Case law students experience summer internships
Future lawyers have real-world impact at home and abroad
June 1, 2004 | For more information: Susan Griffith (216)-368-1004
The flashing lights of New York City's Time Square might entice some people, but not Sang Park and Parima Damrithamanij from Case Western Reserve University's School of Law. They have their sights set on the global theater across Manhattan at the United Nations.
The law students are among a group from Case who will exchange their weighty law books this summer for some real-life experiences with hopes of making a real world impact in the United States and abroad in eight countries by working for more than 14 organizations.
Their summer experiences have been made possible through the Case School of Law Law-Medicine Center's new summer health law internship grants and the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center's summer international law internship grants.
This is the first year that the Law-Medicine Center is offering grants for students to gain work experience in the field of health law, said Maxwell J. Mehlman, the center's director.
"Students pursue internships to see health law in practice and to prepare for their careers, but they also use the new perspective and depth of understanding gained to make the most of their studies when they return in the fall," he added.
According to Michael Scharf, the Cox Center's director, the center awarded 18 grants up to $3,000 for a variety of unusual projects, from fighting AIDS in Burma to prosecuting war criminals.
Scharf added that the invaluable experience undertaken in the summer is often "key to breaking into the competitive and exciting field of international law."
Park, who is from Dallas, Texas, eventually plans a career in business law. His Cox summer grant will enable him to spend the summer at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations. He will attend meetings at the U. N. Headquarters, research international law issues that range from human rights to international business, draft legal briefs as well as observe how international law functions or does not function in the global theater.
He also said he hopes to have the opportunity to network with dignitaries.
"This will be a valuable experience," added Park.
Nicole Dorsky from Shaker Heights will have an insider's view of what happens in the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. "I hope to understand what it is like to work for the government," she says.
Among the jobs facing the second-year law student is a rotation in deportation litigation and, "hopefully," she says, a month in citizenship and immigration services where she has the opportunity to work on asylum and refugee status granting.
Damrithamanij from Bankok, Thailand will spend the summer as an intern at the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the U.N. This summer experience will broaden Damrithamanij's understanding of how the Thai government deals in international law matters. Before entering law school, Damrithamanij worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok. Both experiences are steps towards a career in international law or relations with the Thai government.
Hanoi, Vietnam, is the destination for first-year law student Jesse Lieberman. With his Cox International Law Center grant, he will work on judicial reforms for the United Nations' Development Programme in conjunction with the Supreme Court of Vietnam.
"I anticipate that the exposure to another legal system and having the opportunity to work with lawyers from Europe and Asia-educated in another system-will be a prime introduction to international law," explained Lieberman, a first-year student from Bethesda, Md.
Thihan Nyun, a first-year law student, will work with Medicins Sans Frontiers (Physicians without Borders) in Rangoon, Burma. Nyun received support from both the Cox and Law-Medicine Centers to understand "the comprehensive picture of the HIV/AIDS programs that are being implemented there and the reasons behind their implementation."
A Law-Medicine Center summer internship grant will enable Johnathan Borsodi, a first-year law student from West Branch, Mich., to head to Nashville to intern at the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.
According to Borsodi, the experience will help him "gain a broad sense of what is involved with representing a high-profile state agency" as well as an understanding of those issues involved in running a health care organization.
Borsodi's career goals have him leaning toward specializing in health care law, but he added "ask me after summer," saying that he hopes to have a more specific answer after his on-the-job experience.
While at the Tennessee agency, he will work on numerous projects that include a master plan for policy and procedures for all five of the state mental hospitals as well as training with various law enforcement, patient and community groups.
Borsodi's real world experiences in health care law won't stop there. He also will work with the agency's legislative affairs department in reviewing and suggesting proposed changes to Tennessee's mental health code, assisting in defending the state in any lawsuits filed against it and, under the supervision of the agency, representing the state in involuntary civil commitment hearings.
Law-Medicine Center Summer Internships also were awarded to: Katherine Allen (second year student), Office of General Counsel at Northwest Community Hospital, Arlington, Ill., and Leia Chicoine (first year), Office of General Counsel at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Also recipients of Frederick K. Cox International Law Center Summer Internship Grants were: Vivian Hermiz (second year) and Charles Medina (LL.M.), International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Appeals Chamber, The Hague; Ahran Kang (second year), International Bar Association in London, England; Kristi Kleiboeker and Elizabeth Young (both first year), International Trade Center in Geneva, Switzerland; Leslie Murray (second year), Special Court for Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone; Philip Nulud (first year), Supreme Court of the Philippines, Manila; Andres Perez (post graduate), International Criminal Tribunal for the former Rwanda, Appeals Chamber, The Hague; Sang June Ryu (second year), United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, New York City; Ryan Scott (third year), Political Asylum Project of Austin, Texas; and Jonathan Van Balen (second year), Kentucky-South America Trade Office, Santiago, Chile.
About Case Western Reserve University
Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826
and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western
Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research,
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