Stephen Foss '25
Social Media Editor
“Oh my gosh, so good to see you! How was your summer? Nice, yeah, that’s so great. Yeah. Oh, okay, and do you know what you’re doing next summer? Oh my gosh, that is seriously so great.” This quote is not directly attributable to anyone, but it was overheard in the Law School hallways and shouted into ears at Bar Review enough over the past three weeks to last a lifetime. This article will serve as a send-off (until this time next year) for the overdone, beaten-to-death, exhausted phrase: “What did you do this summer?”
Gabriel Mahoney ’25 spent his summer as an intern in the criminal section at the Washington, D.C. Office of the Attorney General. Mahoney spent most of his time doing legal research and drafting motions for criminal cases, producing internal memos, and helping with investigations.
Mackenzie Kubik ’25 also spent her summer in the nation’s capital, where Kubik was a judicial intern on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia where she spent most of her time, “observing court proceedings, doing legal research and writing, and gossiping with my co-interns (not necessarily in that order).”
Nolan Edmondson ’25 worked as a 1L Summer Associate for Kasowitz Benson Torres in New York City. “I was staffed on several research matters relating to securities litigation, labor and employment law in New York State, and New York City tenant's rights.” Edmondson said. “I had the opportunity to be second-chair for an organization that specializes in representing Manhattan tenants in actions against their landlords and wrote a memo on the possible challenges to a particular landlord's defense for rent back payments. That memo was eventually turned into a motion to dismiss.”
Emily Dioguardo ’25 worked for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Washington Field Office. “I was in the enforcement unit, which meant that I would conduct initial interviews and draft the charge of discrimination for the potential charging parties. I would then monitor that party’s case until it either got closed or passed on to an investigator.” When Dioguardo was not working, she was, “grabbing a bagel from Call Your Mother, whining about cover letters, or using my mom’s Starbucks app to grab coffee.”
Henry Nowland ’25 worked as a judicial intern in the chambers of the Honorable Judge Lance Africk on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans. Nowland worked closely with Judge Africk and his clerks to draft memos and court orders, and attended most of the trials and hearings that were held during his time in chambers.
In addition to their summer jobs, four of these five 2L’s also ran the gauntlet that is OGI. Further, these generous and all-knowing 2Ls were kind enough to share their wisdom with you, dear reader.
Although OGI may get a bad reputation, not all reviews were negative. “Interviewing was much less painful than I thought it would be!” Dioguardo said. “OGI itself is difficult in that the days are long, and you have to be ‘on’ 24/7. But I found most of the interviews really enjoyable (for context, I love talking about myself).”
When asked about his experience, Mahoney shared, “The interview process was overwhelming at times but also a little bit funny. You get pretty good at answering the same couple of questions in a two-week period.”
As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks[1]. To that end, Kubik emphasized the importance of showcasing what makes you different. “I spent most of my time in interviews talking about a fellowship I did after college where I studied tea. I would recommend trying to highlight anything in your resume that might be unusual, even if those experiences aren’t at all related to law. Attorneys are (usually) human too, and just like the girls you take to Mission[2] on your hinge dates, they’re tired of hearing how you ‘actually have a real impact on politics’ as a Hilltern.™” When asked to offer a “must-do” to current 1Ls, Kubik was quick to add, “Take career advice from the Law Weekly.”
Despite being told by His Majesty OPP to cut it, Mahoney kept a line about how he raises chickens on his resumé, “I think it was brought up in nearly every interview. It’s obviously the most transferable skill out there to being a junior associate, so it seemed pretty clear to me why it dominated the conversation during my interviews.”
In the same vein of committing OPP taboos, Nowland shared that he did OGI while on vacation in South America. “I took a callback from the floor of a hostel in Suriname. If it remains fully virtual in the years to come, take advantage.”
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