By Stacey Moore Buchanan, MCJ Director of Operations and General Counsel
Before signing the letter to attend Harvard Law School, I was not sure which areas of law I would be open to. Thankfully, I found an internship program that allowed me to answer that question for myself. Even my attorney father questioned why I would participate in an all-day, multiple-month internship program during my last summer of “freedom” before law school, but I knew that the internship would help answer several questions I was struggling with before entering law school.
Today, as Director of Operations and General Counsel for the Mississippi Center for Justice, I get to help other lawyers-in-training (aka law students!) answer that question for themselves by overseeing our internship program.
As an organization committed to advancing racial and economic justice, we offer an internship program that helps fill a gap many students encounter on their journey into legal careers.
For starters, we understand the importance of experiential learning. While some law students might get this hands-on experience through legal clinics, not all law schools offer this. And even for those that do, not all students are able to participate in clinics and/or work alongside a practicing attorney. That’s where we come in.
Through our internship program, we pair students with practicing attorneys who work on a broad range of issues – housing, health, heirs’ property, economic justice, voting, civil rights, litigation, education, and more – and immerse them in our advocacy and policy work.
But the program is about more than individual career discovery. It is also about creating a pipeline of lawyers who understand deeply (not just academically) the importance of racial and economic equity work. MCJ has hosted scores of interns through the program to date. Many are practicing attorneys now. During my time at MCJ, I have seen an intern go through the program, return as an Equal Justice Fellow, and eventually become a staff attorney.
One of the above-mentioned attorneys came to us as a Harvard Law student with ties to Mississippi, having worked here previously as a teacher. During her internship, her roots with MCJ were planted. When she returned later as a fellow, she helped reignite the return of MCJ’s Education Campaign — work that today helps ensure no student, including students with special needs, is denied their basic rights in the education system.
Most recently, an intern candidate told me he found MCJ through LinkedIn, after seeing that someone he knew had interned with us. That former intern told him how life-changing the experience was — and that was enough to bring him to MCJ’s door.
A typical MCJ intern is paired with one of the organization’s campaigns, where they get the fundamentals: legal research, sitting in on court/administrative hearings, and client meetings. But they also get something law school does not always teach.
Many interns support MCJ’s intake process, sitting with both individuals and families as they share their legal issues, often during some of the hardest moments in their lives. That experience teaches something no casebook can: how to show up for people in crisis, and what your role is in that moment.
Interns are also exposed to work beyond their assigned campaign through team-wide meetings and lunch-and-learns that show how different areas of law and streams of work connect.
The result is a front-row seat to the whole arc of a case or different stages in it, depending on how long an intern is with us — from the mother walking through the proverbial door with a rent-to-own dispute, through the research and case-building, to (hopefully) the moment that MCJ gets a win. Our interns see all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into direct services, not just what makes it into the headlines, and the advocacy and policy that may never reach a courtroom but substantially change the lives of Mississippians.
MCJ’s commitment to equity does not stop at the work interns do; it begins with who gets the opportunity. We have made a deliberate choice not to typically require writing samples or transcripts as part of the application. Why? Because a transcript alone can be exclusionary in ways unrelated to a person’s purpose or drive.
That same intentionality extends to where interns come from. Historically, many of MCJ’s interns have come from outside Mississippi. But most recently, we have been intentional about investing in lawyers who are training right here at home. This year, MCJ is proud that all six of its interns are attending law school in Mississippi.
So, when people ask me, how do we know if we are making an impact, I say the proof is in the pudding. First, the impact our internship has on the person, as evidenced by word of mouth. And second, the reciprocal benefits. While we give experiential training to the students, they give us far more in return!
On National Intern Day, it is worth remembering that an internship goes far beyond just a line on a resume. Done right, an internship is a door that can lead someone toward a calling they did not know they had, connections they have been wanting to make, or even back to a state they have an affinity for, ready to fight for it. An internship can change the trajectory of a person’s life, and I know that from personal experience.
To apply for an in-person internship at MCJ, email a resume and cover letter that includes whether there is a specific Campaign you are interested in, to Attorney Stacey Moore Buchanan, MCJ Director of Operations and General Counsel at internships@mscenterforjustice.org. Also, include in the subject line of the email: “College/Law Student Interested in (Season) Internship.” While summer internships are usually reserved for law students, we invite motivated undergraduate students to apply as well.
Learn more about MCJ’s policy and advocacy work here.