Meet Student Intern Jelissy Rivera
Reviewed by Mark R. Miller, Esq.
How did you first become interested in working in the legal field?
When I was growing up, my grandma always used to tell me that I would be the first female president. In Chicago, you have to apply to high school, so when I was researching schools across the city, I saw the law program at Jones College Prep. I knew I was interested because becoming president was always in the back of my mind, so law seemed like a good path. I applied for my school’s law program, and I got in, and I’ve been doing it ever since.
What does your school’s law program look like?
It’s an additional class that takes the place of an elective and each year focuses on a different topic. The first year is criminal law and the second year is civil law. You learn about torts, constitutional law, and more, then both years you do a mock trial. In your junior year, you take a criminal psychology class that counts for college credit. Over the summer between junior and senior year, you can apply to an internship as part of the program. I worked at Northwestern Law School. Then as a senior, it all culminates into a law internship where you practice your skills, which I am doing here at Wallace Miller.
Mirena Fontana, Managing Litigation Paralegal, has been overseeing my internship. At the beginning, I met with people from different areas to understand every job in the firm. I visited people from the pre-litigation department, I talked with people working on settlements, I worked with the Survivor Advocacy and mass torts teams. Sometimes I joined a meeting to see how case meetings go, and other times I went to lunch with someone to see what I could learn. Now that I’ve worked with most of the departments, I’m working on projects. I’ve been able to help the Survivor Advocacy team by researching some of their defendants. I’ve been looking at abstracts from different depositions and presenting to the attorneys, which has been a great learning experience. Mirena has been taking me through what we call the life of the case. She started from scratch, the first things you get from a case, and she’s been working me through each step as it happens. Because there are so many different aspects of a case and I’ve been here for six months, it’s a great way to learn. She also wanted me to get practical experience, so I’ve been able to watch the attorneys on the Survivor Advocacy team go to a hearing. That was remarkable, watching them argue.
What has been a highlight of your time at the firm?
The hearing was my highlight. It was surprising because I was ready for a law TV show, and it was nothing like that, obviously. It was cool seeing them argue because it was a really specific case and I knew a lot of the details, because I’d been working with them, so I understood what was happening. Another highlight has been some of the work I’ve done on deposition abstracts. I’ve been going through and making an abstract of the deposition transcript. That’s a significant assignment and I wasn’t sure if I would get the chance to do something like that. I’ve never done anything like that before and I wanted to make sure I did everything right, because that’s something that the attorneys could actually reference in this case.
What have you learned while working at Wallace Miller?
One of the insights I’ve gained, since I’ve met with so many different attorneys and people in different places in the firm, is all the different paths that people can take to get to where they are. It’s been impressive learning that even if you know you want to do something, there can be different steps to getting there. I’ve also worked a lot with legal assistants and I’ve seen how much they do and how much of the legal system is behind the scenes. That’s not something I was really aware of until I saw it in action—the volume of work that paralegals and legal assistants and all those people behind the scenes do.
What has it been like working with so many different people in different roles?
It has really allowed me to understand how this is a working machine and if one part’s missing, it’s not going to work. For example, I spent one day with the office coordinator, and he does so many things. And if one small thing isn’t processed right, it messes up everything people are working on. It really showed how big a job that really is, even if you don’t always see it. In a similar way, the paralegals do so much work so that the attorneys are able to do their jobs and argue in front of a judge. It really shows how everybody working together makes everything happen.
What skills has the internship helped you develop?
I’ve strengthened my writing skills because it’s a different type of writing than I’m used to, more professional and technical. I also learned to really take in what’s happening. Everyone here knows what they’re doing and they’re good at what they do, and so just listening and taking everything in allows me to learn even more. I sat in on a lot of meetings for different cases, so I learned to follow along and pick up bits and pieces until I understand what’s going on, which is a great skill to have when you’re thrown into something.
What’s next for your legal career?
I will be attending American University in the Fall, where I will be majoring in Communications, Law, Economics, and Government. It would be a dream if I could intern on Capitol Hill one day.
Jelissy’s eagerness to soak up knowledge fully utilized the inside glimpse of the inner workings of every aspect of our firm, our cases, and the opportunity to observe how we as a “team” provide our clients with outstanding representation. By way of shadowing and contributing, Jelissy displayed all the qualities necessary to be a great asset to our legal community. We’re honored to be a part of her journey and look forward to keeping up with her future successes!
