Hannah Farkas

Thank you all very much for recognizing me with the Audrey J. Harris Summer Internship Award. Working for the Wisconsin Department of Justice in the Criminal Appeals unit was extremely fulfilling, and I learned so much about the law and the court system. I made many relationships with the paralegals and attorneys in my unit, and I am grateful to have met so many hardworking and dedicated people.

This internship has opened my eyes to what a career in law would be like and has made me feel even more passionate about working in the criminal justice field.

For my internship, I was responsible for opening the attorneys’ cases into the DOJ database. I would file documents with the court and enter information about the case, such as offender profiles, charging information, etc., into the database. I also would send notices of appearance to the DA’s. My main responsibility was editing the attorneys’ response briefs. When someone convicted of a crime writes an appeal, the DOJ attorneys would be responsible for writing a response brief either affirming or denying the circuit court decision. I would edit that response brief and cite check each case, record or statute cited in the brief. I also read and edited the briefs for grammatical errors. When finished editing, after receiving the attorneys’ comments to my edits, I would finalize and create a table of contents for the brief. After this step, I would either mail or file the brief with the court.

This scholarship helped me pay my expenses while working my unpaid internship and volunteering at the UW Law School’s Family Court Clinic. I want to thank you again for helping me pursue my ambitions this summer. I learned so much and feel so honored to have been able to serve the state of Wisconsin.