In part four of Elon Law’s 2015 summer employment reporting series, students are featured for legal work in London and in international pharmaceutical and information technology sectors.
“With this internship, I have gained an incredible amount of exposure to key components of the pharmaceutical manufacturing world,” Bodine said. “I have led projects and been given immense amounts of responsibility from day one. Merz North America not only allows their interns to voice their opinions and ideas, but more often than not they implement those ideas right then and there. Walking into a corporate environment where everyone is happy, loves their job, actually feels heard, and is not scared to voice their opinions and ideas has been an incredible experience.”
Bodine’s work at Merz North Carolina included review of drug and medical device labeling, advertising and promotional materials, healthcare provider service agreements, national and international intellectual property laws, updating legal information contained on co-pay coupons; sales field monitoring, and drafting a standard of procedure for a new contracts procedure.
“Throughout law school, I have spent my time picking up as many internships, externships and networking opportunities as possible to get the greatest amount of exposure and experience to the legal world,” Bodine said. “A previous Elon Law alum, Channing Franklin, interned at Merz a few years ago and laid a great foundation for future Elon Law students by producing and implementing creative solutions to some key areas in the corporation. Our alumni have worked very hard to give us a good name by making themselves indispensable to their employers and have therefore proven to be one of the greatest Elon Law advantages.”
Blakeney Brown, Elon Law Class of 2016, worked as a legal intern with Dummit Fradin law firm this summer in Greensboro, N.C. Her work included drafting motions and appellate memorandums, responding to inquiries from opposing counsel, assisting in client consultations and conducting legal research.
“The willingness of the attorneys and staff at Dummit Fradin to answer questions and assist in any way possible truly made my internship experience enjoyable,” Brown said. “I received feedback on my assignments, which allowed me to measure my performance while simultaneously increasing my comfort with legal procedure and operating documents for my future work with clients.”
At Elon Law, Brown is secretary of the Student Bar Association, co-president of the Black Law Students Association, professionalism chair of Phi Alpha Delta and a Leadership Fellow.
“Elon Law instills in its students a strong sense of hard work and perseverance,” Brown said. “Those lessons combined with my quality education from Elon Law assure me that I am prepared to enter the legal profession.”
Caroline Highland, Elon Law Class of 2017, interned this summer with Solace Women’s Aid Solicitors in London, England, working primarily on family law aspects of domestic violence cases.
“The value of interning in London is incomparable to anything I have ever done,” Highland said. “I aid clients every single day who have been victims of abuse, and I am able to help them on their journey of getting out of the abusive situation with my knowledge of the legal system. What I have learned has molded me into a better person, and it will surely aid me in my future legal career.”
Solace Women’s Aid Solicitors reports supporting over 10,000 women and children who have been affected by domestic and sexual violence last year.
Highland is currently a member of the International Law Society and Phi Alpha Delta at Elon Law, with plans to join the Family Law Society in the year ahead. Her long-term career interests are in international human rights law.
“Elon Law has an advantage with leadership,” Highland said. “Taking what I had learned during Elon Law’s leadership classes and applying them to my internship has made my experience that much more rewarding.”
Christian McCullen, Elon Law Class of 2017, worked at the North Carolina Department of Transportation this summer in Raleigh. He performed document review for pending litigation, conducted legal research and drafted memoranda for a variety of areas of law involving environmental, regulatory and legislative matters.
“Elon Law’s commitment to experiential learning helped me excel in my summer employment experience because of the immersive experiences in practice and rigorous coursework that I was exposed to during my first year,” McCullen said. “The experience at NCDOT has helped me engage in and apply the subjects I’ve learned over my first year at Elon Law whether through drafting documents or performing research. By participating in discussions with NCDOT executive leadership on a weekly basis, I have been given a greater perspective of how state organizations function in relation to both public and private sectors.”
Sean Walton, Elon Law Class of 2016, served this summer as a Global Alliances and Channels Graduate Intern with SAS Institute in Cary, N.C. The business analytics software company works with 93 of the top 100 companies on the 2014 Fortune Global 500 and generated more than $3 billion in worldwide revenue in 2014.
Walton was responsible for documenting the current and future state of business process, and the technology and process required to support rapid growth and alignment across multiple regions. He was tasked with gathering the business and technical requirements necessary to implement a new Partner Relationship Management system globally.
“I was afforded the opportunity to be a Project Manager, which was an invaluable professional development experience,” Walton said. “My project allowed me to meaningfully contribute to a major project at the company and learn valuable information concerning the information technology field, which is one of the most rapidly developing industries in the U.S.A. During the course of this project I interacted and networked with all departments within the company in order to gain a better perspective on the roles necessary to support an industry leader in the information technology industry.”
Walton is a Business Fellow at Elon Law.
“My Elon Law education helped me with my role this summer by providing me with opportunities to work in a team environment,” Walton said. “Through this experience I found that the most important part in being in a professional environment is the ability to be a productive part of a team.”
Part one of Elon Law’s 2015 student summer employment reporting series.