by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
Every summer Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA) brings in a group of law school students as interns, an arrangement that both the interns and JALA benefit from. But, this summer was a little different. Due to heavy intake levels, JALA needs as much help as possible.
JALA brought in about 60 interns this summer, nearly twice as many as last summer. A majority of the interns were from Florida Coastal School of Law, but there were also a few from Florida State, both undergrad and law students.
“Our need for help this summer was the biggest,” said Kathy Jackson, human resources director for JALA. “About 98 percent of the interns are from FCSL. We have a good rapport with Florida Coastal and they have really helped us out.”
Before the end of the spring semester, Jackson sent an e-mail to the students at FCSL asking if anyone would like to volunteer at JALA. She said a majority of the interns came here this summer as a result of the e-mail.
Jackson said when the interns contacted her, she asked what area of law they were interested in so she could match the interns with the right JALA attorneys.
“It really opens doors for them and they get to see both sides of the process,” she said.
JALA held a summer appreciation party for the interns last Tuesday to thank them for volunteering this summer.
Jen Conti, who is preparing to enter her third and last year of law school at FCSL, said the internship gave them an opportunity to learn about law outside of law school.
“It gave us an opportunity to see what attorneys do everyday,” she said. “It gave us that real world experience.”
Steve Harrell, who is entering his second year at FCSL, said he enjoyed working with April Charney, an attorney at JALA.
“I did a lot of research on securitized trusts,” he said. “But I also got to draft motions for her.
“They actually let us do real legal work.”
Not only do the interns benefit from the experience, but JALA does, too.
JALA’s Executive Director Michael Figgins said the interns have saved JALA money.
“They probably have saved us about $200,000 easily,” said Michael Figgins. “There are some long term benefits, because not only do they save us money, but sometimes they come back here to work after they have interned here. So there are all kinds of benefits.”
JALA Development Director Christa Figgins said a lot of people find they like this kind of work.
“It may not be what they originally wanted to do, but they love it,” she said.
Since there were so many interns this summer, JALA converted the 5th floor conference rooms into offices for the interns equipped with a few computers and wireless Internet. Christa said they added wireless Internet because there aren’t enough computers for everyone and most of the interns have their own laptops.
The interns can help with almost everything — except they can’t give legal advice. If the interns were a certified legal intern by the Florida Supreme Court, they could actually go to court with an attorney. In addition, the interns would have direct contact with the clients to interview them and gather information for the attorneys at JALA.
JALA has 33 attorneys and by having all of the extra help they were able to take on more cases than normal.
“The more help you have, the more you can do,” Christa said. “With the budgetary times, it is nice having the help.”