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 fourth profile in our 2014 series featuring the summer job experiences of UW Law students.

Zack Meth ’16
Legal Intern
Alliant Energy, Madison, Wisconsin

Describe your summer work experience.
As an intern with Alliant Energy Corporation’s legal department, I worked with all the attorneys in the Madison office, but I worked most closely with the attorney specializing in corporate and securities law. My assignments included drafting and reviewing service contracts, administrative law and compliance analysis, and making recommendations for quarterly and annual filings based upon securities law.

What surprised you most about the experience?
I was surprised by how collaborative legal work is with in-house departments. Often, one attorney will seek another’s advice or collaborate with outside counsel. Also, I learned about the transactional side of the law, which is something that I knew little about coming into this summer. It was interesting to see how the goals and perspective of an in-house attorney are usually different than that of outside counsel.

What classes were particularly useful in preparing you for the work you did this summer?
For my work this summer, it was helpful to take business organizations, torts, contracts. Other courses that would be particularly helpful include securities law, secured transactions, any advanced business organizations course, administrative/regulatory law, contracts I and II, and municipal law.

How do you think this work experience will shape the rest of your time at UW Law School?
My experience with Alliant Energy introduced me to legal work I would like to do in the future. It has definitely shaped what courses I will take, such as contract drafting, administrative law, tax and other business centered courses.

Submitted by Law School News on September 19, 2014

This article appears in the categories: Summer Job Series