Hi everyone! My name is Sydney Duncan and I am a rising junior at Brandeis University. I came into Brandeis with no real direction for my future major or career. At the beginning of my freshman year, I became involved with an organization in Waltham that provides free legal representation for people trying to navigate the U.S. immigration system. This was my first real experience with law, and it inspired me to further explore classes and opportunities in the field. By the end of sophomore year, I had declared a legal studies minor and found an internship opportunity for the summer at the law office of an attorney near my hometown.
In mid-May, I began my internship as a legal assistant at the Law Office of Saikon Gbehan in Providence, RI. Attorney Saikon Gbehan Isijola, who runs the law office, specializes in both immigration and personal injury law. This combination was ideal for me, as I would get the chance both to further my knowledge and experience in a familiar legal field and to gain exposure to a new area of law. I work on a hybrid schedule, so I work in-person in Providence, RI three days a week and remotely twice a week. I value my time in-person because I get to interact with the attorney beyond work-related conversations. I have enjoyed telling her more about myself, my interest in law, and my future plans, and I have gotten to learn more about her and her business in the process. She is a very driven, knowledgeable, hard working, and impressive woman, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with her this summer.
At first, I was the attorney’s only intern, but another intern began working remotely a few weeks ago. It has been helpful to have someone to work with on important tasks, and I have had the chance to solidify my learning this summer by training and teaching the new intern as she begins her internship. While I will not meet her in person, I have enjoyed working with her and getting to know her over zoom, and I am impressed by her enthusiasm and work ethic.
Because Attorney Gbehan Isijola essentially runs her own practice, I have been able to assist her with a range of legal work, including case research, client and case-related communications via email and phone, preparing necessary case forms and documents, drafting objections and motions to be submitted to the court, sitting in on client meetings, and completing other tasks as needed. I have found this work to be highly rewarding because of the very real impact that it has on our clients and how applicable it will be to a future career in law. I have gotten to see what a typical day is like for an attorney, learned about how a firm stays organized and functions most efficiently, and received valuable feedback on my work. Through the tasks and insights I described above, I feel that I have already begun to accomplish my academic, career, and social goals of applying my knowledge from legal studies classes in a real-world context, gaining experience in the field of law, and developing my communication skills with clients. I am looking forward to the chance to complete more work like this, especially work where I interact directly with clients and prepare documents that get submitted to a court, so that I can gain even stronger communication skills and even more real-world experience.
— Sydney Duncan
WOW Fellowship Blog 