The Superpower of the Judicial Intern Opportunity Program

• Author: Barbara J. Dawson
• Position: The author is a partner with Snell & Wilmer, Phoenix, and chair of the Section of Litigation.
• Pages: 4-5

Opening Statement

Published in Litigation, Volume 46, Number 1, Fall 2019. © 2019 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be

copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association. 4

BARBARA J. DAWSON

The author is a partner with Snell & Wilmer, Phoenix, and chair of the Section of Litigation.

I write in praise of the Judicial Intern

Opportunity Program, or JIOP. The mis-

sion of JIOP is to provide judicial intern

opportunities to law students who are

members of groups that are tradition-

ally underrepresented in the profession,

including racial and ethnic minorities;

women; students with disabilities; stu-

dents who identify themselves as lesbian,

gay, bisexual, or transgender; and students

who are economically disadvantaged. It

provides the experience of spending six

weeks in a summer during law school

working closely with a judge as a mentor

in any of a number of U.S. cities. It also

offers a $2,000 stipend to participants,

which helps to make the experience ac-

cessible to a broader range of worthy

candidates.

The program has been in existence for

19 years. It is a point of pride for the ABA

Section of Litigation, its primary spon-

sor for more than 17 years. It has offered

judicial intern experiences to 2,800 law

students. The superpower of the program

comes in two forms: (1) allowing prom-

ising nontraditional students to see how

the judicial system works from the seat

next to a judge and envision themselves

in the roles of lawyers and judges; and

(2) helping those students to believe that

they can succeed in this profession, with

the encouragement and support of relat-

able judges and lawyers who are deeply

invested in their success.

How It Works

The program is focused on the growth

and support of the participating students

from start to finish. Applicants are first

screened in interviews with practicing

litigators who volunteer for these roles.

As that screening interview may be a stu-

dent’s first law-related interview, it is in-

tended to be part of the learning process.

Following the initial screening, success-

ful applicants are matched with federal

and state judges who have volunteered to

participate in this program. Those judg-

es then interview the applicants recom-

mended for their chambers in person or

by phone. The rounds of screening inter-

views by litigators and judges who are pas-

sionate about the virtues of the program

are often cited by participating students

as a very meaningful part of the learning

process that this unique program offers.

Once selected for a judicial internship,

the students are often in for one of the

best developmental experiences of their

lives. Many of the JIOP judges have been

committed to the program for years be-

cause they so value the chance to open

doors for a promising future member of

the profession through this internship re-

lationship. These judges appreciate that

they are likely going to have the chance to

help a student with much raw talent and

drive but potentially little personal expo-

sure to the world of judges and lawyers.

Consequently, JIOP mentoring often in-

cludes “ride alongs” to bar or community

meetings and to gatherings of lawyers and

judges, allowing a JIOP student to really

see a judge’s world outside of chambers.

An important additional part of the

support network for JIOP participants is

SEEING AND

BE L IE V ING—T HE

SUPERPOWER OF

THE JUDICIA L

INTERN OPPORTUNITY

PROGRAM

Illustration by D ave Klug