Name: Anthony Ciraci
Year: Senior
Major: Political Science
Minor: Economics
CFS Class: Business Field Studies
Employer: Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

During the Spring Quarter of 2021, I interned at the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts for my CFS experience. The internship offered a valuable look into the criminal justice system and public interest legal work. I was given the opportunity to attend many meetings with my supervisors and community advocacy groups which gave me an understanding of the processes behind legislative reform and advocacy. In addition to the exposure through meetings, one aspect that I found rewarding was the opportunity that I was given to write blog posts and internal reports. Writing on behalf of the Center and helping to guide their advocacy provided meaning to the work that I was doing and allowed me to practice my research and legal writing skills. I was able to work with many different people at the Center on their respective projects and it was a great experience to be involved with different types of work and to get to know everyone there.

This internship also contributed to my understanding of the legal industry and the different types of work that can be done with a law degree. Many of the projects that we worked on included lawyers from large firms who worked in a pro bono capacity. While I don’t know exactly what areas of the law I would like to practice during my career, I like the idea that I can work in Big Law but still be involved with public interest work. All of the goals that I had going into this experience have been checked so far, and I would definitely recommend Chicago Appleseed to any future CFS participants.