Student Perspective

My experience with Lone Star Legal Aid is one I will cherish as a turning point for my legal career. When I entered law school, I dreamed of a high dollar career where I would benefit financially but not really benefit personally. When I heard about the ATJI program, I admit that I was initially skeptical about applying. Luckily I took a chance, was accepted into the program and discovered what a rewarding career legal aid provides. I worked this summer helping battered women obtain divorces from their abusive husbands, draft wills for elderly citizens who wanted to preserve their legacies, and prepare expunctions for people who were wrongly accused. I did so much this summer that I left Lone Star Legal Aid feeling like I could save the whole world. I know this feat is impossible but I still am grateful for having an opportunity to play a small role in that job."
Fallon Hamilton, Thurgood Marshall School of Law

"From this externship I gained knowledge about certain areas of law that I had not had the opportunity to work on. My experience exposed me to different areas of civil rights law that were both interesting and exciting. I also gained a better idea of the direction that I would like to take my career in. Working at a non profit is a definite option when I start interviewing on campus this last year of law school."
Suleima Mohamed, St. Mary's > University School of Law
 
"The ATJI is the best experience I've had in my three years of law school. The internship provided me with an excellent foundation on which to base my legal career and it allowed me the opportunity to challenge myself and develop both personally and professionally. Not only does the program provide guidance and support, the nature of the program forces you to think past the academics of the experience and really examine your role as a legal advocate. Although I was always ready to charge ahead, the weekly assignments forced me to slow down, appreciate the experience and think through the processes involved in creating legal solutions for clients. This, in turn, helped me focus on the impact non-profit legal service providers have on their clients and in the communities they serve, and to honestly assess my future role. I cannot fathom entering the legal profession without having had the benefit of this experience and I encourage everyone who is even remotely interested in public interest law to apply for an internship."
Mary Emma Villareal, SMU Dedman School of Law

"After all of these projects at the end of this summer I was "back to basics." I had remembered what led me to first take the LSAT and enroll in law school. But more than that, this was an experience that I couldn't have gotten at a big firm over the summer. I was working right alongside attorneys. I was encouraged to speak up during meetings, and share my thoughts. It was so rewarding to know that what I was learning in school was applicable to the Real World. It was also reassuring to see even the most intelligent and senior attorneys second guess themselves and feel the need to "find just one more case" when they researched a topic. My writing and research skills improved, my people skills improved, and my confidence in my work product improved. Besides getting "back to basics" and reminding myself of the very personal reasons I wanted to be a lawyer, this experience was rewarding for the hands-on training I received in Laredo this summer, and I can't imagine any law student turning that down."
Alice Tabares, South Texas College of Law

"I had many opportunities to draft different types of documents and I have no doubt this benefited me. I drafted two memos, an educational leaflet for the community, a proposed city ordinance (which subsequently passed), client letters, a petition in condemnation, and the first draft of what will become a supplemental brief alerting the court to a recent favorable Supreme Court ruling. I was very excited about each and every one of these projects. Theoretically, I have always understood the important role that writing skills play in the career of a lawyer. Now I see more realistically the volume of product a lawyer must produce." >
Sarah Allen, South Texas College of Law
 
"I gained a better understanding of some of the problems that the poor encounter in accessing the legal system. Even though I do not plan to practice public interest law after I graduate from law school, I know that I want to work in a law firm that is responsive to the needs of the poor and does a significant amount of pro bono work in the Valley."
Gene Vaughan, Texas Wesleyan University School of Law
 
"I definitely have greater knowledge and understanding of how to draft legal pleadings, motions, and research, but more importantly, I have been "sucked in" as many said I might, into the greatness that is legal aid. I have always considered public interest an option, but after being able to work hands-on with the daily law practice and interact with clients, it is now a definite option. Although one never knows what the future holds, it is clear to me after this summer that it needs to be helping a greater cause and doing something that makes me feel like I am contributing to society and making a life, rather than just a living."
Clarissa Trevino, Texas Wesleyan University School of Law
 
"I had a wonderful experience with the South Texas Internship. The program provides Texas law students with the fantastic opportunity to work in an under-served area of Texas and get great hands-on legal experience. The internship reaffirmed my desire to work in public interest law particularly serving low-income communities in Texas."
Amber Van Schuyver, University of Texas School of Law
 
"After two semesters of hypotheticals and exams, by the summer after my 1L year I was ready for some practical experience outside the classroom. The Texas Access to Justice Internship provided me with the opportunity to meet real clients, work on real cases, and observe excellent attorneys on the job. In just a few weeks, I drafted numerous documents, prepped witnesses for trial, took discovery, spoke with clients, and once argued a case before an Immigration judge. Throughout the internship, thoughtful, committed attorneys gave me feedback and shared their experiences and tactics. I returned to school this fall with a better understanding of how the legal system operates and, more importantly, reminded of why I came to law school in the first place."
Christopher Weimer, University of Texas School of Law

"I had the opportunity to do something that most law clerks do not get to do, especially just after their first year of law school: I wrote an amended answer in a high stakes federal case. The experience was extremely rewarding, and it has been my favorite thing to bring up in interviews when asked "so what did you do last summer?... From discovery to pleadings, I became heavily involved in the early stages of litigation and was given more responsibility than I could have ever asked for. I came out of the experience knowing that I wanted to be a litigator and knowing that only an internship with Lone Star Legal Aid would have brought me to that realization so quickly."
Shanon Stanfield, Texas Tech University School of Law

Supervisors
"We are extremely appreciative of the assistance that we received this summer from the Access to Justice Internship Program. We are a small office with few resources and we worked on several very complex cases this year and the interns were indispensable. We also very much appreciated the fact that the program has dramatically increased the number of interns we have had that are from the Rio Grande Valley."
Abner Burnett, Director, South Texas Civil Rights Project

"This important partnership between Texas law schools and legal services providers got off to an auspicious start this summer. TRLA was fortunate to be able to augment its limited resources along the Mexican border with an eager and motivated group of student interns. The students were equally fortunate to be able to apply the conceptual and analytical skills they have learned in the classroom to real world clients with real world legal problems. It was truly a win-win situation for all of us."
David Hall, Executive Director, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid

"A law student's willingness to work for a legal aid program in South Texas reflects her/his commitment to make a real difference with his/her talents, particularly when personal gain would be greater in other employment. And the Access to Justice Internship is invaluable in facilitating the opportunity for a student to help disadvantaged people in real need."
Pedro S. Cruz, Branch Manager, TexasRioGrande Legal Aid (Harlingen)
 
"It has been difficult, historically, to recruit law clerks to some of the more economically disadvantaged border areas in Texas, so the Access to Justice Internship program has been a blessing to the legal services offices along the border. We all appreciate the work that the program coordinators have done to help ensure that our offices, and our clients, benefit from intelligent and hardworking students."
Pablo Javier Almaguer, Branch Manager, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (Edinburg)