This article has been authored by team Ghostline Legal.

Introduction

Consider, an aspiring graduate student enters a law firm on the first day of his/her internship full of anticipation, fear and a desire to learn. However, a few days later. They start feeling like an outcast, as various discussions take place in groups and pairing appears discriminative, with hidden prejudices floating in the air. The intern is disappointed and dejected even after the prestigiousness of the firm. In another scenario, where the same intern is greeted by a firm that is welcoming, where the communication is open, where people are being visible doing things that make them believe they could fit in the place. This is not just a better experience but a foundation of a better legal profession. Law firms should understand that an internship is not only about the talent pipeline but also cultural ambassadors. This welcoming and polite culture, which seems to be “nice to have”, is a necessity.

The Need for Inclusion in Legal Internships

The exposure of the law students to the legal world is the first exposure many are offered through internships. This is a short period that forms their perceptions about law firm cult, expectation and practice. The sad thing is, there are many law firms that continue to work under a limited meaning of excellence in that they give preference to interns who attended the top law universities or possess a particular social background. This accidentally excludes those good students who happened to attend other universities or communities that are marginalised. 

Providing internship inclusive implies establishing an inclusive internship environment in which every intern, irrespective of gender, caste, class, disability, region and sexual orientation, feels welcomed, respected, appreciated and acknowledged. It is not only equality of access but equality of experience.

Orientation & Onboarding 

A well structured orientation programme sets the tone for providing wholesome inclusion internship experience. In many cases, interns have been left on their own to sort or use informal networks at which point, disadvantaged students are at a disadvantage.

A sound all-inclusive onboarding experience includes:

• Give a clear orientation to interns on the values of the firm, expectation, code of conduct and the available support systems.
• Designate mentors to help the interns understand the work environment and mechanism till their initial period.
• Ensure every intern is provided with an equal opportunity to work regardless of their educational and social background.
• When interns know what is required or expected of them, and who to report to, what approach they need to adopt, they feel more secure and can deliver it in a better way.

   

Work Allocation : Just & Open Systems  

Among the greatest issues that interns experience is an unfair distribution of work. In many companies, the process used to be interns are selected by partners or associates mostly based on familiarity, availability, or an existing relationship. Such a work distribution system often creates a hindrance to free flowing and inclusive internship experience. There could be some practices which law firms could incorporate to provide such inclusion experience are:

• Assign central internship coordinators who facilitate equal allocation of work to all interns 
• Maintain open logs of allocation to make sure that everybody is receiving equal amount of work
• Rotational experience with different teams so that interns are exposed to experience in other fields of practice which is important for the wholesome development of an intern

Even distribution entails that all the interns get a chance to learn, make useful contributions and get useful experience on what the legal profession is all about and how it functions.

Mentorship & Feedback 

Mentorship is an active process that facilitates inclusive internships. However, mentoring cannot be casual conversations or running visits. It must be well organized, purposeful, and open to each intern. It often includes routine feedback that would address the performance and possible improvement areas. It is important that feedback be constructive and learning-oriented and well aware of the diverse background of interns. Such performance review helps the student understand what kind of performance is delivered by the intern in terms of satisfaction and scope of improvement if there is any through mentorship by the experts or superiors which can guide them as to what could be the approach to any particular deliverable.

Encouraging Inclusive Language and Office Behaviour

The language, humour, or even attitudes can be the causes of indirect exclusion of interns, e.g. making fun of the accent, condescending towards universities in the region of residence, the gender role in the performed duties. Some of the practices which can exercised by the firm are:

• Circulate an informal internal etiquette memo until you know them, use “they” in an interpersonal address style, never make caste/regional jokes, and clarity when talking with interns.
• Educate senior associates and the HR about unconscious bias particularly when it comes to giving feedback or assigning/allocating work.
• Enable an anti-judging policy where the interns can pose any query on any work or etiquette without being ridiculed or shooed out.

Culture doesn’t change overnight, but small signals matter. Even changing how an associate gives feedback changes how safe interns feel.

Conclusion

The development of an inclusive internship experience is in no way a matter of arbitrating the diversity statistics, but rather a change in mindset within law firms when it comes to their approach toward newly upcoming talent. Inclusion has to be incorporated at all levels of the internship, including recruitment and onboarding, mentorship and assessment. Interns who do not feel appreciated and not respected (irrespective of their origin) are more inclined to offer little, develop a lacking confidence, and propagate the weakened values of the legal profession.

In the case of law firms, it is not only a matter of being fair, it is an investment of excellence. A diverse environment will draw in different opinions, enhance institutional credibility and even reflect the society to which law exists. A temporary stint is not an accurate description of an internship since it is a life-altering entrance to the profession. By integrating them, law firms will be able to influence not just better attorneys- they will influence the creation of a more just and fair legal system going forward as well.

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