Columbus, Ohio: The Best Location for Legal Internships
Columbus, Ohio, offers a thriving legal landscape for law students and recent graduates looking to gain invaluable experience through legal internships. The metro area is home to various law firms, courts, government agencies, and legal aid organizations, providing diverse opportunities for aspiring legal professionals. With its vibrant legal community and abundant resources, Columbus is a top destination for those eager to hone their skills and further their careers. The Columbus Bar Association is a noteworthy resource for students seeking to break into the legal field. The association regularly hosts events, networking opportunities, and career resources for law students and young attorneys. Some of these activities are geared toward students like the 12th annual summer associate meet & greet held by the association on August 1st and Law Student Wellness & Stress Management on August 21st. The CBA also hosts monthly CLE programs, including Naked Ambition: How to Make Your Summer Associate Experience a Lie Detection-Free Zone, a lunch CLE on June 19th that can count toward the Ohio Supreme Court’s requirement of one CLE hour of Professional Conduct each biennial compliance period. The Franklin County Municipal Court is another vital player in the Columbus legal scene, further offering numerous clerkship and internship opportunities for law students . The courthouse is located in downtown Columbus and hears thousands of cases each year. This bustling court provides law students with access to real-life legal proceedings, giving them the chance to observe and learn from experienced lawyers and judges. In turn, this exposure and experience make graduate job searches easier for law students. The Franklin County Municipal Court is also an approved provider of CLE for Ohio attorneys. Government agencies such as the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio and the Knox County Prosecuting Attorney Office, as well as non-profit organizations and law schools also employ legal interns to assist with a variety of tasks related to the inner workings of their respective legal fields. Notables include the City of Columbus, Legal Aid Society of Columbus, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, and the John Marshall School of Law. Society members know that Columbus has a strong legal community that provides a wealth of resources and networking opportunities. This supportive environment, combined with the array of legal internships and clerkships in the area, makes Columbus an ideal place for law students to jumpstart their careers. With its vibrant community, diverse opportunities, and commitment to professional development, the city remains a top destination for legal interns.
Different Types of Legal Internships
The landscape of legal internships offers a multitude of options for those seeking to establish or further their careers. In Columbus, Ohio, internships exist at law firms ranging from small boutique practices to larger, well-established firms that operate on a national or international scale. This allows interns to gain experience in a wide variety of areas, from corporate law to family law and beyond.
Corporate legal departments within major corporations also offer internships, providing law students with the opportunity to work on internal legal processes and contribute to the business side of the practice. This can be a rewarding experience for those with an interest in corporate law or business operations.
Government agencies provide another avenue for legal internship opportunities, ranging from working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office to local government prosecutors. Interns can assist with research, preparation of legal documents, and exploration of public sector legal practices.
Internships within non-profit organizations can also be incredibly valuable. The type of work varies but often includes research, administrative support, and participation in grassroots advocacy efforts to shape policy around legal issues that matter to the community or mission of the organization.
The Columbus area is served by Columbus State Community College’s Paralegal Studies program which offers an Associate Degree in Paralegal Careers and Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Human Services. They also offer a Paralegal/Legal certificate for individuals currently employed who may have an ASD or have a changed career from one that is unrelated to paralegal studies.
These colleges also offer Paralegal Studies internships that provide students with the most meaningful hands-on experience. As a result, students earn credit while working alongside professionals to hone their skills in a professional setting. Individuals who meet the criteria may work the semester before graduation to be placed as an intern for an organization. All placements must be approved by the paralegal faculty. Faculty members are available to assist students with resume preparation, interview skills, and job search assistance. Potential internship sites may be law firms, large corporations, small businesses, and organizations.
Suburban and urban college campuses are located in Grove City, Mt. Vernon, and Worthington. Many of the colleges offer paralegal programs. Colleges are listed below:
Colleges offering Paralegal Careers Programs
Ohio Dominican University
Otterbein College
Capital University Law School
Wright State University
How to Get a Legal Internship in Columbus
The application process for legal internships often begins with a well-crafted cover letter and resume. The cover letter should be tailored to the specific position to which you are applying, demonstrating that you have researched the firm and have a sincere interest in working there. Your resume should highlight relevant experience, both academic and professional. Be sure to use clear, concise language, and avoid jargon or legal terminology unless you’re certain that your reader will understand it.
Meeting an established timeline is critical when it comes to applying for legal internships. With a few exceptions, most law firms begin recruiting early in the year for positions that will begin in the summer. To ensure that you don’t miss out on a great opportunity, ask about the application process and timeline when you have the chance, even before you submit your résumé and cover letter. Many employers will consider "early bird" applications, so it’s in your best interest to get yours in as soon as possible.
If you’re fortunate enough to land an interview, you’ll want to be prepared. Find out in advance if the interview will take place in-person or online, and do a test run with the video software well before your appointment. Wear professional attire and be sure to promote yourself as a potential asset to the firm. Use your experience to convey real-world examples of how you would contribute to the team and help achieve its goals.
For online interviews, be sure your environment is quiet and free from distractions, and position your camera so that you are clearly visible to your interviewer. To avoid technical difficulties or buffering, check your internet connection, and make sure you have the number and access codes required to join the meeting.
Top Employers Offering Legal Internships
The following is a list of some top law firms, government agencies and legal organizations in the Columbus area that may be of interest to potential student interns.
Bricker & Eckler LLP is one of the largest law firms in Ohio. With a client list ranging from Fortune 500 companies to municipalities and universities, their interns have the opportunity to be involved in a vast array of cases. The firm’s diverse practice areas and deep commitment to its clients provide a true hands-on experience for law students and recent graduates. Notable original work includes the managing of awards prosecution and subsequent infringement litigation for two of its patent-holding clients. The firm has also been renowned for its ability to help clients achieve desired outcomes in high-stakes public finance matters. Its success in this area (all told, approximately $24 billion) includes bond issues for several of the top-ranked public university student housing projects in the nation.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio provides internship opportunities in its civil and criminal divisions, as well as for law clerks. Internships and clerkships may be available at the court’s offices in Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati. First-year law students may apply for summer clerkships , while second and third-year students can apply for permanent clerk positions. Opportunities for interns in the chambers of the court’s magistrate judges are available as well.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office is the legal advocate for the residents of Ohio. The office takes on the responsibility for protecting hardworking Ohioans by prosecuting fraudsters and scams and preventing crime through victim programs as well as a statewide crime lab. The office also oversees criminal and civil legal matters concerning approximately 1,400 governmental clients. Law students and recent graduates can gain valuable insight into the legal profession through the office’s judicial program, which allows individuals to intern and even argue before a judge.
Other promising opportunities can be found with the Columbus Division of Police. Students may apply for legal internships with the general counsel unit of this municipal police bureau, allowing them to gain firsthand experience in the workings of a large law department outside the scope of a firm’s practice. Some of the projects students are responsible for include drafting research bulletins for detectives, drafting reports on police and municipal government issues, and compiling substantive law updates.
What Skills You’ll Learn From Legal Internships
Legal research is arguably the most important tool that any law student must have. In the real world, no attorney (whether it be on for a summer legal internship or otherwise) is going to have all of the law memorized in their head. They are going to have to know where to look, how to look it up, and then how to interpret it. Your legal research is vital to helping you do legal writing later on in the legal intern hiring process with the same group of attorneys. Many of those internships with law firms in Columbus expect you to be able to perform legal research and legal writing when needed and will be working under the supervision of legal professionals to help you learn how to perform this vital task. Client interaction is the next most important task to perform while obtaining a summer legal internship. The many law internships in Columbus require this as a basic necessity. During your legal internship, you are an extension of the firm and have the power to make a difference to the lives of your clients. Many of those firms that offer you a legal internship are going to be expecting you to sit in on meetings with clients, conferences, and other legal matters. You will be doing client contact the entire time that you are working at your law office summer internship and there is no avoiding it. Now, some of you may feel that client interaction is only reserved for the attorneys themselves. Others may even find it intimidating to be meeting with clients on the regular basis, and having to explain things to them in the process. This is a vital skill for a future career as a lawyer, working at law offices and helping clients like what you were exposed to during your summer legal internship is a great way to know exactly what to expect later on in your professional career as an attorney. Plus, you have to understand the legal process sufficiently in order to explain it to your client, this alone will help you in preparation of a career in law during your legal internship and beyond. This is something that will be vital later on as you build your client base and a successful reputation as an attorney. Networking is, in short, making friends with your colleagues and other attorneys that you meet during your paid or unpaid law office summer internship. You need to understand how important this is for your future career in law. You never know who is going to be sitting across the table from you for your big case in the future. You never know if that attorney who approaches you about friendship in your legal internship is going to invite you in on their big case and give you an opportunity that could change your life for the better. You want to start off on the right foot with that attorney from the chance because you don’t know exactly what his contacts are either. Networking with your fellow legal interns is equally important; you could be sitting across from them one day as opposing counsel in a case. Just because you are law office interns now and he or she is working at the same place doesn’t mean that opportunities won’t arise down the road for you both to work against each other down the line of your own law careers. It is best to be a kind, and good legal intern that networks well.
Former Intern Testimonials
"The CWA Legal Internship Program was a great way for me to get my foot in the door at a law firm, and I can now say that the experience is invaluable. During my time at Ice Miller, I learned much more than just drafting documents for firm partners or client attorneys. In addition to the projects I completed for lawyers in the firm, I also attended court hearings, conferences, and client meetings. I had the chance to witness various alternative dispute resolution methods and even had the opportunity to speak at a presentation made to the Board of United Way of Central Ohio on Ice Miller’s role in that organization." – Emily Burkhart , former summer intern at Ice Miller. Anna Heller, summer associate at Ballard Spahr, was able to apply her previous experience in a general practice law firm in Florida, completing the same type of work during her internship at Ballard Spahr that she did there. She said, "This summer I’ve grown in confidence as a law student, and I have also grown in confidence as an individual. I am confident in my ability to network with attorneys and other staff members, to produce work product that is worthy of ownership, and to make sound business decisions on my own."