Sydney Ramirez

Kruger Carson PLLC — San Antonio, Texas

How did you get your job, and how long have you been there?

I saw the firm post a job opening for a licensed attorney on LinkedIn. I noticed they didn’t have any positions open for summer interns, so I emailed the partner directly (cold-emailed). He asked to see my resume, and from there, interviews were set up, and I was offered the position. I’ve been here since June.

What do you like most about your job?

I love that it’s a collaborative office environment. I’ve been working with different attorneys on different projects and getting valuable feedback from multiple angles.

What is the most challenging part about your job?

The most challenging part is figuring out what questions to ask. It sounds silly, but you don’t know what you don’t know. I’ve learned to make a list of questions to ask when I encounter problems. You learn something new every single day and can lose track of what you need clarification about. You have to learn not to be shy, even when asking (what feels like) silly questions.

How do you think this experience has helped you in your career path?

I knew I wanted to be a transactional attorney, but this experience has solidified that for me. Attention to detail, time management, and organizational skills are highly valuable in this area of the law and those are the things I’m best at.

What is the one piece of advice you have for other students?

Don’t be afraid to make the first move. If you discover, or know about, a law firm you’d love to work at, or an attorney you’d love to work with, ask them for an opportunity. Even if they aren’t posting job openings, or they aren’t on the St. Mary’s job listings, you can always open your own doors.

Ryan Ayala

Office of the Texas Attorney General, Child Support Division — San Antonio, Texas

How did you get your job, and how long have you been there?

I found the job through CORE, and I was there the whole summer.

What do you like most about your job?

What I like most about my job is being able to watch what the OAG does on a daily basis to help families across Texas get the benefits they deserve for their kids’ success.

How do you think this experience has helped you in your career path?

This internship has definitely helped me gain experience in the field of family law. Being able to go through the Family Code, read what the law is, and actually being able to apply it to everyday scenarios has definitely been helpful in helping people who seek help from the OAG.

What is the one piece of advice you have for other students?

One piece of advice I have for other students is not everything you plan for will go the way you thought it will, and that’s ok. Learn from that experience and keep moving forward. For example, my first negotiation I was going to participate in, they gave us a piece of paper with questions that we would need to ask. I practiced that sheet that whole day coming up with different scenarios to be prepared. The next day during that negotiation, it totally didn’t go the way I thought it would. Learning from those mistakes will go a long way in making me a better negotiator.

Roxana Lopez

Jones, Galligan, Key & Lozano, L.L.P. — Weslaco, Texas

How did you get your job, and how long have you been there?

Before the end of the Spring semester, I contacted firms in my hometown to secure a summer job. JGKL responded to my resume and writing sample, and I was hired right after my interview.

What is the most challenging part about your job?

The most challenging part of my job has been learning new areas of law in order to produce satisfactory research for the attorneys. Some topics were complex, but it is nonetheless very interesting to explore areas of law not yet covered in my legal education.

How do you think this experience has helped you in your career path?

The jobs I have had before introduced me to family and criminal law. My experience at this firm has exposed me to real estate law, probate law, estate planning, and much more. Producing work pertaining to these areas of law has helped me decide what I want to practice in my career.

What is the one piece of advice you have for other students?

Walk into your clerkship every day as if you are already employed as an associate. This mindset will boost the quality of your work product and serve as a reminder of the reason why you chose to go to law school.

Rose Newsome

The Bexar County Criminal District Attorney’s Juvenile Division — San Antonio, Texas

What do you like most about your job?

I found examining police bodycam footage to be interesting. Specifically, I had the opportunity of examining whether a weapon was recovered in plain view.

What is the most challenging part about your job?

The most challenging part of my job was observing the parents of children charged with criminal offenses. While most parents were emotional or hopeful for their children, some parents seemed to be indifferent to the outcome of their child’s future.

How do you think this experience has helped you in your career path?

As my first legal experience opportunity, working at the Juvenile Division has helped me cultivate fundamental skills and benefits such as courtroom professionalism and an expanded network.

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned at this job?

While observing different juvenile cases, there was an emphasis placed on utilizing a rehabilitative approach. I found this valuable because it showcased a humanized part of the criminal justice system.

Natalie Hightower

Attorney General’s Office Consumer Protection Division — San Antonio, Texas

How did you get your job, and how long have you been there?

I got the job through CORE, and thereafter, had a Zoom interview. It was a 6-week long paid position downtown

What do you like most about your job?

I love the fact that every case was so different. I was allowed to help with five different cases; some were straightforward and had me utilizing the information I learned throughout my firs year as a J.D. student, but others felt like I was solving a puzzle or mystery. I learned to think more creatively about how to find the information I needed to support my case.

How do you think this experience has helped you in your career path?

This experience has helped me sharpen my research and writing skills, which are essential skills lawyers utilize daily. The position also allowed me to realize that I want to work where I help people who may not be able to help themselves.

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned at this job?

The most valuable thing I learned at the Consumer Protection Division is how close-knit the legal community is. Lawyers from many states were on a first-name basis with one another; it was incredibly important to make sure I made a good first impression and maintained a professional demeanor with every person in the legal sphere I met.

Lauren Ramirez

Webb-Zapata County District Attorney’s Office —Laredo, Texas

How did you get your job and how long have you been there?

I got my externship by reaching out and contacting my hometown’s District Attorney’s (DA) Office via email. I was at the DA’s office for the summer of 2023 for about 2.5 months.

What do you like most about your job?

The thing I enjoyed most about my externship was being able to help the prosecutors prepare for trial by speaking with witnesses, looking up case law, and helping assist with opening and closing arguments.

What is the most challenging part about your job?

The most challenging part of my externship was overcoming imposter syndrome and trusting in my abilities to conduct valuable research.

How do you think this experience has helped you in your career path?

This experience has helped me in my career path by showing me that I may want to start off my legal career by becoming a prosecutor because there is so much experience to gain at the DA’s office. Additionally, the DA’s office consists of numerous attorneys with various experiences that make for the best mentors for a young attorney.

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned at this job?

The most valuable thing I have learned during my externship is to never be afraid to be a voice for the voiceless.

Do you plan to continue working at this job into the next school year and after graduation?

With my externship being outside of San Antonio, I do not plan to continue my work throughout the school year. However, I am considering going back next summer and after graduation.

What doors has this job opened for you, whether in your personal or professional life?

This externship has provided me with a job waiting for me post-graduation and mentors/friends that I will cherish for the rest of my life. This opportunity allowed me to work on and observe one of the biggest capital murder trials in the nation this summer.

What is the one piece of advice you have for other students?

One piece of advice I have for other students is to take advantage of all the opportunities available at their place of employment, and sometimes, that means building confidence and asking to take on more responsibilities than are originally given.

Matt Garcia

Hilliard Law — Corpus Christi, Texas

How did you get your job, and how long have you been there?

I started working at Hilliard Law prior to coming to St. Mary’s as an HR generalist. I was offered an internship over the winter break, and I returned in early June. I’ve been with the firm for over two years in total, but this summer is my first time working on the legal side of the firm.

What do you like most about your job?

I love getting to learn from a team of talented attorneys. Getting to sit in on depositions, mediations, and trial prep allows me to see how our attorneys strategize and relentlessly fight for our clients.

What is the most challenging part about your job?

Our firm is fast-paced, which can be an obstacle when you are trying to learn new skills for the first time. However, everyone is very collaborative and is always willing to answer questions and offer guidance when needed.

How do you think this experience has helped you in your career path?

I think this experience has given me more insight into the day-to-day life of an attorney, which is something you don’t necessarily learn in the classroom. I have a better understanding of what clients expect, what supervisors expect, and what managing partners expect from their attorneys.

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned at this job?

Ask for help. There’s no shame in admitting when you don’t know something, and asking for help is sometimes the best way to learn. It’s better to ask and do something correctly than to guess and not meet expectations.

What is the one piece of advice you have for other students?

Networking doesn’t end once you land an internship. Reach out to attorneys and talk to your team’s paralegals and legal assistants. Everyone knows something that you don’t, and the best way to learn is to listen. Networking can be as simple as grabbing lunch with someone you work with. These small gestures can open doors you won’t even know are there.

Koorosh Famitafreshi

Texas Third Court of Appeals with Judge Chari Kelly’s Chambers — Austin, Texas

How did you get your job, and how long have you been there?

I got my job through the OCI postings provided by the OCS office at St. Mary’s University School of Law. The Judicial Internship Opportunity Program (JIOP) that I applied to gave me a wide net of potential judicial internships and provided a stipend to help reduce the out-of-pocket expenses I was responsible for during the internship. The internship is from June to July.

What do you like most about your job?

I like the mentorship I received from the staff attorney that I am assigned to. This mentorship allowed me to develop my writing and research skills while doing the substantive work of writing opinions for actual cases before the court.

What is the most challenging part about your job?

The most challenging part about my job is accepting that a considerable amount of research and behind the scenes thinking goes into every project that I work on. I may read for two or three full workdays on a particular topic before even typing a word for the opinion. This is drastically different from the fast-paced law school workflow which requires me to update my outlines and study materials multiple times throughout the day.

How do you think this experience has helped you in your career path?

This experience has helped me pull back the curtain on how a judge thinks about cases and works with her staff to develop an opinion. I am sure this experience will prove invaluable as a practitioner when I am on the other side of the equation submitting my work products to the court on behalf of a client. My supervising judge has also taken on a mentorship role and has helped me make crucial connections during my time in Austin.

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned at this job?

The most valuable thing I have learned about this job is that it is generally better to do something correctly when it comes to legal analysis than it is to do it quickly.

Do you plan to continue working at this job into the next school year, and after graduation?

While the summer judicial internships are not designed to be repeat experiences with the same judge, I will most definitely seek other opportunities to work in a judge’s chambers to improve my legal analytical skills.

What doors has this job opened for you, whether in your personal or professional life?

The judge I work for has made it a point to introduce me to other judges and lawyers who work in my field of interest. These introductions have produced everything from useful advice to referrals to a firm that has allowed me to secure an interview.

What is the one piece of advice you have for other students?

Make your grades your number one priority during your first year of law school and apply to every job or program that interests you to keep your options open.

Jessica Sexton

Atascosa Area Advocates Regional Public Defender’s Office — Jourdanton, Texas

How did you get your job and how long have you been there?

I found the job posted on CORE while looking for a summer opportunity near me in Pleasanton, Texas. The summer internship was from May to August.

What do you like most about your job?

What I like most about the job is that I’ve had the opportunity to witness District, County, and Juvenile Court happenings in Atascosa, Karnes, Frio, and Wilson counties. I’ve networked with several criminal defense attorneys, assistant district attorneys, law enforcement professionals, and judges in rural South Texas. Half my time is spent shadowing attorneys as they visit clients in jail and advocate in court on their behalf. The other half is spent on legal research and discovery review. Knowing where to go inside the courthouses, how to interact with clients, and negotiate with prosecutors has made the experience invaluable.

How do you think this experience has helped you in your career path?

As an intern with the office, I attended Rusty Duncan, the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association’s four-day conference and training at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown San Antonio. I witnessed presentations and interacted with criminal defense attorneys who are leaders in their field. The experience helped confirm that I want to be a criminal defense attorney.

What is the most valuable thing you take form this job?

The remarkable people I’ve met with inspirational stories have significantly impacted me. I look forward to nurturing and learning from these relationships as I continue my law school journey.

Do you plan to continue working at this job into the next school year, and after graduation?

I feel incredibly grateful to have had this experience because I can return to school with a picture of what I want my practice area to be upon graduation. I hope to return to the Atascosa Area Advocates next summer and after graduation.

What is the one piece of advice you have for other students?

St. Mary’s Law students are known to be hard workers, allowing us to outshine those from bigger-name schools. I advise other students to show up as professionals every day of their summer internship, regardless of whether they are paid. My internship was unpaid, but I gained real-world experiences I will treasure forever.

Jazmen Williams

Salesforce — Seattle, Washington

How did you get your job, and how long have you been there?

I was interested in an in-house legal internship, so I just did a lot of Googling and landed on the tech side of in-house counsel. I applied for Salesforce and after 5 interviews landed the job. I have been a legal intern in the Commercial Legal Department.

What do you like most about your job?

I like working in the tech field because I didn’t know how law and tech worked together, so it has exposed me to a lot that I didn’t know.

What is the most challenging part about your job?

Not knowing the answers, but having to find them. As an intern, everyone knows you don’t know the answers, but it is your job to do the research and take the extra time to find them and/or ask the right people to point you in the right direction.

How do you think this experience has helped you in your career path?

I believe it has helped because I work with a lot of redlining of contracts and contract drafting. This is transactional part of law, that I hope to do as a practicing attorney.

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned at this job?

I learned that networking is everything. The connections you make matter. Because the company is so large, I am able to network with the interns from the other global offices as well as the attorneys worldwide.

Do you plan to continue working at this job into the next school year, and after graduation?

If given the opportunity I would love to work for Salesforce post-grad. This is an awesome company that values its employees, has taught me a lot, and has provided me with a lot of valuable opportunities.

What doors has this job opened for you, whether in your personal or professional life?

This job has exposed me to the world of in-house counsel working on tech issues as well as talent and entertainment contracts. It is my ultimate goal to be a sports/entertainment attorney.

What is the one piece of advice you have for other students?

If you want something, go for it! I did not see a lot of jobs for sports or entertainment. Or simply in-house counsel in San Antonio, so I took it upon myself to research and find legal internships that fit the needs of the type of law I want to practice or put me in a place for those types of connections.