Abington's Internship Becomes A Student's "Legal Addiction"

Early on, Chris Kerr knew he was hooked. During what was supposed to be a one-day a week internship in the Philadelphia Municipal Court system, Kerr, a senior majoring in administration of justice at Penn State Abington, found that he wasn’t going home at five o’clock. He also was going to the office five days a week, not one, and frequently staying for twelve hours at a time.

On several occasions, court workers even told him to go home, but Kerr knew he couldn’t. He was addicted–to the law.

Kerr, not surprisingly, wants to be a lawyer–maybe corporate, maybe criminal–he hasn’t decided. But he is sure he wants to be involved with court law. "I want to be in the trenches. The court is where the action is," said Kerr.

Kerr’s academic internship not only solidified an early interest in the criminal justice system, but also helped him focus on the courtroom aspect of the profession.

The Municipal Court includes the Criminal Division, which handles cases with a maximum sentence of five years or less, and the Civil Division, which handles cases where the amount in controversy is $10,000 or less. It also has initial jurisdiction in processing every criminal arrest in Philadelphia, and conducts preliminary hearings for all felony arrests.

Kerr said he is especially pleased about having had the opportunity to tag along with Seth Williams, Assistant Chief of Municipal Court Unit for the City of Philadelphia and a Penn State alumnus who started his academic career at the Abington campus.

"I knew I was going to be disappointed if my duties consisted solely of getting coffee and faxing. But that was not the case. Mr. Williams gave me the opportunity to prove myself and work to my potential," Kerr said. The senior says he met judges and police officers, researched cases, assigned special cases to lawyers, and helped with witnesses. "Getting witnesses to show up for cases wasn’t as difficult as convincing them to stay the long hours," Kerr said.

He discovered the criminal justice system is not as glamorous as portrayed on TV shows like The Practice. "Lawyers are overworked and spend most of their time researching their cases. The majority of cases don’t even make it to court. This is just one reason the internship program is so important. It opens your eyes to the realities of the job so you know what you are getting into," Kerr said. "I would recommend it to all students before they graduate."

And more and more Penn State students at both Abington and Delaware County campuses are enjoying "real world" internship experiences similar to Kerr’s.

Carol DeBunda, director of the career development center at Penn State Abington, said internships are required for four-year degrees in business administration, administration of justice, and information science and technology. They are optional, but encouraged, in the integrative arts, English, American studies, science, and letters, arts and sciences four-year degree programs, she added.

"Many of our students first look upon this as little more than a requirement for graduation, but virtually all of them return from their internships excited about what they have experienced and learned," she said.

"For me, my graduation requirement became a life changing experience," Kerr said "I am definitely going to law school." Case closed.