Two-Week Summer Pro Bono Externship at Weil

Earlier this summer, I did a pro bono externship for two weeks, where I assisted on housing cases. Weil provides summer associates with the opportunity to do pro bono work for two weeks over the summer in another legal organization. In my externship, I had the opportunity to write a brief, draft a complaint, conduct an intake interview with a client, observe oral argument in a New York Supreme Court case, attend hearings in Housing Court, and research housing policy in New York City.

During my pro bono externship, I reflected on my visit to the Tenement Museum with Weil colleagues in June. At the museum, we learned about the stories of immigrants in the early 20th century on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. We discussed the inextricable links between housing and community, family, experience, and culture. As I joined the fight for fair housing and equal opportunity during my pro bono externship, I also felt like I contributed to my organization’s efforts to make those links enduring.

One reason I decided to work at Weil this summer is the firm’s dedication to pro bono work. Weil’s two-week pro bono externship opportunity for summer associates is a reflection of Weil’s understanding that pro bono work is vital to any law practice, and an illustration of Weil’s philosophy that its pro bono hours are its “finest hours.”