How I Spent My Summer Vacation

For Thomas Ryerson’10, the summer job after his first year of law school needed to be something out of the ordinary. Ryerson applied for and received a 2008 Summer Public Service Fellowship from the Law School which enabled him to volunteer in the office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Oregon. The fellowship, he said, gave him the opportunity, “to do the type of legal work you want to do as opposed to what you need to do (for the sake of an income, for example). Having the chance to do some substantive volunteer work and put the things learned in law school to good use, especially as a volunteer, was a great opportunity and too good to pass up.”

In 2008, the Law School awarded more than $280,000 in Summer Public Service Fellowships to 90 students. These students worked at private non-profit organizations and government agencies in 13 states, the District of Columbia, and in 13 other countries, including Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Canada, England, India, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. 

Robert Kaplan, Associate Dean for Career Services and Public Service Initiatives and Director of Externships, emphasized how the fellowships reflect the Law School’s citizen-lawyer ideal. “The citizen lawyer is about community,” he said, “not only about lawyers being invested and engaged in their community but also being a part of a community…It is fitting that so many different parts of the William & Mary community coalesce to make this funding possible.” Fellowships are funded by contributions from numerous sources, including, for example, gifts from alumni, friends of the Law School, students, faculty, and staff, the Public Service Fund, the Virginia Law Foundation, the Virginia State Bar's Criminal Law Section, and William & Mary's Christopher Wren Association. 

Emily Uhre ’09 saw a Summer Public Service Fellowship as the perfect opportunity to explore an area of the law that she enjoyed learning about during her 2L year.  “I think criminal law is the most interesting area of the law. What I realized this summer is just how confusing the process can be for individuals who are not lawyers.” Uhre worked for the San Diego Public Defender in the Central Misdemeanor Office. “In misdemeanor arraignment, I was able to counsel those individuals charged with infractions. I had them sign an acknowledgement of their constitutional rights and explained how such an infraction would impact them. I also would stand up in front of the judge and enter pleas for clients that both I and other attorneys had counseled.” 

For Alvin Shields ’10, an opportunity to do legal work in Cordoba, Argentina, was undoubtedly a cultural and legal adventure.  “I did research projects for the legal clinic coordinator Javier Lanaro for the Center for Human Rights and Environment. I researched cases dealing with water contamination, explored the varying environmental standards of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and looked at the impact of the anti-dumping provision of the World Trade Organization on developing countries. This provision sought to prevent companies from selling goods in foreign countries at prices below normal market value.”

Shields encountered several instances where certain ideas were lost in translation, but these challenges only reinforced the immeasurable value of fellowship work outside the U.S. “Be careful when you say you attend William and Mary (“William y Mary”) to another Spanish speaker,” he said. “It can be interpreted as meaning “I will get married.” One of my best friends at the office who was Columbian thought and told everyone that I was getting married when I returned from Argentina. It was not until two weeks later before I found this out and had to correct people.” 

Kaplan said one of the goals of the fellowship program is to “instill in students the importance of pro bono and community service throughout their careers. I hope their summer experiences will keep their fires lit and sustain their energy and enthusiasm for this kind of work.”