“Everyone is really open to the questions that I have.”
FC: Hi, my name is Francesca and I’m currently finishing up my 2L year at Brooklyn Law School.
LB: Hi I’m Lauren, I am also finishing up my 2L year at Brooklyn Law School and I am working as a legal extern at Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.
Q. What have you been working on during your externship?
LB: I’ve been doing a lot of work with Jamie in the Landlord Tenant department. I just finished up working on renewal leases for a rent stabilized building and trying to figure out if the leases were proper or not, and most of them weren’t, and trying to figure out how much rent the tenants actually needed to be charged because they’re rent stabilized and you can only increase their rent by a certain percentage every year, so there was a lot of back and forth trying to figure out if we had done the math correctly, especially because none of the leases were proper to begin with so that made it a little difficult, but its finished and they’re getting mailed out to clients soon. I loved working with Jamie, I got to work on a lot of projects , a lot of DHCR stuff which I’d never worked on before and didn’t really know a lot about rent stabilized and rent controlled apartments and how much a landlord actually has to do to ensure that they are charging you the correct amount of rent, and Jamie was very helpful, any question I had, even if it was a very simple question I should have been able to figure out myself, she helped me walk through everything. We bounced ideas off of each other a lot, and I found that very beneficial.
FC: I’ve been working with numerous attorneys throughout the course of my internship. Well currently I’m working on an opposition for motion for summary judgement.
Q. How did you find out about this opportunity?
LB: I found out about this externship through the Brooklyn Law School and I decided I was just going to go for it. I had never worked at a law firm before, so I thought it would be a different opportunity and I wanted to try something in real estate because I found my property law class interesting and I wanted to see if it was something I actually enjoyed doing.
Q. Has this externship broadened your knowledge of real estate law?
LB: Yes, it’s definitely broadened what I thought real estate law was. In property law, you don’t really learn any landlord tenant issues, but I have found that there’s so many issues in landlord tenant law and I think that’s what I enjoy about it, because there’s many different aspects that you can work on, and many different areas of law that all connect together, and that’s one of my favorite things about law school, how everything interconnects so in landlord tenant that’s exactly what’s happening everyday.
Q. Was it more beneficial to extern with a smaller firm in comparison to a larger firm?
LB: I definitely think so, I’ve gotten to opportunity to go to court and sit on a hearing and take notes on a hearing, because no attorney could attend the hearing. I went to a deposition and took notes on the deposition as well, whereas if I was at a bigger firm I wouldn’t be sent to a deposition or a hearing by myself as an extern. I probably wouldn’t have been sent at all, someone else would have gone.
FC: I’ve been able to work with numerous attorneys, which is really cool because, I’ve never been at a relatively larger law firm before, and to be able to work with different attorneys and see how they work and what they expect has been really great experience for future purposes. I’ve been able to work on really substantive tasks, I’ve drafted motions, subpoenas, and conducted a lot of research on things that I had no idea about and through that process I’ve been learning so much.
Q. Can you briefly describe the office work culture?
FC: I have been able to work with partners and associates and I don’t think it’s been that different to work with either associates or attorneys, and I think everyone is approachable and open to questions I have so and they’ve also been very helpful.
Q. Would you recommend this externship program to other students?
FC: I think if you’re someone that likes a challenge and likes leaving your comfort zone to see yourself grow, this is definitely the place for you.
LB: I think if you’re definitely willing to work hard and work on things that you have no idea what you’re doing and are comfortable trying to figure it out on your own but still having the ability and people behind you who can help you through it and you’re willing to work hard and put in time and effort this is definitely a great place for you.