Name: Maria

Year: Junior

Major(s): Psychology, Legal Studies

Minor(s):

CFS Program: Legal Field Studies

As soon as I started the internship search process, I was pretty set on the idea of working at a private law firm. Ever since I decided to pursue law as a potential career, I always imagined myself, post-law school, in a big private, firm in a big city. However, as I began interviewing at different places that CFS offered, I realized that some of these private law firms may not be offering the kind of substantive experience that I was looking for. Interviewers always implied that there would be some necessary clerical work and that most substantive work was given to the students interning that were currently in law school. So, when I interviewed with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) for the Municipal Litigation Unit at the Civil Actions Bureau, the supervisor of the unit told me exactly what I wanted to hear. She was blunt. She told me their office, a governmental body, was very underfunded and also under-staffed. In other words, they really did need to rely on an intern to get meaningful work done. That is why I accepted the offer. And I was right to. The work has been incredibly substantive, whether ranging from drafting condemnation appearances, completing subpoena review, searching discovery for relevant documents, or even just observing in court.

The internship ties in really well to the CFS class because the class focuses a lot on identity and the law and how they interact to influence each other. It has been a very interesting opportunity to look around my office and see the identities of the attorneys, clerks, and administrative assistants, and then to look at the clients and people we work with. There is definitely a disparity in the legal realm between who serves the law and who it is meant to protect. That, so far, has been a very important lesson and has served to explain a lot of socioeconomic phenomenon that are so salient in society today.

The class has also helped with maneuvering any difficulties in the office. For example, a lot of the times when we face difficult cases about depressing subjects, we come together and talk them through and how we can positively change things. It has been very interesting also hearing the experiences and assignments that the other students get at their respective internships. You get a taste of all different types of law.

The supervising attorneys in the CCSAO are always on the move either to go to court or to meetings, so a lot of the time they are not there exactly when you need help, or they give little background to the assignment that they need because they are in a rush.  Although this was a challenge in the first week, I have turned it into a success because it made me rely on other colleagues like law clerks and different attorneys. Other than that, the experience has been filled with successes so far. The classwork usually includes weekly field notes about the internship that tie into relevant readings about the intersection of identity and law. There will also be a court report due at the end of the month about observing two different types of cases in two different court visits. And then there will be a research project on AirBNB regulations as well as a reflective paper at the end of the session. We have also had a speaker come in already concerning legal aid and mass incarceration in the country, which was very impactful to see someone directly impacted by the system working to reform the system. We will have more speakers come in according to the professors, so I am looking forward to hearing more from them.

Overall, I have enjoyed my time at my internship and have already learned a lot, but still have more to learn. I am looking forward to the future’s opportunities and how they will intersect with my CFS Legal Studies.