Legal Internship Wraps Up Pilot Program

By BILL BELLEN
OTSEGO COUNTY

For years, New York State has been faced with a compounding legal conundrum. It is well known that there is a severe imbalance in the citizen-to-lawyer ratio between rural and urban regions of the state. Out of the roughly 1,700 legal aid attorneys in New York, fewer than 500 serve residents outside of New York City, Buffalo and Rochester. Hamilton County is particularly affected by this negative distribution, with only 19 attorneys serving the entire county. A single case involving the Department of Social Services removing children from a home could occupy up to 14 of these attorneys, leading to a serious backup in the courts’ ability to administer legal justice.

These statistics were shared in the opening of a briefing to the New York State Unified Court System from Associate Court Attorney Sarah Cowen upon the conclusion of the pilot for the state’s Rural Pathways Program. Brainchild of Cowen herself, the initiative launched this year in partnership between the state courts and numerous bar associations in Otsego, Clinton, and St. Lawrence counties. The program began on June 2, lasting six weeks and offering two law students that have completed their second year of schooling (rising 3Ls) per each of the three counties the opportunity for a legal internship.

Cowen shared that “members at the bar and other people who work here took the interns out so they could get to know the area a little bit. They were sitting in with clients. They watched a trial from beginning to end. They did research. They went to court a lot. They basically got to see what an attorney does on a daily basis here in Otsego County.”

The program elicited great interest from aspiring lawyers both inside and outside of New York, and even beyond the borders of the country itself. Otsego County’s interns consisted of two rising 3Ls; Emre Ozsahin, student at Albany Law and citizen of Türkiye, and Sabreena Narvaez, student at University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law and a Texas native. These two participated in a weekly rotation that saw them view and discuss an A2 felony case, perform research, learn about private practice in small communities, and learn about Supreme Court practice, among other activities.

Narvaez shared via e-mail some of her experiences with the program and what drew her here from halfway across the country:

“Having an interest in being barred in New York, I targeted my job search to the state and happened across the program. It is such a unique program. I cannot think of any other internship where I would have been able to explore so many different types of legal work, [from] litigation (civilly and criminally) to transactional work. Additionally, the experience of learning about rural communities was intriguing as someone who has grown up in cities/suburbs my whole life.”

Local partners were vital in making the program in Otsego County possible. Numerous firms including Scarzafava, Basdekis, & Dadey, Mental Hygiene Legal Services, and Schlather & Birch offered to be placement locations for the interns to practice and experience different parts of the legal system. Local bar associations pledged money to defer the costs of housing provided by SUNY Oneonta. Community members both in and out of the legal world took Narvaez and Ozsahin to various locations and experiences throughout the county, to allow the pair to embrace rural New York.

Bob Birch, real estate attorney at Schlather & Birch, hosted the interns for one of the weeks of their rotation.

“We agreed to host both ‘rising 3L’ law students Emre Ozsahin and Sabreena Narvaez for a week each earlier this summer, allowing them to sit in on and observe real estate closings and multiple estate planning client conferences, with the prior consent of our clients,” Birch wrote via e-mail.

“We have lost many, many attorneys to retirement and, sadly, to death in the past decade, with few younger attorneys moving in to take their place. My own son, Anthony, who just graduated last year from UNH Law School and joined our practice, is one of only two or three graduating law students to move back to practice in Otsego County in the past 15 years,” Birch wrote. “Rural Pathways is a program that hopes to share with others what we all who are fortunate to call Otsego County home enjoy day after day. It should not be so difficult to encourage other professionals to come join us!”

The pilot program wrapped up on July 11. Upon its conclusion, Narvaez and Ozsahin filled out exit interview polls that showed only one complaint with the program:

“The one critique that they both had was they both wanted it to be longer. Six weeks wasn’t enough. They wanted more time in each of the offices,” Cowen said.

Such a positive response from both the interns themselves and the many members of the community that participated in this trial run has made the court system enthusiastic about prospects for its continuance in the future. Cowen thanked Presiding Justice Elizabeth Garry of the New York State Appellate Court Third Judicial Department, of which Otsego County is a part. Cowen shared that PJ Garry brought her idea into the circles of major players in the state’s court system and was instrumental in making Rural Pathways a reality.

Judd Krasher, chief of staff for PJ Garry, shared his thoughts on the program’s success:

“The folks in Otsego County are wonderful. They stepped up and showed the interns why Otsego County isn’t just a great place to work, it’s also a great place to live. The interns had a top-notch experience thanks to the community. Huge thanks go out to everyone…Since the pilot was a big success, there is good reason to be hopeful that the program will not only continue in Otsego County next summer, but will also be expanded to many more counties. The need for more rural lawyers is urgent and Rural Pathways will help address the need.”

Though the future of the initiative is certainly not set in stone, Cowen and many of her associates believe this pilot showed the validity of a program like this for rural New York counties. This year’s participants are hopeful that these strides will be noticed and that the court system will provide the avenues to continue Rural Pathways in future years. Only time will tell, but perhaps we can all hope that the horizon of this legal desert is beginning to look a little less dry.