Marygrace Piskorowski '25

Working with government agency attorneys was a wonderful learning experience.  The attorneys had a variety of backgrounds and expertise and each provided the interns with a unique perspective on their cases.  At DHS, everyone was excited about their work and was always available for questions and learning opportunities.  I was able to review case files, research important law, participate in staff trainings, and sit in on many different kinds of hearings. This is a great internship to observe courtroom proceedings because the attorneys spend a lot of time in front of the judge.  I also learned a lot about the government's ability to exercise prosecutorial discretion for a variety of reasons.

The attorneys' willingness to reach out and offer new and exciting learning opportunities made me feel welcomed and appreciated.  All of the office staff in Buffalo and Batavia were great.  Their knowledge and ability to make legal arguments was impressive.  I was also very impressed with their professionalism and their commitment to coming to the right conclusion under the law. There was never a dull moment during this internship because there is a large volume of cases on the docket.  I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from such an admirable and hard-working group of people.

I would like to thank the donors to the Buffalo Public Interest Law Program (BPILP) for affording me the opportunity to complete this internship during the summer.  I am a non-traditional student with a family; the kids are home all summer.  In order to work out of the home, I needed to be able to pay for child care.  The Fellowship made this possible and helped me to feel empowered to leave for work knowing that my bills would not be an added stressor this summer because of an unpaid internship.