legal externship

Elizabeth Ferguson (J.D. ’25) reflects on semester-long Global Externship Overseas in Germany

Today, we welcome a guest post by Elizabeth Ferguson, a member of the University of Georgia School of Law class of 2025. Ferguson participated in a semester-long international externship in spring 2025. The semester-long externships overseas initiative is an extension of the Center’s existing Global Externships Overseas and is offered jointly between the Center and the law school’s Clinical and Experiential Program. Ferguson’s post describes her experience as a legal extern with Bodenheimer, a law firm that handles disputes across jurisdictions, including cases in litigation, arbitration, and mediation and other ADR proceedings. Ferguson was based in Berlin, Germany, where she worked under Georgia Law alumnus Dr. Christof Siefarth (LL.M., ’86).

When I decided to participate in my semester-long Global Externship at Bodenheimer in Berlin, Germany I was looking for a new way to challenge myself academically. I concluded that taking myself far beyond the law school classroom I had spent two and a half years becoming familiar with would be the perfect opportunity. Although I was ready for a challenge, I didn’t anticipate how the lessons I learned in international arbitration would expand beyond its subject matter and into my professional life forever.

Bodenheimer is an international arbitration firm with a truly global scope. As a result, during my four months there, I researched many issues spanning multiple jurisdictions: I immersed myself in Chinese product quality standards, untangled questions of Indian law, and more.

When I received my first assignment, concerning a legal issue relying on law in an Asian country, the reality set in that I did not have the basic building blocks I needed to begin. When I received assignments on an unfamiliar issue while working at American law firms, I had a certain base knowledge to assist me because law school taught me the basics of the American civil and criminal systems and how to research them. However, in this situation, I quickly realized, I had none of those research tools or knowledge ready to go.

Although I conquered each task with the help of my colleagues, law school staff, and by familiarizing myself with the tools and knowledge used in international arbitration, I relived this fearful realization many times. Each time I received an assignment based in a jurisdiction I had not yet faced, I felt as though I was back at square one: navigating a new legal universe, where I didn’t speak the language, didn’t know the rules, and did not know where to begin. In American law firms, I had the comfort of a familiar legal system, a base knowledge to lean on, and research tools I used frequently. However, in Berlin, I often found myself staring at an assignment wondering, “Where do I even start?”

As a result, I began to struggle with something I’d never felt before: imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is a phenomenon where professionals experience feelings of inadequacy, despite evidence of their competence and achievements. I knew that I was given this opportunity for a reason, but nevertheless I could not shake this feeling of self-doubt and compare myself to my very impressive colleagues. Most of the attorneys in my office were fluent in at least three languages and were qualified attorneys in several countries! As someone who only spoke English and had not yet even graduated law school, I couldn’t help but compare myself to them and worry that I was simply not up to the task. As a result, my imposter syndrome began to eat away at my confidence.

But here’s the thing about throwing yourself into the deep end: you must learn to swim.

Over time, as I completed challenging assignments and learned from my helpful and knowledgeable colleagues, I developed strategies to identify, build, and promote my value as a young attorney in this unfamiliar environment which helped me combat my imposter syndrome. For example, one attorney frequently asked me to edit English language documents and made the observation that I was the only native English speaker in the office. At this moment, I realized that I was too busy comparing myself to my colleagues, who could all speak three to five languages, to recognize that my native English skills were a unique asset in my office when my colleagues needed someone to edit or translate documents into English. By the end of the semester, I was able to recognize my value in many ways and recognize the meaningful contributions I made through my work product.

Working at Bodenheimer taught me more than just the inner workings of international arbitration: it taught me how to quiet the inner critic, embrace uncertainty, and how to identify and promote my value, rather than focus on perceived shortcomings.

Berlin will always hold a special place in my heart, not just for its beautiful cathedral, the delicious Franzbrötchen, and the amazing colleagues I met, but for the reminder that growth often comes disguised as discomfort.

As I head into my next professional chapter, I’ll carry with me the lesson that the doubts you feel today will become issues you will conquer tomorrow.

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Applications are open for spring 2026 semester-long Global Externships Overseas (GEOs). All current 2Ls and 3Ls are invited to submit an application by September 15. For more information and the application, please email: ruskintlaw@uga.edu

Three Georgia Law students to pursue global externships in fall 2025

In the upcoming fall semester, three University of Georgia School of Law students will gain international hands-on learning experience through the Global Externships Overseas (GEO) initiative: Alexis Bartholomew (J.D. ’26), Eleanor Cox (J.D. ’26), and Kara Reed (J.D. ’26).

Two students will work in private law settings: Bartholomew with extern Gleiss Lutz in Stuttgart, Germany, while Cox will extern with Bodenheimer in Berlin, Germany, under the supervision of Dr. Christof Siefarth (LL.M. ’86). Reed has a public interest placement and will extern with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Bermuda under the supervision of Alexander White (J.D. ’09). Through their GEOs, students will gain experience in practice areas such as international arbitration and data privacy.

Cox has been selected as the recipient of a grant from the Halle Foundation to support her externship in Germany. Based in Atlanta, The Halle Foundation seeks to promote understanding, knowledge and friendship between the people of Germany and the United States. Cox is the third Georgia Law student to receive this grant to support a semester-long GEO in Germany, following Jack Buckelew (J.D. ’25) and Pace Cassell (J.D. ’26).

Since spring 2021, eight Georgia Law students have participated in semester-long GEOs, an extension of the Center’s existing GEO initiative that is offered jointly between the Center and the law school’s Clinical and Experiential Program. Professor Jessica L. Heywood, Clinical Associate Professor and Washington, D.C., Semester in Practice Director, teaches and directs students externing abroad in partnership with Taher Benany, Associate Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center, who oversees the GEO initiative. Like Georgia Law’s summer GEOs, semester-long GEOs are legal placements placements around the world that offer all law students the opportunity to gain practical knowledge and experience in an international setting. They are typically supervised in their work by Georgia Law alumni/ae. Students return to Athens with new colleagues and mentors, legal practice skills that set them apart from their peers, and a deeper appreciation of the global legal profession.

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The Center is currently accepting applications for spring 2026 semester-long GEOs; all 1L and 2L students are eligible to apply. Applications are due September 15. For more information and to access the application, please email Taher Benany: taher.benany@uga.edu

Georgia Law students Franklin Phan (J.D. ’27) and Kara Reed (J.D. ’26) receive UGA Asia-Georgia Internship Connection Scholarship

University of Georgia School of Law students Franklin Phan (J.D. ’27) and Kara Reed (J.D. ’26) were selected to receive funding for legal externships in Vietnam and Japan this summer through the UGA Office of Global Engagement’s Asia-Georgia Internship Connection Scholarship.

Both students’ scholarships will support their Global Externship Overseas (GEO), administered by Georgia Law’s Dean Rusk International Law Center. Phan will extern with KPMG Law in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where will be supervised by Georgia Law alumnus Binh Tran (J.D. ’11), Director at KPMG Law. Reed’s GEO will take place in Tokyo, Japan, where she will extern with Kuribayashi Sogo Law Office under the guidance of Georgia Law alumnus Tsutomu Kuribayashi (LL.M. ’97), Managing Director. This will be Reed’s second GEO; the summer of her first year at Georgia Law, she externed with Baker Tilly in Hamburg, Germany, under the supervision of Georgia Law alumnus Dr. Christian Engelhardt (LL.M., ’01)

In addition to their externships, both students will engage in supervised research projects. Reed will work with Christopher M. Bruner, Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law & Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center. Her project will explore the relationships at contract formation in American and Japanese law. Pamela Foohey, Allen Post Professor of Law, will oversee Phan’s research regarding mechanisms for enforcing cross-border contracts.

This scholarship funds student pursuing credit-bearing internships in southeast Asia for a duration of at least four weeks. Preference is given to students traveling to Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Posts about past recipients of this scholarship at Georgia Law can be found here.

Halle Foundation grant recipient Pace Cassell (J.D. ’26) reflects on semester-long Global Externship Overseas in Germany

Today, we welcome a guest post by Pace Cassell, a member of the University of Georgia School of Law class of 2026. Cassell is the eighth Georgia Law student to participate in a semester-long international externship and the second recipient of a grant from the Halle Foundation to support her externship in Germany. The semester-long externships overseas initiative is an extension of the Center’s existing Global Externships Overseas and is offered jointly between the Center and the law school’s Clinical and Experiential Program. Cassell’s post describes her experience as a legal extern with Baker Tilly, a global professional services network specializing in advisory, tax, assurance, and legal services. Cassell is based in Hamburg, Germany, where she works under Georgia Law alumnus Dr. Christian Engelhardt (LL.M., ’01). Dr. Engelhardt is the Head of IP/IT Legal at Baker Tilly.

Living in Hamburg

I am going to miss so many things I’ve gotten used to during my time here in Hamburg – living on a cobblestone street, taking the U-Bahn all over the city, grabbing a Franzbrötchen on the way to work, and having everything I could need within walking distance.

Hamburg is located on the Elbe River, which connects the city to the North Sea. The Hamburg port is the largest in Germany and has driven much of Hamburg’s industrial and economic development. Within the city are the Alster Lakes, which are surrounded by walking paths and cafes. The swans on the Alster are protected by law and taken care of by the city; Hamburg legend says as long as there are swans on the lakes, the city will be free and prosperous. Due to these bodies of water, Hamburg has more bridges than any other city in the world, and more canals than Venice and Amsterdam combined.

Navigating a new city where you know no one can be daunting, especially when there is a language barrier. I took German classes from elementary school through college, but classroom learning truly does not compare to being immersed in the language the way I have been in Hamburg. The real-life context and direct association of words to concepts allows for faster understanding and retention and makes the learning process feel more intuitive and natural.

While I am still far from fluent, I’m proud of how far I’ve come with my German in such a short time. As philosopher Tomáš Masaryk put it, “As many languages you know, as many times you are a human being.” Language shapes our perception of reality, and learning how another culture expresses thought has been transformative.

Substantive Work and Comparative Perspective

Baker Tilly is an international law firm and has 698 branches, with eleven in Germany alone. The partner I work under, Dr. Engelhardt, focuses his practice on intellectual property, information technology, and data privacy. During my placement, I’ve been able to undertake research assignments ranging from analyzing European Court of Justice opinions, to investigating U.S. sanctions on foreign companies, and comparing American and European policies on artificial intelligence and data privacy.

Prior this experience, I had a vague interest in the General Data Protection Regulation, but I never considered my personal data important enough to merit much consideration. I felt little concern about the use of this data by large companies. However, understanding the principles of transparency, democratization, and fair competition embodied by the European data privacy regime has shifted my thinking and awakened an interest in a new area of law. Data privacy is much more than an abstract policy issue. The collection of our personal information, who can access it, and how it’s used to influence decisions can have significant implications on daily life – from targeted advertising to employment opportunities and even political influence.

More broadly, gaining a comparative perspective has allowed me to not only learn more about German culture but has also provided greater context for understanding my own. Seeing the practical effects of European and German regulations and policies on everyday life has been invaluable, and I never would have been able to gain this perspective had I not spent my semester here. This exposure has deepened my appreciation for the role legal frameworks play in shaping societal norms, and the value in evaluating the law through a global lens, both in a legal workplace and daily life.

Takeaways from the experience

I’ve always been curious about international law, and how American jurisprudence compares to that of other countries. I would recommend a global externship to anyone who shares this fascination. Outside of what you may learn about a legal system directly through doing legal work, living in another country allows you to experience firsthand the nuances of how its laws interact with society at large. Living in Germany has been a dream come true for me, one I’m sure I will continue reflecting on for years to come.

Georgia Law 2L Madison Graham on her D.C. Semester externship at NATO HQ SACT: “a dream come true”

University of Georgia School of Law 2L Madison Graham recently completed an externship in Norfolk, Virginia, in the legal department of HQ SACT, a leading unit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This externship forms part of Georgia Law’s D.C. Semester in Practice initiative, in partnership with NATO Allied Command Transformation. Graham arrived at Georgia Law after working as a Staff Assistant and Legislative Correspondent in the U.S. Senate. As an undergraduate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Graham interned for the USDA in Washington, D.C. Her law school experiences have included service as an Editorial Board Member of the Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law, a summer internship at Brussels-based law firm Van Bael & Bellis through the Global Externships Overseas initiative, and President of the International Law Society. Below, Graham reflects on her experiences as an extern with NATO HQ SACT this semester.

I first heard about the opportunity to intern with NATO through the University of Georgia School of Law and the Dean Rusk International Law Center nearly three years ago. At the time, I was only beginning to think about law school and where I might apply. Eventually, however, opportunities like this one are the reason I came to Georgia Law. Getting to spend the spring semester in the Office of the Legal Advisor at NATO’s Headquarters Supreme Allied Command Transformation (HQ SACT) was nothing short of a dream come true.

Fortunately, the mere fact of doing the externship is not where the dream ended. Not only was I working in the midst of an international organization, I was also physically working on a section of the biggest naval base in the world. Because of these two features, I received uniquely multifaceted exposure to both the complexities of working in an international organization, as well as the realities of working in a military environment. As a law student interested in pursuing a career in the national security realm of federal public service, this exposure could not have been more valuable.

The substance of the work was also incredibly rewarding. The Office of the Legal Advisor performs an wide variety of legal roles to support HQ SACT’s mission, and I was fortunate to experience parts of each.

First, the office provides legal assistance to the international military staff of HQ SACT. This is usually in the form of helping them obtain local driver licenses, helping their spouses obtain work permits, assisting with traffic tickets, ensuring their visas are up to date, and preparing powers of attorney for outgoing military personnel. Personally, I found this facet of my work to be an incredibly eye-opening and important reminder of how hard it is to legally transition to life in America. But even further, this work involved communicating with NATO staff from each of the 32+ NATO member countries. This was a test of my ability to communicate clearly, anticipate needs and expectations based on certain peoples’ backgrounds, and generally remind myself of how much peoples’ own cultural perceptions affect their approach to life. As an undergraduate anthropology major, I thought I was prepared for this, but could not have expected how much this work experience even further tested and honed these skills for me.

Second, the Office of the Legal Advisor supports HQ SACT through a variety of more general counsel duties. This might include anything from advising on intellectual property rights, contracting, employment law, operational law, and international law. However, the office prides itself on supporting the endeavors of other sections of HQ SACT – ensuring that their plans and processes are within legal possibility. Because of this, the work of the office is largely dependent on the needs and processes of other offices. In my case, this meant I got to help with contracting guidance for contracting officers in the procurement branch, as well as helping to draft another HQ SACT-wide directive for the permissible use of funding for staff morale and welfare activities. This was a great way to hone the knowledge and skills from previous semesters’ contracting and drafting classes, while also having to adapt to the unique requirements NATO has for such documents.

The highlight of my time, however, may have been the multiple educational and coursework opportunities I was able to participate in. These ranged from online, subject-specific courses – on topics like counterterrorism and gender perspectives in armed conflict – to a week-long Strategic Writing Course, to sitting in on meetings with representatives from the International Committee on the Red Cross. Lastly, the Office of the Legal Advisor hosted a week-long Legal Gathering, with legal advisors from several NATO commands around the world invited to talk about each other’s ongoing work and areas in need of assistance. This as a great opportunity to meet other European lawyers with their own unique backgrounds, as well as learn more about NATO’s structure and the roles of each command. Most importantly, however, my supervisors were incredibly supportive of my participation in all these learning opportunities. It is well-understood that just being in the room, taking in as much information as you can, is so valuable to a young student.

Lastly, I was lucky enough to work with incredible colleagues in HQ SACT during my externship. For example, interns from all over Europe, working in other offices at HQ SACT, welcomed me with open arms and have become close friends. I would, however, like to specifically thank my supervisors and colleagues in the Office of the Legal Advisor: Monte DeBoer, Theresa Donahue, Renata Vaisviliene, Cyrille Pison, Kathy Hansen-Nord, Mette Hartov, Agathe Tregarot, and Galateia Gialitaki. Their kindness, patience, and overall support made an already incredible experience even more special. From bi-weekly staff meetings to monthly staff lunches, to staff birthday celebrations, I felt welcomed as a full member of the team from my first day to my last.

I could not be more thankful for my time at NATO HQ SACT, and was reminded of that each time I was asked: “so how do you get to be here?” Over the course of the semester, I must have watched at least a dozen people marvel at the fact that Georgia Law has this externship opportunity available to students. Its uniqueness cannot be understated; I firmly believe it is an something every student at Georgia Law – regardless of your current interests may be – should at least take a moment to appreciate, if not consider doing themselves.

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For more information and to apply for the NATO Externship, please visit our website.