New York City. Washington. Boston. Raleigh. Charlotte. Elon Law students are excelling in legal internships coast-to-coast this summer with law firms, government offices, nonprofits and corporations that match their professional interests.
From the nation’s capital to courtrooms across North Carolina, many of Elon University School of Law’s top students are gaining practical training this summer through a variety of employment opportunities that develop their knowledge of the legal profession.
Their employers are varied as their professional interests. In New York City, students are advancing the Environmental Protection Agency and a city nonprofit that offers legal services to the elderly. In Washington, they’re interning for a top law firm, a legal services provider for children, federal agencies and courts, and a host of elected leaders.
In Boston they’re working for a professional lacrosse franchise. In Atlanta you’ll find them with the Georgia Public Defender’s Council. One student is interning for prosecutors in Kosovo, where cases are still open against accused war criminals from the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s.
Throughout North Carolina, students are demonstrating their Elon Law education in North Carolina Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and several district attorney offices, on top of corporate, government, nonprofit, education and immigration law positions.
A partial list of summer employers includes positions in government, private law firms, corporate counsel and nonprofits:
- North Carolina Supreme Court
- North Carolina Court of Appeals
- North Carolina Business Court
- Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP
- Court of Federal Claims – Office of Special Masters
- U.S. Air Force
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Internal Revenue Service
- Prishtina Prosecution Office (Kosovo)
- North Carolina Department of Justice
- Connors Morgan, PLLC
- Legal Aid of North Carolina
- XPO Logistics
Nearly a dozen students are completing their internships for credit as part of their Elon Law fellowships. School administrators said the value of summer employment – whether paid or unpaid, or for academic credit – can not be overstated.
“Summer employment provides law students an invaluable opportunity to hone their research and writing skills, and to deepen their understanding of the ethical and professional standards required of lawyers,” said Melissa Duncan ’06 L’09, director of the Office of Career & Student Development. “Opportunities also offer students the chance to further explore their practice area interests and make important connections in the industry in order to build their professional network.
“When students arrive back on campus in the fall, they are eager to apply their honed skills to their coursework, and at Elon Law, are able to connect their summer employment experiences to their Residency-in-Practice.”
Over the next two months, Elon Law will profile several students whose experiences are already shaping their career interests or, for second-year students, preparing them for their residency placements over the 2018 winter and spring trimesters.
Elon Law is the first and only U.S. law school to integrate in-depth “learning by doing” into its curriculum through required residencies. In their residency, second-year law students work 32 hours a week over a 10-week trimester. Students work with their judge or attorney supervisor and a faculty member to create a learning plan for their residency.
Visit the Office of Career & Student Development for more information on summer and full-time career opportunities.