Finding the right case

She was hoping to work for an attorney, or maybe job shadow a judge.

Caysey Farmer, an IU East senior, wanted to use her junior spring internship to absorb as much of the judicial system as she could. She knew that any lawyer or judge that would accept her as an intern would not have time to explain nuanced laws and procedures, but any exposure to the legal system would be important.

She is graduating a year early and has already taken the law school entrance exam, at least as a practice run. Her plan is to become a lawyer. She is interested in criminal law, but hasn’t settled on that focus.

The Hagerstown resident is pursuing a double major in criminal justice and political science, with a minor in Spanish.

Her goal in the internship wasn’t to check-off an IU East requirement. She wanted to see the day-to-day work in the legal system and make sure that it was what she was expecting before committing years to the study of law.

To fulfill her credit requirements for the internship, she wrote journal entries each week about her experience and take-aways, and what questions were surfacing. The professor who monitored her internship, Assistant Professor of Political Science Scott Lee, Ph.D., is also her honors mentor, and a practicing attorney, so he provided lots of feedback about her experiences and observations.

Lee has been at IU East for three years after going back to school for his master’s degree and doctorate and graduating in 2014.

His plan was to teach full-time as a second career, after practicing law for more than 30 years.

He works with Farmer as her advisor on her honors thesis, and monitored her internship experience, which was excellent and an example of what students and the university should strive for in exposing students to future careers, he said.

Through her internship, she was able to see the entire judicial system, including the role of judges and attorneys, and she was asked to contribute, Lee said. Judge Hill gave Farmer assignments normally reserved for a law clerk, and regularly briefed her on what was happening and the legal issues surrounding a case.

“She got to see that, and got his input, which was just excellent for her,” Lee said.

“Law school is an interesting creature. They teach you how to think like an attorney. You learn how to create and craft an argument with the full expectation of winning, regardless of which side you are on. You come away with this ability to analytically think through and craft this argument that you will present to win," he said.

Farmer came away with a much better understanding of how that process works day-to-day, Lee said.

Farmer highly recommends an experience such as an internship for any student considering working in the legal field or going to law school.

The connections she formed are still benefiting her. Judge Hill continues to mentor her, and she has asked if she can return to his court for a few hours each week throughout her final year of college. She isn’t going for the university credit. Rather, she wants to maintain the connection and continue learning.

She was also exposed to the very real human side of crime. Judge Hill had told Farmer that his court usually presides over two or three trials per year, but five were conducted just during her internship.

Two of those trials were for criminal charges of child molestation, so she was exposed to a very intense, traumatic part of the legal system. She listened to witnesses testify, and their words were difficult to hear and the process hard to watch.

In another trial, she saw the defense present a very weak case and concluded that the matter should have never gone to trial.

Some days, she would attend trials being conducted in other courtrooms in the Rush County Courthouse to get more observation of the process and how other attorneys and judges work.