Since May 22, forty Legal Studies students have immersed themselves in the TFAS experience. From attending classes to holding summer associate positions to attending guests lectures and panels, LSI students kept busy this summer.

As one of the newest programs at TFAS, LSI caters to students who have completed their first year of law school and provides legal experience in the form of internships at organizations such as Young America’s Foundation, American Bar Association, International Law Institute and the Federalist Society.

LSI students were also given the opportunity to attend guest lectures, site briefings and events at area legal institutions. Among others, students heard from top lawyers, lobbyists, policy-makers, a federal claims court judge and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

The group attended a closing ceremony on Wednesday, July 28 at the Army and Navy Club and Former Deputy Assistant for the Attorney General’s Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, John Yoo, gave the keynote address.

Yoo spoke about his book, “Crisis in Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George W. Bush,” which outlines each American president’s terms. Yoo examined what contributed to each presidency and argues that most presidents’ popularity is based on how they are portrayed by the media.

University of the Pacific student and intern at the National Science Foundation, Ann Michelle Hart, gave a student testimonial during the ceremony.

She described how exciting it was to be in Washington, to tour the monuments and to hear from speakers such as Judge Robert Cupp, lawyer and Ohio supreme court justice.

“Our time in D.C. has given us prospective on what it’s like to be a lawyer, to do substantive work and to gain…skills relevant to finding that first job out of law school.”