This summer, I had the opportunity to work as a legal intern at The James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy. This is a non-profit legal organization in Evanston, Illinois. The staff included attorneys, grantwriters, social workers, and communication experts, all of which served as my mentors throughout my internship. I formed strong relationships with the attorneys at the Moran Center as I would often accompany them at hearings and help prepare client research for their trials.

The Moran Center specializes in seeking restorative justice and taking an integrated social work and legal approach to serving juvenile clients. This proved quite interesting and rewarding when observing how the attorneys and social workers collaborated to aid clients. The tasks I performed during my internship at the Moran Center were both refreshing and fascinating. During a normal work week, I would rarely spend more than 2 whole days in the office. Similar to the attorneys at the Moran Center, I would go to courts around the Chicagoland area to either observe or help clients in the expungement and sealing process. I found my time working at the Moran Centers Expungement Help Desk located in the Cook County Municipal Courthouse one of the most rewarding components of my internship. Being able to use the legal knowledge I learned from previous experiences and training from my internship to directly impact clients gave me a sense of autonomy.

Developing a strong relationship with the attorneys during my internship and as a result, communicating with clients was extremely insightful. It gave me a deeper look into the legal system and how it operates, especially, for juvenile offenders. Furthermore, my work at the Moran Center gave me an understanding of the shortcomings, inequities and perplexing policies in the legal system that I would like to further explore. More positively, my time at the Moran Center gave me hope for the future of our justice system, as Juvenile convictions and arrest have been greatly decreasing. Though I am not sure whether I want to pursue family law, the practice of law in general intrigues me and I am grateful for this experience.

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Carin Rollins ’94 and John Marlow ’90 are two Colgate graduates who are rapidly becoming household names in biotech. Both were invited back to Colgate on February 11, 2019 to speak about their experiences as innovators and industry leaders. The event, “How Liberal Arts Grads are Driving Innovation”, was co-sponsored by Career Services, Thought Into Action, Colgate’s Biology department, Neuroscience program, and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

Rollins is CEO and co-founder of Hinge Bio. Inc, a California-based biotechnology startup putting multimillion-dollar pharmaceutical innovations on the market. Marlow is co-founder and senior vice president of RingCentral, a cloud-based telecommunications company that boasts 4,500 employees and offices on four continents. Marlow also serves as legal director of Brainsonix, an ultrasound-based brain mapping system intended for faster and less invasive surgery and treatment.

RingCentral was among the first corporations to design wireless, centralized communication systems, intended to break away from the clunky, on-site phone boxes used by many corporations when the company was founded in 2003. Today, they’re the largest business communications provider in the world, and still growing rapidly as many businesses modernize their systems.

“Innovation, to me, is a way of thinking,” Marlow said. “We just replaced hardware with software, and that was a big thing.”

Rollins agreed. “You have to show that a prototype is working—that the market is pulling for your product,” Rollins said. “Otherwise you won’t go anywhere.”

Both Marlow and Rollins admitted that being an innovator and entrepreneur demands a tremendous amount of work—and some luck. Marlow used his own experience as evidence.

While seeking out funding for RingCentral in 2003, he was rejected by hundreds of investors during formal meetings. But he happened to run into a Class-A investor at a bar. That individual “instantly got it,” Marlow said, and agreed to fund the project. That support led to a second top-level firm investing as well. While it wouldn’t have been possible without a functional product, the amount of painful luck was, according to Marlow, “undeniable.”

Rollins also reflected on her experience at Colgate during the seminar. “The skills I learned in the liberal arts gave me the skills I needed to succeed,” Rollins said. “It’s how I am able to wear so many different hats as a CEO and entrepreneur. I wouldn’t be where I am without Colgate.”

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I interned for the Chief Administrative Judge for the Supreme Court of King’s County, Criminal Term. I worked closely with my judge, Hon. Matthew D’Emic, as well as Karen Kleinberg, the principal law clerk for Judge D’Emic’s chambers. I helped analyze grand jury minutes and case files to determine whether there was sufficient evidence and testimony to fit the appropriate statutes and crimes that were being charged to defendants. I took full advantage of the Court’s internship program in visiting other judge’s court rooms and sitting in on their own criminal trials.

My summer experience this summer confirmed and validated my passion for law, going to law school, and working in the legal field thereafter. I enjoyed working in the criminal justice system, as well as analyzing evidence to determine their legal sufficiency. I also sharpened my skills to read closely, especially when analyzing grand jury minutes to determine whether a crime is appropriate to fit a particular statute.

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Taylor Ellerkamp ’17 interned at a local county prosecutor’s office in Ohio.

This summer I had the opportunity to intern at the county prosecutor’s office in my hometown of Marion, Ohio. My main responsibility was reviewing case files for upcoming trials. I read over police reports and witness statements, took notes, and filled in one of the assistant prosecutors on the most important details of the case. I was also able to attend hearings and trials as an observer on a regular basis. I was able to learn about the various responsibilities of a prosecutor. In addition to one jury trial, I sat in on many custody and child support hearings. As a result, I had the unique opportunity to learn about the inner workings of the legal system in my county from beginning to end.
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