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As SULC Chancellor John Pierre observes, “The ACTL Foundation and Louisiana State Chapter internship program in partnership with the Southern University Law Center has been a transformational oppor- tunity for diverse law students who are overwhelmingly first-generation college students. The experiential learning opportunities offered to our law students enhance their professional development and make them better prepared for the rigors and responsibilities associated with being an attorney and legal professional. The Law Center is eternally grateful for the opportunities presented to our students.” SULC’s announce- ment for student intern applicants outlines the goal of the Internship Program: “to promote professional growth and workplace readiness for a Southern University Law Center student interested in pursuing a lit- igation practice upon graduation. The student would be assigned to an agency involved in criminal defense and/or social justice litigation in state and federal courts. This experiential learning approach, conducted during the summer session, will allow the student to enhance his/her analytical skills as well as to develop sound advocacy skills fundamental to trial lawyers. As part of the experiential learning approach, the stu- dent will participate in client meetings, witness interviews and trial team strategy sessions.” To enhance the experience, the intern is required to spend twenty hours in a court setting. Upon successful completion of the internship, the student receives three hours of law school credit.
Jee Park, Executive Director of IPNO, describes the importance of these internships for law students and the clients served thereby: “Most non- profit legal offices representing the poor like the Innocence Project New Orleans rely on dedicated law student interns during the summer to pro- vide invaluable assistance to our wrongfully convicted and imprisoned individuals. The ACTL funded Access to Justice Summer Internship is critical in attracting talented law students to explore a career in pub- lic interest law furthering social justice. IPNO’s 2022 Access to Justice summer intern (Jusdan Meyer) conducted legal research, drafted memos and a section of a brief, reviewed public records, met with an impris- oned client, and learned about criminal investigation. Working at IPNO exposed him to the many injustices of our criminal legal system and how he can contribute to make it more fair and just, particularly to those who are poor, black and brown, and marginalized in our communities.”
SULC intern Jusdan Meyer summarized his experience: “Participating in the American College of Trial Lawyers 2022 summer in- ternship was a fantastic and formative expe- rience for me. I come from a background that includes no exposure to the law and how a law office operates, so any law expe- rience is beneficial to me. At the beginning of my internship with the IPNO, I felt un- prepared and trepidatious at the thought of performing tasks that I had no experience performing. While I had been taught the fundamentals of legal writing during my 1L year, I had yet to apply my knowledge in a real world setting where my work would im- pact real people. Despite my inexperience in the law, I experienced exponential growth due to the mentorship that I received from the attorneys at the IPNO. I found myself growing increasingly more confident as I completed important tasks and performed vital legal research for the attorneys that I was assigned to work for. In addition to the growth that I experienced, the actual work that I participated in at the IPNO offered me the opportunity to gain new insights
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into our criminal justice system and the law. After spend- ing my young working life holding retail and management positions at different companies, it was empowering to know that the work I was doing with the IPNO actual- ly mattered and was of great benefit to individuals who unjustly had their lives destroyed. Overall, this internship offered me the opportunity to grow in my professional mindset. I feel far more confident in my abilities now after having had the opportunity to use what I had learned in a professional setting. I experienced what it was like to work in a law office, and by doing so I removed any uneasi- ness that I had about working in such an unfamiliar place.