An Experience…

Without providing an exhaustive list of superlatives, my summer as a MLK Intern at Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (“PILP”) was absolutely amazing.  Spending the summer working with Angus Love and Rose Lucas at PILP left me with a remarkable range of experiences and insight.  Furthermore, I also gained an invaluable perspective with which I can forge my future career path.  Every first year law student should have an experience where they can bridge the gap between the technical and theoretical knowledge gained through studying as a first year law student with practical day-to-day experiences in a law office.  PILP provided all of this and more.

            Working at PILP this summer allowed me to experience various facets of public interest law.  The morning might begin with returning phone calls to a pro se litigant who I was helping by writing and researching a motion for him.  After that, I could observe Angus in court representing a client.  At lunchtime, I could have the opportunity to accompany Angus to a meeting at the Philadelphia Bar Association where we hear a report from PLA’s lobbyist about what is going in the Pennsylvania legislature.  Upon my return, the afternoon could be spent writing an interrogatory for a client who is just beginning the discovery phase of his case.  A day at PILP offers many different experiences, all of them valuable and educational.

            Throughout the summer, all the legal fiction and metaphorical analysis that one in bombarded with during their first year of law school becomes very real.  My research and writing skills were sharpened and honed through hands-on experience.  In addition to helping Angus with ongoing litigation, I worked on other research projects ranging from the Census to compassionate release statutes that blended legal research and basic research.  While the first year of law school immerses you in the law and leaves you with an incredible volume of information, the summer internship immerses you just as deep into practical work.  However, instead of learning by listening and reading, one learns by actually watching and doing.

            Observing Angus and Rose everyday provides me with invaluable insight.  Being the child of a social worker, the sort of commitment and caring that Angus and Rose have to and for their clients seemed extremely familiar.  With the vast majority of the PILP’s clients being indigent prisoners, the clients usually seem helpless and friendless.  At PILP, they strive to help the helpless and are friends to the friendless.  What I saw this summer is that public interest law is where I feel that social work and the legal field intersect.  Upon entering law school, I thought of lawyers as manifest avatars of justice.  However, when the top priority of all of your classmates is money, and not justice, one becomes somewhat disillusioned.  However, PILP’s adamant pursuit of the vindication of Eighth Amendment rights is both enlightening and encouraging.  My experience at PILP has reminded me of what is important to me, and given guidance as to how I should shoulder the heavy responsibility of being an attorney.

            Most importantly, the MLK Internship Program has assisted me in mapping out my career.  The overwhelming commitment of the staff at PILP to protecting the weak and helpless and standing up for rights guaranteed by the Constitution inspires me to embrace the same values in my career.  I will always remember how Angus acted as mentor to me by showing me that the most important thing is loving what you do, being good at it, and feeling good about it, and everything else will fall into place.

            My summer at PILP was nothing short of incredible.  This summer was an unexpected and welcome phase of my legal education that I never would have obtained from books and professors.