Liberty Law students apply their faith and legal training during summer internships

Serving the public as an attorney has always been a goal for Liberty University School of Law 3L Alesia Miles, but she said deciding between defense and prosecution proved challenging. That decision became clear during her summer internship with the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission in the Chesterfield (Va.) Public Defender’s office, where she put her law training into real practice.

During her recent two-month internship, Miles performed client intakes at the regional jails, researched Virginia criminal statutes, and appeared in court multiple times to represent and defend clients. Miles’ Third-Year Practice Certificate, available to select law students who meet the qualifications, allowed her to represent clients under the supervision of a licensed attorney.

Miles said the experience reminded her that being a defense attorney was “a Christlike expression of what He did for us.”

“The more that I geared myself toward the defense work, the more I felt like that was where I wanted to be,” Miles said. “For me, being a Christian, I personally think being a defense attorney is probably the closest thing you can get to the Gospel. We are sinners, and we deserved everything that was coming to us. … But Jesus stood in the gap for us, and it doesn’t necessarily mean we are without consequence for those things we did, but at least we have an advocate on our behalf in front of the High Judge (God).”

“I don’t know how people can be lawyers without Jesus, without that Christian perspective that leads and guides them, because there will be very many opportunities to cut corners and not do things right,” she added. “I think being at Liberty and having that Christian ethic behind me really means everything.”

Liberty Law’s Center for Lawyering Skills and rigorous coursework like criminal procedure, evidence, and criminal law are equipping the next generation of attorneys with the skills needed to shine in internships nationwide. Like Miles, many Liberty Law students have excelled in summer internships.

For 2L Jacob Slusser and 3L David Isenhower, their experiences with First Liberty Institute, where they won Best Advocate and Best Brief in the internship’s Moot Court competition, spoke to the “quality of Liberty’s program.”

“Brief writing specifically requires you to pull together so many skills from your first and second year of law school,” Isenhower said. “It felt good to have the opportunity to write an appellate brief and bring together so many pieces. It was a great practice for me. After two years of law school, I feel like my research skills really came together this past summer.”

First Liberty Institute is a Christian legal nonprofit in Plano, Texas, 20 miles north of downtown Dallas, that focuses on religious liberty litigation and First Amendment rights.

“It was absolutely incredible, definitely the best job I’ve ever had,” Slusser said, noting that he enjoyed working alongside other interns from Baylor University, the University of Notre Dame, Arizona State, South Texas College, and George Mason University. “Everyone we worked with was so supportive. … It was really cool to hear that as a 2L and a 3L that we were putting up arguments that they think are worthy of federal court. Liberty definitely prepared me for it, and I was honored to showcase Liberty and get our name out there.”

Isenhower and Slusser said their 10-week internship led to lifelong friendships while also providing valuable professional connections, mentorship, and resources through the attorneys they worked with.

“Even if someone’s going into a field that isn’t directly related to religious liberty litigation, (First Liberty Institute) really wants to equip their interns to do well in whatever God calls them to do,” Isenhower said.