summer law internship program
UPS Enriches Atlanta Bar Summer Law Internship Program
P
roviding meaningful opportunities for talented minorities
to pursue a career in the law has been the focus of
many UPS Corporate Legal Department activities.
The commitment is further reinforced by Teri P. McClure,
UPS Senior Vice President of Legal, Audit and Compliance,
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, who serves on
the Board of Directors of the Leadership Counsel on Legal
Diversity (LCLD) and is a member of the Legal Pipeline
Committee. LCLD was formed nationally in 2009 among
corporate legal officers and various firm managing partners
to strengthen the pipeline of diverse youth moving from U.S.
colleges into and through law school.
UPS has hosted a variety of different interns, from Justice
Benham’s Law Camp to the ACC Georgia Chapter’s 1L’s
Summer Minority Intern to the Atlanta Bar Association
Summer Law Intern Program (SLIP). For three years, UPS
also has participated in the Street Law Program at Maynard
Jackson High School.
While each internship experience was fun, meaningful and
rewarding for both UPS and the students, the value was
limited by the program’s short duration.
That prompted UPS attorney Darren Jones to propose a
UPS strategic partnership with the Atlanta Bar that would
expand the SLIP experience beyond the first summer. For
six weeks in the summer from the intern’s rising freshman
year in college through graduation, they’ll be exposed to
a broader scope of opportunities in business, the law and
pro bono service. This will enrich SLIP’s traditional focus
to teach high school graduate interns the importance of
confidentiality, professionalism, punctuality, attention to
detail, and appearance.
SLIP’s success is clear with six former interns now lawyers in
the community and active program participants. In addition,
many other SLIP alumni are either enrolled in college or
pursing law or other advanced degrees.
UPS begins its four-year program this summer with a goal
to sustain interest by interns to pursue a career in the
legal profession. Mentoring and developing longer term
relationships is a key component. The program will include
time spent in the following areas:
Year 1 UPS Corporate Legal internship (Atlanta)
Year 2 UPS Public Affairs internship (Washington, D.C.)
Year 3 Core Counsel Network Law firm internship (Atlanta)
Year 4 Legal Department or other business function
internship (Atlanta)
The success of the student in each component of the program
will be measured annually to determine the continued
commitment to that student for the entire four years.
Christi Moore, UPS’s SLIP intern last summer while a rising
freshman at Davidson College, has been selected to continue
in the four-year program. She’ll work with the UPS Public
Affairs group in Washington this summer to learn about and
participate in the legislative and political process.
Terrel Davis, a graduate of Greater Atlanta Adventist
Academy, will be the 2012 SLIP participant this summer in
the UPS Corporate Legal Department in Atlanta.
The program has been welcomed with enthusiasm by 2012
SLIP co-chairs Nekia Hackworth, Assistant United States
Attorney (and a former summer intern), Wade Malone, with
the law firm of Nelson Mullins and Natasha Silas, with the
Federal Defender Program.
They continue the 20-year success of SLIP that had 32
participants last year and turned away many worthy students
for lack of host companies or firms. The interns undergo a
rigorous screening process before selection and are carefully
monitored by the Atlanta Bar co-chairs and other mentors on
a weekly basis. (See 2012 Class on page 27).
26
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
June/July 2012
From left to right: Betsy Griswold, Christi Moore, Darren
Jones, Shannon Spain.
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association