Beyond the Books: AU Government & International Affairs and Religion/Philosophy Major Goes From Classroom to Courtroom with Law Firm Internship

Joe Gebel '26 is a government & international affairs and religion/philosophy double major from Mitchell, South Dakota. This summer, he interned at Dailey Law, an attorney's office in Mitchell, where he undertook legal research, drafted court briefs, and edited and adapted contracts. Gebel is president of Augustana Model United Nations and the Committee of Undergraduate Political Scientists (COUPS). He also coaches high school speech and debate.

Q: What are your career goals/aspirations?

A: That's a great question! I wish I knew the answer. I know that I want to get a Juris Doctor (JD), but from there it is really up in the air as to what I end up doing with it. Right now, public defense and civil service in rural law are both appealing, but I am sure I won't know what I want to do with my law degree until I have it.

Q: Where or how did you hear about Augustana?

A: I heard about it in 2021, almost right before I graduated from high school, from a good friend of mine who was a sophomore (at Augustana) at the time and wanted me to check the school out. She gave me a tour and I kind of just knew I wanted to go here.

Q: What is/are the reason(s) you chose to come to Augustana?

A: There were a lot of strong drawing points, like the appeal of small-campus life and the qualifications of the professors in the departments I was looking at. The fact that Augie was so good about scholarships and it was in downtown Sioux Falls both didn't hurt at all.

Q: What did your job duties include?

A: Honestly, a lot. I worked under a pair of lawyers, and each of them had stuff in pretty different fields to work on. I expected to just be answering phone calls and writing emails all summer, but I ended up getting to do actual legal research, draft court briefs, and edit and adapt contracts. All of it was honestly a lot of fun.

Q: How did you get the internship? Did anyone help you?

A: No, not really. Being from a smaller town where everyone knows everyone, I reached out to the attorney who owned the practice and asked if his team would be willing to take me on for the summer as an intern. Sometimes it pays to just take those chances.

Q: What do you like most about your internship?

A: I liked the challenge. It was fun to get thrown into different situations with new cases every week and seeing the experimental/explorative nature of legal research first hand. I was really lucky because, between the two lawyers I worked with, I got to experience a large variety of legal fields, including public defense, probate law, property law and domestic law. Because of that, I never really got bored and always felt like I was learning something new.

Q: What do you hope to learn/gain from the internship?

A: Honestly, I was really just hoping for a chance to be in the environment that my career path is heading toward and see how I liked it. I figured that if I managed to learn a skill or two in the process of being there, that was just a bonus! I have been really pleasantly surprised to actually be part of their operations and get a lot of hands-on experiential learning.

Q: Why is experiential learning so important to you in your future endeavors?

A: Well, I think getting to work through stuff first hand, instead of just reading and testing on it, is always one of the best and most effective ways to process new information. In general, I find that nothing really sticks for me unless I can find a way to apply it in real life. The law field and legal studies are no different: it is one thing to read case law and essays about how to work with judges, clients and law enforcement, and it is another entirely to actually see how the work you do impacts the lives and work of others.

Q: How important is building relationships/connections?

A: While I am sure that relationships and networking matter in all professions, my time at the law firm showed me that getting to know people and building a wide network of relationships make up a huge portion of practicing law. I saw that knowing people and their connections is not only important for building a client base, but for settling disputes and giving context to people's problems and conflicts, especially in small communities. So, with that being said, I am glad I started this summer.

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