UC Law student gains valuable client-based experience with Colorado Legal Services
Students at the University of Cincinnati College of Law use summer experiences to gain skills from working in the real world. This past summer, COVID-19 affected many students’ plans, but third-year law student Niara Stitt was still able to work remotely with Colorado Legal Services (CLS) out in Denver, Colorado.
Stitt worked for CLS in their family and children’s unit working with domestic violence, divorces, custody, and the protection of children. “Most of my work was client-based,” Stitt recounts, “and I would do intake and investigations for clients and determine whether or not it was a good case to take.” Once that was completed, she would bring her findings to the attorneys and more often than not, they would make their decision based on that information. She adds, “sometimes, based on what we brought to them, we would do a follow-up call with the attorney as well.”
When CLS brought a client on for pleadings or a full representation, Stitt would help draft their pleadings for court, gather evidence from them, and, in certain instances, do hearing preparation by going over testimony. “A majority of my work was drafting pleadings and working with people,” Stitt recalls, “and I enjoyed that very much.”
One client in particular stuck with Stitt during her time at CLS. “There was a client I worked with for the majority of the summer. I did her intake at the beginning and stayed on her case.” Stitt had to work with a translator, which meant it took a lot more time to work on the client’s case. “But she was my favorite client,” she said, “because I learned how to communicate a legal concept in layman’s terms, especially in this instance with a translator. I had to be really cognizant of how I was communicating with others.”
Last year, Stitt worked as a fellow at the Domestic Violence and Civil Protection Order Clinic through the college’s Nathaniel R. Jones Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice. That inspired her to find more work related to family law and domestic violence. She said, “I was really interested in domestic violence work and wanted to see if I liked family law more broadly. So, CLS was a great opportunity for me to take advantage of.”
Looking to the future
Stitt currently works at Freking Myers and Reul, a Cincinnati-based employment discrimination firm that also deals with labor law. She worked with them previously and enjoys doing so because it is very civil rights and individual focused.
The gravity of the work feels bigger and I love it.
Niara Stitt, law student
Stitt currently works at Freking Myers and Reul, a Cincinnati-based employment discrimination firm that also deals with labor law. She worked with them previously and enjoys doing so because it is very civil rights and individual focused.
She believes that summer work experiences are key to helping students figure out what they want to do or where they want to be after graduation. Her experience with Freking Myers and Reul sticks with her as well; she says, “I could see myself doing employment law in the future because it feels in line with what I came to law school to do, and in practice I really enjoy the work. I think the work I do is systemic and focuses on issues that can impact not just a particular client, but people in a city or in a state. The gravity of the work feels bigger and I love it.”
She plans on visiting Colorado someday after taking the bar exam. Find more information about Colorado Legal Services.
Author: Andy Cheng, graduate student & Cincinnati Law writing assistant
Feature image at top: family arguing from istockphoto.com
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