NCLA Internship Spotlight

Chris Parker

Summer Law Clerk

Law School: Penn State Law

Expected Graduation: 2020

Hometown: Gainesville, Florida

Campus Activities: Elected Representative, American Bar Association; Vice President, Penn State Law Military Law Caucus; Executive Council, Penn State Law Student Bar Association

Hobbies: Intramural sports, hiking, backpacking, traveling, skydiving

What were your duties as an NCLA intern?

Drafted petitions for rulemaking and public comments to proposed amendments. Worked on legal memorandums for ongoing litigation. Created multiple FOIA requests and appeals. Conducted research pertaining to federal agencies and their rulemaking procedures.

What did you most enjoy about your internship?

Learning from the various attorneys at NCLA. They averaged more than 20 years of experience and had countless stories to share.

What interesting thing(s) did you learn about Administrative Law?

Like many fields, Administrative Law constantly changes. One must always keep themselves abreast of legislative and judicial activity. I also learned that when challenging an administrative decision, you must craft an argument that defeats a judge’s predisposition to defer to the government agency.

How might you use what you’ve learned later in your professional career?

I learned various strategy and techniques to the triage and vetting of prospective clients that will serve me well going forward.

Any advice for other students who want to intern at NCLA in the future?

If possible, take Administrative law at your law school and read The Administrative Threat by Philip Hamburger.