By Julia Hess '15
The 2015 Summer Legal Fellows Program placed Siena students at prestigious law schools including Fordham Law School, American University, Western New England Law School and Albany Law School. Every school's program had a different research focus, making each Siena student's experience uniquely fulfilling.
Antonia Edwards '16 and Dylan Porcello '16 worked at the Feerick Center for Social Justice at Fordham Law School for their eight week program. Together, they edited a report on unaccompanied immigrant children titled, Unaccompanied Youth in New York: Struggle for Identity and Inclusion- A Participatory Action Research Study. Edwards and Porcello will both be named as contributors in the publishing of the report.
Edwards also volunteered her time at the CLARO program, an outlet for free limited legal advice from attorneys to people who have court cases pertaining on a consumer debt issue.
"I've gained so much valuable experience from CLARO. I learned proper interview techniques, and how to assess the legal needs of visitors based on their paperwork," said Edwards. "I had no prior knowledge of this issue and by the end of the eight weeks, I knew about the legal process and the paperwork involved."
Jake Antonaccio '16 and Jessica Murphy '16 also cultivated skills that will be important in their future careers. They spent their summer fellowship at Albany Law School's Government Law Center where they developed professional writing skills through research papers and blog posts.
"Revising my papers based on feedback helped me cultivate professional writing skills, rather than the academic writing styles I am used to using," said Murphy.
For more than 10 years, Siena College's Summer Legal Fellows has paired a select group of Siena undergraduate students with professors and students at law schools in the Northeast for an 8-week summer program. To learn more about the experiences of this year's participants, please visit the 2015 Summer Legal Fellows website.
