"I am able to spend ten weeks pushing and challenging myself to help grow as a student and future lawyer."

From the time I was in elementary school, my parents encouraged my siblings and me to give back to the community and volunteer our time for those less fortunate. I continued this through college where I attended a Jesuit University that placed an emphasis on being men and women for others. I wanted to find a way to continue this through my graduate education and future career. I also wanted a career that challenged me intellectually. Law school gave me the opportunity to pursue both of these career goals. 

After my second year at law school, I accepted a summer associate position at Blank Rome, LLP, a large firm in Philadelphia. When applying for jobs, I was focused on finding a place with a positive work environment while at the same time providing me with opportunities to complete substantive work. This summer, I have worked on assignments in various areas of law, such as commercial litigation, government contracts, white collar, real estate, and finance and restructuring. The litigation assignments consist of mainly researching a specific issue in the law and then writing a memorandum or email to the supervising attorney regarding my findings. The transactional assignments consist of reviewing government contracts and researching its compliance with state and federal law as well as reviewing a borrower’s agreement. In addition, summers also get an opportunity to attend hearings and depositions with attorneys. 

This type of work, and even choosing Blank Rome in general, helps me to pursue the two main reasons I went to law school. First, I specifically chose Blank Rome because it is a large firm that truly places a focus on giving back to the community. Blank is one of the few large firms that requires its attorneys to perform a certain amount of pro bono hours and encourages lawyers to go beyond that requirement. Second, I am able to spend ten weeks pushing and challenging myself to help grow as a student and future lawyer. The work at Blank is challenging and the attorneys expect a lot from the summers. 

My time at Rutgers has helped me immensely throughout my time at Blank. Rutgers places a strong emphasis on the writing and research programs offered at the school. Each of my writing classes and professors have helped make the transition to working at a firm much smoother during this stressful experience. In addition, while at Rutgers I was fortunate to be a part of the various groups the school has to offer its students. Through my time of being a member on Law Review, a writing fellow, and a student leader of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) project, I was able to improve on my time management skills while also learning valuable skills that I will use in my professional career.  

Pursuing a law degree is a daunting and challenging task that requires much of your time, effort and skills. However, no matter what field of law you study or pursue a career in, you will be afforded opportunities to help others and serve the community. Rutgers recognizes this by preparing you as best they can for any career path while providing pro bono and clinic opportunities to serve as a student. 

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Kristen Kispert RLAW'19

Kristen Kispert is a rising third-year law student at Rutgers Law School and a Social Justice Scholar. Kristen is an Executive Editor of the Rutgers University Law Review. She received her B.A. in Philosophy and Criminal Justice from the University of Scranton. During law school, Kristen worked as a legal intern for McOmber & McOmber, a law firm in Marlton, New Jersey. Kristen is a 2018 summer associate at Blank Rome, LLP.