Legal internships are structured to provide students and new graduates the chance to obtain professional experience, hone legal knowledge, and network with seasoned legal professionals. These roles often involve an exchange of services between an intern and a legal firm or organization, allowing interns to determine which legal field is the best fit, obtain a letter of recommendation, or even receive academic credit. In exchange, interns help attorneys with research, writing, and other support for both new and ongoing cases.
Has your law office considered taking on a full- or part-time legal intern? If so, here are the top four advantages of engaging a legal intern for your law practice:
Modern Skills & Perspectives
Interns offer fresh perspectives that can positively impact your firm long after the brief period of their internship. There is no question about the fact that with each new generation comes new ideas, technology, skills, and viewpoints. Interns provide a window into the legal industry’s future and help keep practicing attorneys current with contemporary issues. Interns quickly pick up on new technologies and are particularly skilled at upgrading a company’s social media strategy.
Promotion
Hiring an intern can have a variety of promotional advantages, from social media endorsements to word-of-mouth recommendations to their social circles. The intern’s friends and family may then refer your firm to others who require legal assistance. The better you treat your intern, by giving them interesting and instructive experiences, the more likely it is that your law practice will get some free publicity.
Potential Hire
If you engage a legal intern who performs admirably, is eager to learn, and is trustworthy, you may have found a great candidate to hire full-time once the internship is through. Internships can serve as a trial period for finding brilliant minds who can join your team after finishing law school. As opposed to hiring a brand-new employee, it is preferable to work with someone who is already familiar with the processes of your specific firm. If your intern shows potential, your firm just saved time in training a new full-time recruit, money in hiring efforts, and the energy you would have spent seeking a new full-time attorney or assistant.
Promote Leadership Skills
The confidence and leadership abilities of current employees who serve as mentors to interns are frequently strengthened during the internship process. Many legal professionals find the ability to instruct the next generation on how to explore various legal fields rewarding. As a lawyer, you are able to share with the intern your own prior failures and triumphs and provide insightful feedback that will help further his or her legal career in the future.
It is a smart idea to engage an intern if your company has never done so in the past. Working with a legal intern is advantageous for the intern’s professional development, as well as for the expansion and success of your law practice.