MIND / ‘...way to fulltime careers’

gram is mandatory, Coleman said.

While other law rms o er paralegal and support sta internships, many are unpaid, which can be hard for students who are working full time while going to school, Coleman said.

She is impressed with Ward and Smith’s paid internship model, which is carefully designed as real on-the-job training.

“Ward and Smith is coming through with a structured working experience, and is really committed to making it work,” Coleman said. “ e fact that they have a structure, and they have a competitive application process, and intentionally provide them with a broad range of experience, they’re just doing a really nice job with their program.”

Finding the right match

Part of Ward and Smith’s unique approach is exposing interns to a broad range of duties and practice areas. e rm has an email queue that any fulltime paralegal or administrative assistant can use to post an assignment. Whoever has capacity that day simply takes it. Sta and interns may be tasked with a variety of duties like dra ing documents, calling courthouses, or writing correspondence

“ e interns might get to work in three di erent sections in one day,” Denoyer said. “We let them get their feet wet in all our practice areas.”

For Jones, working at Ward and Smith has been eye-opening and rewarding.

“ e variety of tasks a paralegal must perform is ludicrous, and an exact match with the type of job I wanted,” she said. “I wanted a career that makes me want to go to the o ce and see what dragons there are to slay, even that involves 1,000-plus pages of redaction.”

Two interns in Ward and Smith’s 2023 class are students at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, where paralegal students working toward their associate degree are required to complete a 160-hour internship. the job.

“Ultimately the student is responsible for nding a job and getting hired, but we do help them with placement,” said Jessica Cornette Faulk, who teaches in the college’s paralegal program. Faulk is also in charge of work-based learning.

“What I like most about this internship is the teamwork and how everyone is willing to help you understand the many di erent aspects and technologies that accompany paralegal work and ultimately accomplish your goals,” she wrote in an email.

She adds that a er her internship ends, she’ll be ready for any type of job in a law rm.

“My internship has given me real experience in the legal workforce,” she wrote. “I have performed many of the duties I’ve studied about, and I love being able to put those skills to work for Ward and Smith.”

Learning from experience

Students applying for internships at Ward and Smith start with an interview with a team made up of Denoyer, the rm’s administrative services manager, and paralegal supervisors in each of the rm’s practice

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“Internships help our students get real-world experience, and they help attorneys ll a sta ng need,” she said. “We’re training the future paralegals in the legal profession.”

When students graduate from Cape Fear’s paralegal program, they o en leave with a portfolio of experiences with tasks like motions, deeds, wills or other work products.

“I want paralegals that come out of this program to become an expert in their eld, to know everything there is to know about their practice area and be indispensable to their attorney,” she said.

Cape Fear student Jessica Carroll, a paralegal intern in Ward and Smith’s Wilmington o ce is learning that lesson on the job and enjoys taking a collaborative approach on

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT PARALEGAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS, CONTACT:

Jessica Denoyer, Ward and Smith JLDenoyer@wardandsmith.com

Vicki Coleman: Pitt Community College vgcoleman356@my.pittcc.edu

Jessica Cornette Faulk: Cape Fear Community College Jcfaulk673@mail.cfcc.edu

Precious Vines Harris: Durham Technical Community College paralegal@durhamtech.edu

CAROLINA PARALEGAL E-FILING