1. Summer Experience: Jane Kim ’25L

Jane Kim '25L is a third-year law student at Washington and Lee and is originally from Old Tappan, NJ. At W&L, she has been active as a part of the German Law Journal as a Senior Articles Editor, the Moot Court Board as Vice-Chair of Externals, the Jessup International Moot Court team as a competitor and coach, the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association, the International Law Society, a Research Assistant to Professor Parella, and the Kirgis Fellows Program. For her 2L summer, Jane was at the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office in New York as a part of the trial zone. After law school, she hopes to return to the Brooklyn DA's office to start her career in prosecution.

What did you do for work this summer?

My team (GO RED!!) really did a great job to expose me to all the aspects of what it entails to be an assistant district attorney! I was in court at least twice a week, getting on the record in criminal court to give case updates, second-seating a hearing in supreme court, and getting to watch TWO of my zone's felony Assistant District Attorney's (ADA) put on their first trials. Outside of court, I wrote memos for my ADA's on topics ranging from staleness of probable cause for a search warrant to examining the facial sufficiency of a criminal complaint. I was also able to write up motions, serve discovery, and spend a day in arraignments.

How did you find this position?

I found this position through our New York regional OCI program! I interviewed at the end of July and had the offer for the internship by mid-August.

Describe your work experience.

To preface, I went straight through from my undergraduate to law school. As an undergraduate, my internships focused on a lot of policy research and non-profit engagement. I continued my interest in public-interest through my 1L summer internship as a summer law clerk for the National Center for Access to Justice. At NCAJ, I focused on legal research on state policies regarding rights for indigent defendants and more generally, the right to counsel for civil issues (or the lack thereof). This past summer at the Brooklyn DA's Office, I was in the office every day from 9AM to 5PM for two months! My days depended on the ADA's schedules, but if my ADA's were in court, my other interns and I would usually join them so long as we didn't have any other time sensitive plans. If we weren't in court, we were researching for our ADA's, attending lectures organized by the office for the interns, or helping our ADA's prep witnesses.

What were some skills you developed this summer?

The biggest skill I was able to develop this summer was confidence in my oral advocacy. I would say I went into my internship somewhat confident in the experience I had accrued from competitions and trial advocacy, but that all went out the door when I was at the podium. In the beginning, I was nervous just getting on the record, in front of actual judges and defense counsel, saying my name. Because my ADA's were determined to help me grow and pushed me out of my comfort zone, by the end, I was excited to get into court and talk on the record. The second skill (while it may not seem like it) I would say I developed was getting comfortable asking for help. As a person, I'm not necessarily inclined to ask for help, but this summer has definitely gotten me much more comfortable (I'm sure my ADA's would say that I've gotten a little too comfortable with asking questions). Seeing my ADA's themselves so openly go to each other with questions and seeing how they always had each other's backs made me understand that not only should I be asking for help, but also that there was no way I'd succeed in the field if I didn't ask for help.

What surprised you about the work you did this summer?

The extent to which ADA's are in court was the most surprising about the work I did this summer. I think most law students are aware that the biggest perk of starting in a DA's office is that you're exposed to litigation immediately and frequently. Even knowing that, I wasn't prepared for really how often ADA's are in court. It seemed like my ADA's were having a hearing every other day or in court in some capacity at least two or three times a week.

What was your favorite aspect of this summer work experience?

The people were easily my favorite aspect of this experience. It's not an understatement for me to say that every single person I met in the office were of such high caliber. From the security team that welcomed me so warmly every morning, to the court clerk that would sneak me candy when he saw me tired around five hours into our shift in criminal court, to my wonderful ADA's who always had their doors open for me.

I have to give a special shoutout to my Red Zone ADA's! All of the ADA's, the misdemeanor's, the felony's, and even the supervisors, made sure we were getting fully exposed to all aspects of the job and truly cared about our time in the office. My second day of the internship, I was given the chance to spend the day in arraignments and even despite the fast pace of arraignments, my ADA stopped and explained every step of the process, spelled out all the acronyms that made my eyes go glossy, and looked for every opportunity to get me on the record. That second day was just one of many times my ADA's made sure I was taken care of and that my head was above water. Their doors were always open to help discus niche criminal procedure issues, to explain the complex New York discovery laws for the 100th time, or to just ease my general anxieties.

Has this experience helped you figure out post graduate plans, and if so, how?

It certainly did! I'm hoping to return to the office as an ADA following graduation!

How do you think this experience will shape the rest of your time at W&L Law?

I definitely got the criminal law and litigation bug from this summer! The litigation exposure I gained this summer has me excited to organize as many competitions for our students to gain experience as the Vice-Chair of Externals for Moot Court! I can confidently say I was able to be comfortable with speaking on the record or give input on motions to my ADA's because of my experience with mock trial and trial advocacy. I hope to set other students up for success by organizing these external opportunities and by supporting my brilliant peers who are also on Moot Court as they organize their competitions. As for the criminal law side, I'm hoping to sneak in some classes before graduation with Professor MacDonnell, Professor Shapiro, or Dean Wilson!

Outside Law School

Hobby/Interest

Playing games with friends! Everything from board games (highly recommend Bohnanza) to video games to Dungeons and Dragons. My time at the DA's office has also gotten me hooked on softball!

Book/Podcast Recommendation

Andrew Weissmann's "Where Law Ends" OR Toshikazu Kawaguchi's "Before the Coffee Gets Cold."

Favorite thing to do in Lexington

Go down to Nappa Thai and get my Drunken Noodles! And as a plus you get to interact with the AMAZING workers there!

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