Student:

Faculty Advisor:

Learning Plan – MELP Externship

Goal No. 1: Work with attorneys in the Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) to understand, develop, and refine the skills necessary to being an effective member of an environmental litigation team.

Tasks to Achieve Goal:

  1. Diligently pursue opportunities to further understand the legal strategies and arguments present in active environmental cases.
  2. Work with Environmental Protection Bureau attorneys in preparing motions, briefs, and other relevant litigation documents.
  3. Attend court appearances, hearings, depositions, etc. in order to further understand the more “personal” aspects of environmental lawyering.

Anticipated Challenges: As I head into my position this summer, I have the slight disadvantage of having no real prior legal experience. Though I’ve refined the skills that I’ve been taught in law school, I have yet to employ them in a practical manner. As is such, I imagine that my immediate immersion in the EPB will be bewildering at first. However, guidance from the attorneys that I work under will help to steer me in the right direction. Once I accustom myself I will likely get along just fine.

Goal No. 2: Cultivate my professional demeanor in a legal environment and develop a proper degree of professionalism when dealing with other attorneys, judges, clients, etc.

Tasks to Achieve Goal:

  1. Attend court appearances, depositions, hearings, meetings, etc. in order to observe how EPB attorneys conduct themselves in various situations.
  2. Develop my understanding of proper modes of decorum in these situations.

Anticipated Challenges: Again, never having worked in a real legal environment, I am unfamiliar with the requisite levels of professionalism expected of attorneys in various situations. Though I imagine I would be fine in a courtroom, I am less certain about other contexts. Naturally, I imagine that there are few better places to observe legal professionalism than an Attorney General’s office. Accordingly, I should like to develop my professionalism this summer.

Goal No. 2: Sharpen my legal research and writing skills in a meaningful and practical way.

Tasks to Achieve Goal:

  1. Assist EPB attorneys in conducting research, writing motions, memoranda and other pertinent legal documents.
  2. Seek feedback from supervising attorneys about how to improve my legal writing in particular contexts and forums.
  3. Develop an understanding of when certain types of legal writing are effective and when alternate approaches should be taken.

Anticipated Challenges: Though I fancy myself a strong writer and researcher, everything I have done so far has been academic in nature. Accordingly, I may face some problems when writing actual documents that are relevant to real situations and cases. Again, guidance and feedback from my supervisors can help to rectify any issues I may have.