Boston: Why leave?

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BY JEREMY BLACHMAN

While some students spent their summers in far-off lands like Alaska, Russia and even Namibia, a large number of 2Ls and 3Ls stayed right here in Boston, working at a variety of public interest organizations and private law firms. With jobs ranging from the ACLU to the Conservation Law Foundation to the National Consumer Law Center$– not to mention at least 29 firms coming to interview on campus with Boston offices – there are plenty of opportunities for students who want to reward themselves for braving the harsh Boston winter by enjoying the more temperate Boston summer. And of course the Red Sox games are an added windfall to any time in this city.

In addition to the firms based in Boston – Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, and Zelle, Hoffman, Voelbel, Mason & Gette, just to name three – a number of firms based in other cities, such as Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Greenberg Traurig, have offices in Boston for which they recruit on campus. Also, a number of Boston public interest employers use on-campus recruiting to fill summer slots as well, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of General Counsel being just one of them.

Two-L Rob Hill worked at Wolf Greenfield & Sacks this past summer, a firm specializing in intellectual property law. According to Hill, “I had a wonderful summer in Boston working for an outstanding law firm. It was a great opportunity to experience the vibrant legal culture right across the river from Harvard Law School.”

Two-L Laura Coltin worked at the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General. Even though she lived just across the river in Beacon Hill, according to Coltin, “it was a nice escape from Cambridge.”

And, she reports, a summer in Boston is filled with cultural events and entertainment options, even outside the structure of a law firm summer program. “I saw Blondie and Edwin McCain perform and spent a really nice night at a Red Sox game. The HL Central events weren’t so well attended, but I had a good time at the Purple Shamrock.”

Of course not all students are so eager to spend their summers in the place they’ve just spent their falls, winters, and springs. One 2L who preferred to remain anonymous remarked, “they couldn’t pay me enough to stay in Boston for the summer.” But for those who aren’t immediately turned off by the thought, there certainly do seem to be plenty of jobs – and opportunities for fun – in the city we call home for the rest of the year. As one 1L said, after having been on campus for almost a week, “it seems like it would be fun to work in Boston for the summer.” Indeed it does.