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Author - Aastha Jain

Learn what a legal intern is, what they do, and the meaning of a legal intern. Find answers to your questions about legal internships and discover what law interns do to gain experience. In this article, we shall discuss legal intern meaning and what do legal interns do?.

What is a legal internship for law students?

• Being a law student can be very interesting especially when you learn about the different types of lawyers available. However, the theory can only teach you so much and after a certain point, you may have to gain practical insight. Therefore doing a law-related internship will be very beneficial to you as it will help you gain in-depth exposure into the field.
  It is necessary that students understand the importance of law firm internships and the role it plays in the legal field. However, completing a law internship from a firm is not a guarantee of a job but it gives an edge to a student over another. Employers recognize the advantage of an internship, but even more importantly, the experience and confidence a student gets from it are vital. The internship can be viewed as an opportunity for a trainee to gain an overall understanding of the legal system. Understanding the legal intern meaning is vital for law students who wish to pursue a career in law. The legal intern meaning refers to a law student or recent law graduate who participates in an internship program to gain practical experience.

• Now comes to the question, what do legal interns do? or what do law interns do? Basically, an internship at a law firm is designed to give law students valuable insight into the professional lives of attorneys and judges. What do legal interns do at law firms? They perform research and write memoranda, manage case files, do filing, copying, attend client meetings, attend trials hearings, arguments, etc. Internships are usually unpaid. They work under the supervision and with the assistance of experienced lawyers. The internship provides you exposure to multifarious people, situations and work. You have the opportunity to meet people from different states or countries having different ideologies. Interning helps you develop networking with the people of the same age having the same field of interest. The internship gives a student an opportunity to ‘audition’ a job or a field before taking a permanent position. A law internship looks good on a resume and employers are increasingly expecting to see such law internship experience on a student resume. Many law internship firms are fun and great self-confidence builders. It develops problem skills in a student. It enhances team spirit in an intern to effectively complete all the legal intern responsibilities.
  The objective of an internship is to better understand what being a lawyer involves, and the best way to do that is to be around the lawyers. The main reason for seeking an internship is to learn more about how to be a lawyer. See how they manage their time and how they change their behaviour according to the situation. It’s typical for law interns to spend much of their time researching a variety of items, including checking on precedents, past legislation or basic case fact-checking. To maintain the dignity of  legal intern responsibilities you should do extensive research as a requirement, expectations and general work environments in law firms vary from place to place.
  So what do law interns do at law firms ? or what is a legal internship for law students As an intern, the legal intern responsibilities will include keeping up with the reams of paperwork generated by law firms. Your role in organising the paperwork can include helping attorneys arrange their documents and all of the information and evidence they will need to bring to the courtroom. The most important duty of the law intern is to observe the working of the lawyers under which they are interning. Inters are required to do the administrative work of the court like inspection of the case file, applying CA, attend the trails, attend the hearings, arguments etc. An intern is required to study the case files and make the points on it. They are required to do the study on the previous judgements. As a legal intern responsibilities or duties vary based on the needs of the firm and the student’s level of experience, but typically includes basic office work such as copying and filing, legal research, client assistance and aiding lawyers with paperwork and courtroom. A large part of any legal internship is conducting research. The intern also may be asked to recommend next steps based on his research filing. An intern will typically conduct research using the internet, legal database, legal libraries and government offices. Legal interns are often responsible for writing various agreements, contracts, writs and leases.
  There are plenty of other skills that can be valuable to a law firm, depending on its need. For example, some ask interns to interact directly with the clients, etc.
  Language is one of the most important fundamental tools of a legal professional. Intern must be able to convey information in clear, concise, and logical terms. An intern should know the legal terms also. Interns also learn how to draft the petition, replies, written submissions, etc. They have to learn how to write organised, concise, and persuasive prose. Interns are required to do all those things that lawyers do in their daily life and work.
  The law internship experience is the most important part of the legal profession. As this helps you inculcate the spirit of the team effort, make you more patient and help you learn time management as there is a prevalence of a controlled and stable environment. All these things combined help you understand in which way does your coursework in preparing you for.

[This article discusses legal intern meaning and what do legal interns do]

Learn what a legal intern is, what they do, and the meaning of a legal intern. Find answers to your questions about legal internships and discover what law interns do to gain experience.

What does a legal intern do at law firms or What is a legal Internship for Law Students?
Legal internships allow students or new graduates to obtain job experience, hone their legal skills, and contribute to the success of a law company. A legal intern can help attorneys with research, writing, and case management for both new and existing cases. And as we know there is a very wide scope in this field i.e, Law so depending upon where you’re pursuing the internship whether it’s courts, law firms, or a legal department of any company and etc we get different types of exposure so the answer to the question, “What do legal interns do at law firms?” The answer varies from the nature of the organisation.

Here is how a legal intern can add value to your firm:

• A new perspective- Because legal interns are only with you for a few months, they are unfamiliar with your firm's website, advertisements, and other visual materials. A fresh pair of eyes may discover weaknesses in your site design or suggest enhancements that will help your company stay competitive in your field.

• Find traits of an ideal employee- You know what your company is looking for when interviewing and recruiting interns: Someone who is smart, versatile, and eager to learn new things. Yet what about the attributes that are difficult to assess in an interview but are critical to a successful employee's success? On paper, an intern may appear to be the complete deal, with a strong resume, cover letter, and GPA, but what if he or she is unable to work well with others? A "poor" intern hire might teach your company valuable lessons about the types of employees you might want to hire in the future. If you observe that your current intern does not work well with others, for example, you may want to hire someone who is team-oriented and willing to work well with others. Hiring an intern might help you discover which personalities perform well and which do not in your legal business. If an intern has a poor attitude, he or she will only be at your workplace for a few months, giving you time to find someone who is a better match.

• Modern Technology and Social Media Skills- The majority of legal interns will be on social media. He or she will be able to improve your company's Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram accounts with his or her knowledge. The intern will be equipped with the approaches and abilities necessary to assist your firm in engaging with clients. An intern can even train your present employees about the latest social media trends, saving you the expense of hiring a social media marketer to reach your target demographic.

• The ability to give advice in a mentor/mentee relationship- It's rewarding in and of itself to be able to teach a new generation of highly driven students how to investigate various legal subjects. As an attorney, you will be able to share your own failures and accomplishments with the intern, as well as provide him or her with valuable feedback that will help further his or her legal career.

• Free Marketing for your firm- Attorneys have a variety of marketing choices from which to select. Depending on how you treat your intern, he or she will be able to distribute positive or negative information about your legal office (for free!). As a result, the intern's parents and friends may refer your firm to others who require legal assistance. The more entertaining and informative experiences you provide your intern, the more likely your law practice will earn free word-of-mouth promotion.

• A potential new hire- You may have found a whole new attorney or legal assistant to recruit full-time when the internship is completed if you hire a legal intern who does a good job, is eager to learn, and trustworthy. Over the course of a few months working with a legal intern, you'll learn how they function under pressure, both with the team and on cases. Furthermore, your intern will be familiar with the history of your practise and the members of your staff. Your firm has just saved time in training a new full-time hire, money in hiring efforts, and energy in hunting for a new full-time attorney or assistant if you can see prospective development. Consider employing a legal intern if your firm has never employed one before or is considering doing so. Working with a legal intern is advantageous not just to the intern's personal development but also to the firm's growth and profitability.

• Legal Intern Responsibilities
  The following are the legal intern responsibilities:

• Legal internship needs to study legal documents in order to understand as to what all should be included in these.

• Legal internship is required to assist his mentor in preparing new legal documents. He needs to prepare these under the guidance of his mentor.

• Legal internship needs to study the cases and make investigations.

• Legal internship is required to accompany his mentor to the clients and speak to them about the case.

• Legal internship may meet the eye witnesses and talk to them about the case to figure out important points about the case.

• Legal internship is required to conduct research for the legal cases assigned to them.

• Legal internship may attend the court hearings and legal proceedings.

• Legal internship is required to understand the case for which he is attending the hearing by reading about it before going to the court.

• Legal internship may be required to record the court hearings or jot down important points during the court hearings.

• Legal internship is required to provide inputs while the legal reports are being prepared.

• Legal internship needs to provide inputs while the legal opinions are being formed.

• Legal internship is required to help his mentors in preparing legal papers. They need to conduct extensive research before preparing these papers.

• What is a legal internship for law students?
  Internships are an important element of the academic curriculum because they allow students to receive the practical knowledge and experience they need to succeed in their fields. Internships in the legal field are no exception. What is a legal internship for law students? Legal internships assist law students in determining their areas of interest among the many options available through legal education, whether it is a career in a corporate law firm, litigation, academia, or working for non-profit organisations.
  Importance of legal internships or what does a legal intern do at law firms can be summarized through following threefold points:
   

• Internship provides a platform for practical application of classroom knowledge.

• Legal Internships helps in gaining practical skills and hence gives an edge in the job market.

• Internship assists in choosing respective area of interest and hence in specialization.

Hope, from the above discussion things such as legal intern meaning, what is a legal internship, what do law interns do, particularly what does a legal intern do at a law firm etc are clear to readers.

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