Legal interns learn the public interest ropes

Twenty law students from around the state are spending the summer assisting low-income Texans with legal problems as participants in the Access to Justice Internship programs, according to a press release from the Texas Access to Justice Commission. The TAJC’s Law School Advisory Committee launched the internship program as a two-year pilot project in 2006. Eight students participated in the first year. This year’s interns are are getting hands-on experience by working with attorneys in 17 legal aid offices. A quote in the press release from  Camille Varner, an intern in the Nacogdoches Lone Star Legal Aid Office, says it all: The ALJ internship  “has shown the grim reality that many low-income Texans face, the necessity of balancing compassion and reason, and most importantly, the joy of making a difference in people’s lives through law.”
-- Mary Alice Robbins