DOWNTOWN— In an effort to acquaint the next generation of law students with the Unified Court System and the myriad of possibilities that it provides to those seeking law as their chosen field, Liakas Law, P.C., is offering its summer internship program for a second consecutive year.
Liakis, a New York City-based, family-run litigation and personal injury practice, will be accommodating five interns, mostly from Brooklyn Law School, where they will get a first-hand, in-the-flesh perspective of all the goings-on in the courthouse.
Among other things, intern responsibilities will include joining attorneys and judges in court, sitting in on depositions, motions, discovery responses, legal research and more.
An appreciation for law and justice
Judge Matthew D’Emic, administrative judge for criminal matters. Brooklyn Eagle photo by Wayne Daren Schneiderman
Retired State Supreme Court justice, senior partner at the Liakas Firm and director of the summer internship program, Judge Mark Partnow, told the Brooklyn Eagle that, “This is an invaluable opportunity for the interns to get to learn what attorneys do, and to see how judges operate.”
“In the end, I’m just hoping these students will have a better understanding of the court system and an appreciation for law and justice and its importance,” Partnow said.
The program, which will run until the end of August, is considerably extensive, running as many as five days a week and eight hours per day.
“They will come to our law firm Monday through Friday and be assigned to various attorneys in our firm, participating in whatever the attorney’s doing,” Partnow explained. “So it can be pretty intense, but they’re really getting real, full experience.”
Judge Matthew D’Emic, administrative judge for criminal matters, was the “instructor” at the most recent internship session, taking place at 320 Jay Street on July 15.
D’Emic successfully put the eager interns at ease, first giving a brief orientation about the structure of the Unified Court System and what goes on in the Supreme Court of Kings County, in addition to an extensive background of himself and how he ascended to his current position.
D’Emic then invited everyone into his courtroom, where as many as 15 cases were brought forth before the judge.
Future sessions for interns, according to Partnow, will include other judges, lawyers and various members of the courthouse.
“This is really about giving back to the community, especially the legal community,” Partnow said.
Nicholas Liakas, Esq., partner at Liakas, told the Eagle that one of the goals of the summer internship program is to develop attorneys who are “community-oriented.”
“Being an attorney isn’t just about billing hours or winning cases, although that’s certainly important,” Liakas said. “It’s also about giving back, and in this instance, we’re able to give back to law students and really show them the ropes of the court system.”
Liakas Law intern Ainsley Garipoli pointed out that she is truly looking forward to an enriching and mentally stimulating summer courtesy of Liakas’ internship program.
“I believe this is going to be great,” Garipoli said. “In law school, you don’t get the opportunity to be a fly on the wall in the courtroom and learn so much via face-to-face interaction. I feel extremely lucky to be able to experience the court system in this way. It’s a tremendous advantage.”
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