Ryan L’16 worked for the Alamance County District Attorney’s office in the field of criminal prosecution.