Seveah Schneider-Zamora: Criminal Defense Intern at Hoglund Law

This summer, political science undergraduate Seveah Schneider-Zamora worked as a Criminal Defense Intern at Hoglund Law. Read the below Q&A to learn more about Seveah's internship experience.

How did you find out about this internship?

I found this position in the political science newsletter, the PoliSci Pulse, in the Job Opportunities spreadsheet that the department continuously updates.

What were your primary responsibilities?

My main task was what they called "discovery reviews/notes." This means looking over police reports, evidence such as videos & phone calls, and photos connected to the case. Once looked over, I would write a report to summarize the case so the attorneys could read a condensed version of the case and ensure the contents of the police report matched the video evidence. I was also able to work on some expungement cases with one of our attorneys. I called many police and district attorney offices, and I wrote up many plea petitions, as well as other plea agreement paperwork that was needed.

What big projects did you work on?

We have a large case that is a more aggressive criminal charge that I am doing research for. This research consists of cross-checking an individual's prior cases for similarities, calling police stations for backgrounds of the individual's criminal history–the juvenile priors are not on our online access–and looking up different subjects to try and dismiss/lessen certain charges.

What did you learn from your internship?

I learned that you need to be very precise when writing up reports for attorneys because if we get those even slightly wrong, the attorneys are held liable for the mistake in court. I also learned that this job, although stressful at times, definitely has its high moments, especially when you have a team who works well together.

What was your biggest takeaway?

Internships are all about finding out what you like; I was lucky enough to have gotten a firm that had a criminal defense department as well as other areas of law, like bankruptcy, that I could choose to be a part of.

What are your future career goals? How did your internship prepare you for this future?

As of now, I am still very interested in going into criminal law, but of course that means passing the bar. The staff and environment of this internship prepared me for my future by being able to get advice from people who have already gone through what I'm about to. The staff didn't go easy on me and give me simple cases/tasks; I was given multiple things at a time and was given criticism, which I appreciated, to ensure that my next project was more spot on to what they needed.

How did POL 3080: Internship in Politics or Government enhance your internship experience?

This class allowed me to really reflect on the tasks I did weekly at my internship by needing to write a journal. I was also learning a lot with the readings I did every week. The interviews we were assigned were also helpful and interesting as I got to speak with people who have jobs that I may want someday–mine were with an attorney from our firm and a former politician from Wisconsin. Not only did I get advice, but I got academic credits for simply learning new things that I would have tried to do anyways.

What advice would you give to other students interested in this type of internship?

I would say do it! You don't know if you like or dislike something until you try it. I have wanted to go into criminal law for the past three years now, and I've had friends who interned in this type of law and strongly dislike it, which scared me. I, however, absolutely loved this internship and the type of law I worked in, and was lucky enough to get a job offer from them at the end of my internship. But if you try it and learn you don't like a certain type of law, then you have one less area that you need to explore!

What else you would like to add?

I know that many people get nervous to ask for help or clarification, but at internships, it is the best place to do that! I was able to get feedback from the attorneys and legal assistants and ensure that the work I was doing was correct so I didn't have to redo it.