The Internship Chase: Alumni Stories

The Internship Chase: Alumni Stories

There are almost 16,000 law students in Israel * After they graduate, most of them hope to find the best possible internship * Four Faculty graduates who are currently working as interns tell us about their choices and offer some tips for future interns The third year students in the Faculty are currently choosing their internship for next year. While some students are certain that they want to specialize in the private or public sector, others are still unsure what direction they want to take. We spoke to four Faculty graduates who have already made their decision and asked what insights they have to offer the next generation.

Noga Blickstein Aged 27, intern in the Supreme Court with Justice Yitzhak Amit Why the public sector? "“I’m not quite sure which I prefer, private or public,” admits Noga, who has completed her internship and must now decide on her next move. “In terms of the internship, I think the public sector is slightly preferable. In a short internship lasting just one year, I think interns in the public sector can be given greater responsibility that in the private sector.”

Tell us about your internship: "“A court internship is different from other public internships,” Noga begins. “The Supreme Court is also different from other courts, because the cases are more significant and interesting and touch on complex legal issues that need particular reflection and study.” The interns prepare opinions for the judges about incoming cases, summarize the facts, write abstracts and make recommendations. The interns also perform functions supporting the justices’ work, such as arranging the courtroom, preparing files for hearings, researching legal literature and case law, examining comparative law, and so forth. “We also calculate compensation in damages cases and check various aspects in order to facilitate the writing of the rulings,” Noga adds. “Even if the final rulings do not include all the research we have done, it’s still valuable. For example, Article 79A of the Courts Law empowers courts to give a compromise the authority of a court ruling. When the justices suggest a compromise they don’t just pluck a figure out of thin air. We work hard so that the justice knows what compromise to suggest. He uses our research even if he doesn’t write a ten-page ruling.” What’s special about this internship? "“I think I learned a lot about how court procedures work, how justices seek to make their decisions, and how the litigants sometimes need to know how to interpret hints from the justices. I think there’s a lot of truth in the saying “hard cases make bad law.” The justices try to make their rulings as accurate and precise as possible. Sometimes people imagine a kind of Utopian court where judges sit all day making Solomonic judgments. In reality trials are much more practical and mundane, and the litigants also come with this approach. The court tries to find solutions for their problem. I’ve learned a lot about legal proceedings in all fields of law and I’ve worked on a wide range of cases. You are exposed to a large number of cases and you get a ‘taste’ of all kinds of fields. It’s a good opportunity to see which fields you find most interesting.” What’s your tip for the younger generation? "“When you’re in an interview, you sometimes get the feeling that the place isn’t right for you, let alone whether you’re right for them. It’s important to try to work out what message the place conveys and what you want. Sometimes we can’t make our minds up and try to collect external information to help us decide where to do our internship. But I think the feeling you get during your interview can really help tip the scales.” For students hoping to do their internship in the Supreme Court, we asked Noga what qualities she thinks are required for the position. “You need to be very thorough and to be capable of analyzing cases carefully and precisely,” she replies. “That’s true of the legal profession in general, of course. It’s easy to dismiss something that sounds implausible, but you have to avoid the temptation and make sure that everyone enjoys their day in court. As an intern, you help the justice make these checks, and the more seriously you take your job, the more the litigants get out of the process.” Noga also mentioned hard work, intelligence, human relations, and social skills in a small office as important qualities for the position.
Omer Ben Matitiyahu Aged 28, intern in Amit, Pollak, Matalon & Co. – Tax Department Why the private sector? "“I’m very attracted to commercial law and particularly to taxation, which relates to all types of commercial transactions,” Omer explains. He also gives some specific reasons for avoiding the public sector: “I don’t see the professional horizon in the public sector. The possibilities for promotion are much more problematic. In terms of the scope of work, too, it seems to me that if you work from nine to five during your internship year, you learn much less than if you’re at the office until eight in the evening.” Matitiyahu is not put off by the long hours demanded by the major law firms.
Tell us about your internship: "“Our department operates on a pool basis. I think that’s the best way of managing internships. Within a given field, you’re exposed to as many different people and opinions as possible and you have multiple sources for acquiring knowledge.” By way of example, Omer explains that he works with two partners, but when he wanted to diversify his experience he was added to a team from the commercial department working on a merger deal. Many students are concerned that the major law firms will not provide proper training and will expect them to run before they can walk. Omer has a reassuring message: “My training process was nothing less than perfect. Whatever I’m working on, they explain how to do it and if necessary they correct me again and again. The learning process is vital in order to produce good attorneys. The firm is looking for interns to fill in a gap for a year: they want people who will grow together with the firm and become good attorneys, and in the future partners in the firm.” Omer was supposed to begin an internship in accountancy, but in the end he preferred to stay in the firm: “I realized that I enjoy the work here. The atmosphere is fun and family-like. The partners know my wife and I know their children.” What’s special about this internship? "“I’ve been here for a year and a half and I’ve dealt with things that none of the interns I know has been exposed to in other firms. One example is participating in high-level meetings in merger deals involving the some of the leading investment houses in Israel. Another is meeting with some very prominent names in the Israeli economy to plan their taxes. I negotiate with clients by myself, without an attorney being present, because they trust me. They’ve given me the tools and they know I can do the job.” Omer shared one of his experiences during his internship: “We worked on a deal to sell an Israeli start-up company to an American company. The deal was worth hundreds of millions of dollars and I was a full partner in the process from start to finish. When the deal was completed, the senior partner who managed the process sent an email to everyone in the office thanking all those who contributed to the process.” The senior partner made particular mention of four people who performed outstanding work, one of whom was Omer. “As an intern who’d only been in the firm for four months, it was far from obvious that I would be mentioned in this context. It’s very satisfying when people acknowledge your input and recognize its importance to the process. It makes you get up in the morning for work with a smile on your face,” Omer concludes. What’s your tip for the younger generation? “Rather than choosing a good law firm, you need to choose a good ‘school.’ The biggest mistake in choosing an internship is to look at the firm’s ranking and how many attorneys it employs. The first thing to do is to speak to interns in the firm and ask them how things work, how they feel, and how much they are involved in the process. If you choose to go to a high-ranking firm but you end the year with the feeling that you didn’t really learn too much, then the experience didn’t really do anything to build your future career.”

Or Alkon Aged 27, intern in Agmon & Co. (Jerusalem), Monopolies and Taxes Department Why the private sector? “Throughout my studies in the Faculty, I found commercial law the most appealing field,” says Or, who also experienced work in the Ministry of Justice as a student. “I spent a lot of time asking myself where I wanted to go. On the one hand the public sector embodies a lot of values, and that’s important. Even so, I decided that for my internship I had to try out the commercial market.” Or comments: “During your studies you see everything in black and white terms. But today I can see that private law firms aren’t all negative.” Private sector workers sometimes feel a need to do something different. In Agmon & Co. they’ve found a solution to this: the firm has launched a volunteering initiative. “Every worker is allocated 50 hours for volunteer work,” Or explains. “I am working at a center for blind people in a non-legal capacity.”
Tell us about your internship Or participates in meetings with CEOs and company directors that we read about in the press. “We deal with very big cases, and the work is very much grassroots based. It’s not like a theoretical class about corporations. You get to see behind the scenes and it’s very interesting,” he relates. “I watch attorneys that I know are outstanding professionals and I learn from how they act. Sometimes I spend days on end attending meetings and simply listening. The firm believes that interns need to see everything, so I have a real opportunity to learn.” What’s special about this internship? “I decided to stay in Jerusalem, and at the time I made my decision it seemed to me there were two really top-rank firms in the city – Agmon and Yigal Arnon. Agmon has expanded significantly recently and it has a strong family character,” Or explains. “They look at your performance and your interpersonal relations and they’re not obsessed with how many hours you put in. The firm understands personal needs: for example, people who have children can leave the office early one day a week.” The firm is divided into teams that usually consist of one partner, two or three attorneys and an intern. “This method ensures that people get to know you and can see if you need help in a particular area.” Like Omer, Or has a positive message to convey regarding training in large firms: “You are treated as an individual and the relationship develops naturally. They take notice of you. I really liked it and felt I was part of the team. Tomorrow, for example, we’re all going on a staff outing together.” What’s your tip for the younger generation? “People need to decide which field of law they finds most interesting, and then go to the top two or three firms in that field. The second most important factor are the personal relations and work hours in the firm. When I was a student I didn’t really think about reasonable work hours and I didn’t ask about it in the interviews. I just wanted to find a position in the best firm I could, and hope that they would also be decent guys. So what if I need to stay at the office for another hour in the evening – I’ll work like crazy and eventually it will be over. But it’s never over – the attorneys work just as hard as the interns. Firms that treat their interns well also treat their staff attorneys well, and the opposite is also true. Internship is your first step – it isn’t detached from the rest of your career. When you come to a firm you acquire credit there, so it’s worth making sure that you choose a firm that’s right for you in the long term.
Yosef Berman Aged 28, intern in the State Attorney’s Office Why the public sector? “When I applied for law school I already knew that I didn’t want to work in the private sector,” Yosef recalls. “I wasn’t interested in how much I was going to make.” Yosef wanted to use his law studies as a basis for bringing justice wherever it is needed. “I know it’s a clich?,” he admits, “but I think this clich? is really brought to life in the public sector and I haven’t been disappointed.” He feels that attorneys in the private sector can sometimes find themselves at the mercy of their clients’ whims. “Even if you don’t like something and it goes against your beliefs you have to keep the client happy. In our case, the client is the state. It doesn’t dictate a predetermined outcome, but empowers you to reach the true and proper outcome according to standards of law and justice,” he claims. “I was looking for somewhere where I could give something to the country, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see just how true that is."
Tell us about your internship “Some people seem to think that public sector workers go home at four o’clock in the afternoon,” Yosef begins. “Sometimes I only get home at ten o’clock at night, and every day is chock full with discussions.” Yosef explains that the intern “has to prepare an opinion ahead of legal discussions, at the request of the state attorney or his assistants. An intern is always present in the discussions, except for confidential inner meetings.” The State Attorney’s Office deals with hundreds, if not thousands, of requests on a wide range of issues. “For example, we might receive a letter from a woman who has suffered injustice, and we have to reply and see whether there’s any room for us to intervene or to refer her to the right place.” When asked what he has learned from his internship, Yosef replies: “I’ve lost some of the cynicism I might have had before I came here. I’ve been surprised to see that the typical student declaration that ‘we’re going to make sure justice is done’ is really present at the discussion tables here. That’s very exhilarating. The internship here is also a rare opportunity to rub shoulders with the very top names in the Israeli legal world. You have a chance to acquire real analytical skills.” What’s special about this internship? Yosef says that his internship has exposed him to subjects he could not have encountered elsewhere, such as highly sensitive discussions and “all kinds of things you read about in the headlines.” He explains: “You get a bird’s eye view of everything that’s going on in the legal field. Of course the work can sometimes be tiring or prosaic, but you always have a sense of mission and an awareness that you’ve been given a rare opportunity to peek into the world of truly great jurists that you used to know from the newspapers and now you sit alongside them. Suddenly you start to see how processes work from the inside. You understand things that you used to criticize when you only read about them on websites. You get to deal with issues of life and death and you have a sense of true privilege.” Yosef describes the atmosphere in the interns’ room and in the State Attorney’s Office in general as very pleasant. “The door’s always open and you receive hands-on training, even if it’s not always immediate. If you need something they don’t forget you,” Yosef claims. “If you want to schedule time with the state attorney, you are free to do so. Another advantage is that whoever you call on the phone jumps to help you. If you need to speak to another attorney or to someone in a government ministry, you get straight to the top brass.” What’s your tip for the younger generation? “Students from the Hebrew University Law Faculty enjoy a certain prestige and don’t have to spend time learning the penal code by heart. Your transcript sheet proves your knowledge, but what really matters is to be willing to give your all. They’re looking for people who can see the big picture and who have a smile on their face. You have to show that you have good interpersonal relations and can conduct yourself like a decent human being.”