OPIA Blog

Sachin Desai, 2L, is passionate about energy and committed to innovation. Last summer, he combined these interests with his internship at the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) within the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C.

The ARPA-E is a division of the DOE that works on commercializing small, innovative start-ups in the U.S. energy sector. It is a unique organization as its grants operate more within a venture capital framework than most government agencies. Instead of just disbursing funding, the agency enters into collaborative arrangements with its grantees and builds innovative funding structures into its contracts. This mission creates complicated contracts; there are three to four lawyers in a team of only 60 people. In addition to contracts, the legal scope also includes policy work in energy regulation. Since the U.S. energy industry is heavily regulated, innovative start-ups face significant regulatory barriers to commercial success. The second mission of ARPA-E is to work with other government agencies that are responsible for these regulations and draft memoranda of understanding (MOUs) surrounding ARPA-E’s projects. Since the agency is so small, legal interns have opportunities to work closely with the staff attorneys, even the General Counsel, and contribute extensively to the agency’s goals. Sachin’s assignments included legal research and writing white papers and MOUs. In addition, his presence in D.C. allowed him to meet other interesting people working in the energy field, and he stresses the importance of actively participating in events and networking.

Sachin knew that he wanted to work in energy before he came to law school, and once he arrived at HLS he took steps to integrate himself into the wider energy community. His advice to 1Ls is to follow their interests, even if it takes them outside of the HLS campus. In fact, he first heard about ARPA-E at the annual MIT Energy Conference, and additional resources can be found at MIT, the Kennedy School, or Harvard Business School. Sachin also stresses the importance of being pro-active in the job search. Though ARPA-E did not post a legal intern position, he applied anyway. One tip for students seeking to create their own positions: email the second-in-command, who actually reads his or her emails, and not the General Counsel.

The internship with ARPA-E was a logical step in Sachin’s overall career path. ARPA-E has significant name recognition in the field and helped him land his 2L summer job with Wilson Sonsini in California, where his work will focus on supporting venture capitalist firms interested in energy innovation. He is also writing a student note under the supervision of Professor Roin that examines innovative funding structures, building on his experience at ARPA-E. Overall, Sachin speaks highly of his experience with the agency and recommends it for students interested in energy who want a slightly different summer government experience.

Written by OPIA 1L Section Representative Geng Chen

For her 1L summer, Jessica Levin, 2L worked as a legal intern in the General Practice Unit of the Office of the General Counsel of the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE).

In an office environment that she describes as “high energy and bustling,” Jessica dived into projects on various topics in education law which spanned the local, state, and federal levels. Jessica’s assignments included drafting decisions in student suspension appeals; writing memos on various education law issues including free speech and student discipline; and attending administrative hearings for teachers as well as oral arguments for high profile cases involving the DOE.

During her summer, Jessica learned how to review a record and craft an appeal decision, practiced interpreting statutes and regulations, and honed her legal research and memo writing skills. “I was amazed at how education law touches on so many other aspects of law and policy, such as labor law, contracts, and due process issues,” she says. She notes that her involvement in student groups such as Advocates for Education, along with the knowledge and skills gained from HLS in courses such as Legal Research and Writing, Legislation and Regulation, and Professor Bartholet’s “Child, Family, State,” were particularly applicable to her job.

Jessica was first surprised by the vast size of the DOE and its legal office, which is located in the historic Tweed Courthouse building. However, a collaborative organizational culture, facilitated by an open floor plan, helped make it much less overwhelming. On a regular basis, the General Counsel (an HLS alum) came to speak to lawyers in the unit and made time to have lunch with all the interns and answer their questions.

Jessica’s time at the NYCDOE confirmed her desire to work in education law and provided her a strong foundation for working in other education law settings. Her summer experience prompted her to take classes as a 2L this year, such as Evidence and Fourteenth Amendment, which she says will be useful for related work down the road. Her advice to other HLS students interested in pursuing a similar path in education law: “I think an experience at the local level is very valuable for anyone who wants to work in education law, since so much of education — both law and policy — happens at the district level.”

Written by 1L OPIA Section Representative Connie Sung

Here are two articles featuring Alison Kamhi ’08 and Damon King ’09, both awarded Skadden Fellowships upon graduating from HLS. Alison Kamhi spent her Skadden Fellowship at Catholic Charities in New York and is now at Bay Area Legal Aid serving again as a Skadden Fellow. Damon King is spending his Skadden Fellowship at the Youth Law Center in San Francisco.

Alison Kamhi – NY Lawyer Wins a Safe Haven for Abused Mexican Teen

Damon King – The Bay Citizen; Unclear Oversight Yields Repeated Violations at Home for Troubled Youth

Here’s a brief look into the work of HLS alum and current NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, class of 1982.

Leonard Weinglass, one of the most pre-eminent defense lawyers of his time, passed away in March. You can read his official obituary at the New York Times or the Los Angeles Times.

A recent Harvard study found that it matters less what you say during an interview then how you say it.

The study (click here for an interview with the authors and to purchase a copy of the study), showed a video of a political debate where the subject answered questions in a series of videos. In the first video, the individual answered the question directly and well; by the third video, he answered the question directly, but inarticulately.

The response from the study showed that people liked the individual answering the question less when he did so inarticulately. Perhaps a good tip for your next job interview is not necessarily to know all the answers, but know how to answer the questions.

Legal aid organizations appear to be in the center of what the National Law Journal calls a “perfect storm” of funding and resource issues. It’s all hitting at once, according to the article.

At the root of the issues facing legal aid is IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts) funding (a primer of what IOLTA is can be found by following this link to the ABA section on IOLTA). IOLTA is, in essence, a mechanism to provide funding to charitable organizations (such as legal aid) through interest earned on pooled trust funds that are set up by attorneys. The attorneys set up these funds because they might be obligated, for example, to hold short term funds that were provided to them in trust by their clients. Confusing? Check out the ABA sight (link above) for a more in depth perspective.

So, what’s happening to these funds? They’re seeing a significant decline across the board, according to the National Law Journal article. Interest rates are incredibly low and the pool is shrinking. Some statistics the article points out: “IOLTA generated $380 million nationally for legal aid groups in 2008, but that fell to $124 million in 2010″, AND “Interest rates were at 5.25% in September 2007 and have since fallen to 0.25% or even lower” according to Betty Balli Torres, director of the National Association of IOLTA Programs.

It’s not just that IOLTA funds are declining, however; legal aid is also seeing a sharp decline in state and local funding. The only band aid provided, albeit temporarily, was an uptick in federal funding to $420 million in 2010. This does cover the huge gap, however, in funding generated from state and local funding as well as the IOLTA program.

What do you think needs to happen? It’s unclear if states will increase funding over the next few years (in fact, many governors, strapped because of their own faltering budgets, won’t view this as an essential part of their states finances), and unless interest rates for these trust accounts go up significantly (it’s hard to see why the would until at least 2012), where is the funding going to come from?

Students who have strong opinions about the recent release of thousands of classified government cables and documents and who might want to or have already commented on them through blog posts, message boards, or other electronic mediums, might want to reconsider their first amendment right for the sake of employment. A recent CNN article puts out some precautions over making your opinion about the leaks public.

How can this affect you, you ask? Well, as a matter of law, the documents are classified and so reading, commenting or disseminating them may violate Executive Order 13526, which addresses the issue of “Classified National Security Information.” While this may not affect your status with private sector employers, it could be a no-no with the federal government. Career Service office heads (such as those from Boston University School of Law and Columbia University) have been sending out memos to students warning them that this is untested ground, and you should be careful about commenting on the leaks. Some federal government departments and the White House have strictly forbidden unauthorized employees to look at the documents. For them, the issue might be more cut and dry: these are classified documents and should still be treated as such.

The issue still remains hazy, as HLS Professor Jonathan Zittrain noted in the article that the memo from the schools is less of a policy and more of issue that students should keep in the back of their mind. “”I imagine the distribution of these warnings is less to endorse the policy and more just to say, ‘Hey this is what we’re hearing.’ This is not like advising students to not smoke pot. It’s not weighing in on a matter of policy. It’s just telling them that it might affect them down the road.”

Either way, it seems fair to say that if you are interested in federal government employment down the road, and have become deeply involved in the Wikileaks case, you might want to reconsider posting a strong opinion on the matter on your blog, Facebook page or twitter account. At the very least, talk to someone first to weigh the potential ramifications.

In what appears to be early signs of an economic recovery for law firms, and perhaps the legal market overall, law schools are seeing signs of an unfreezing of law firm hiring. Although organizations such as NALP are cautious about projecting potential hiring, and it appears the numbers of summer associates being hired isn’t quite reaching the level of 3 or 4 years ago, the numbers do seem promising.

Could this also be positive signs for the public interest market as well? Might be hard to tell (the article doesn’t really focus on it), but it’s certainly promising to hear people being hired out of law school. This article provides some statistics on the market, but focuses largely on the New York market. Full article can be found on law.com: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=12….

Nell Minow, Dean Minow’s sister, offers a really interesting perspective on her career as a critic and former lawyer. Perhaps a good life lesson for everyone to follow? Check out her post here: http://views.washingtonpost.com/on-succe….