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From clerkships to clinical assistantships to working as summer associates at firms, summer legal work helps students gain practical skills and experiences that benefit them during law school and beyond. This is the final profile in a series featuring the summer job experience of UW Law students. Find more profiles in our Summer Job Series.

   

Blythe KennedyBlythe Kennedy '13
Policy Analyst Intern, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Describe your summer work experience.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a new Federal agency, created under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. As an intern at the CFPB's Office of Enforcement I was exposed to a variety of issues and legal queries surrounding ongoing and potential investigations of consumer harm. The issues I was assigned to research were multitudinous, incredibly varied, and extremely interesting. It was an amazing summer.

What has surprised you about the work you are doing?

People tend to think of government work as stagnant and overly bureaucratic, but that is not what I experienced. The atmosphere at the CFPB was dynamic; everyone was so passionate about the work they were doing and that enthusiasm was infectious.

How do you think this work experience will shape the rest of your time at UW Law School?
Because the CFPB works closely with the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission I developed an interest in other areas of consumer law largely handled by those agencies. This semester I am taking Securities Regulation and plan on taking Antitrust and some business law courses as well.

What classes have been particularly useful in preparing you for the work you are doing this summer?

Clinical experience has very helpful. I was in the Consumer Law Clinic, which also staffed a Foreclosure Answer Clinic, and the Government and Legislative Clinic. Having exposure to both consumer law and government work gave me experience I could bring to the table, as opposed to trying to start from scratch. I would have been very lost without the specialized knowledge I gained at the law school last year.

Submitted by Law School News on May 13, 2015

This article appears in the categories: Articles, Summer Job Series

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