Afton Jessop

I became interested in consumer law when I realized how widespread and relevant it is. Ultimately, we are all consumers of goods and services each day, so enforcing fair practice regulations for businesses provides security to not only vulnerable consumers, but everyone. While taking a consumer law course with Professor Cowie, I was introduced to the complexities of federal consumer protection legislation, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Truth in Lending Act, as well as the federal agencies which enforce those laws, such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While I recognize the intricacies of consumer law extend far beyond this basic foundation, it was enough to captivate my interest in working toward building a career providing assistance to consumers.

During my summer internship, I’ve realized more clearly how wide-spread and complex legal issues can be and am excited about the prospect of applying that knowledge in my legal career.

Seth Sivinski

I came to Montana with an interest in working on environmental issues with an eye on the human dimension of public lands issues. As I went through school I became more interested in the human side. Following that line I ended up working with Montana Legal Services.

Legal services was the most direct person-to-person opportunity I had in law school. I wanted to get a chance to work with clients and in the process learn about the practice area of legal aid, along with poverty, and consumer issues. I realized this is an area you can make a more direct, immediate and meaningful difference in a client's life.

I think the most rewarding part of this area of law is helping people understand the law is a system that can help them. I think most people we helped at Montana Legal Services had only experienced lawyers as a force against them and it was really powerful to help them use the protection of the law for themselves.

My work at Northwest Justice Project will be relatively similar to MLSA. I will work on broader issues but I think the year I spent at MLSA has helped me learn how to talk to clients and also drill down to exactly what the issue is in a given client story. More specifically, talking with clients about money related issues is often a delicate process and I'm glad I got the chance to learn how to work with people in difficult situations. MLSA helped me see how difficult the legal system can be if you are already in money trouble to begin with. My supervisor was key in showing me this and made the point early in my clinic period that it is really expensive to be poor. Seeing that and learning how to talk with people through delicate issues will be helpful going forward. I also think the larger scale picture my supervisor showed me was one of the things that helped me get a job with Northwest Justice Project.

Reema Najjar

My interest sparked from my background in Psychology and human decision-making processes. As I learned more about consumer law it became more apparent that this area of law is often based on how consumers make decisions and how business practices can influence these choices.

I find the scope consumer law fascinating. Choosing a credit card company or taking out a loan were what I usually thought about in regard to consumer law but now I think about other areas like food labels, buying a home, signing employment contracts, seeing advertisements, and agreeing to the terms and conditions for an app on my smartphone. I also think it is interesting that consumer protection is ongoing and reactive to the developing world. Rather than try to anticipate and establish full protective measures, consumer protection regulations are often implemented in response to issues as they arise.

In my internship I learned how striking the power imbalance between consumers and businesses can be, especially for low-income individuals. Most of my work has exposed me to areas of law I was not familiar with such as debt collection litigation, bankruptcy, and fair debt collection practices on the Federal and State level. I've also learned how consumer law intersects with other areas of law such as family and constitutional law.

In the future, I would like to provide new and growing businesses with legal services like drafting contracts, intellectual property protection, and other general business practices and transactions. My internship has given me ample opportunity to apply complex business and consumer law to client issues, allowed me to actively participate in civil litigation procedures, and provided numerous opportunities for client interactions. It has also given me great experience collaborating with other professionals and helped further develop my research and writing skills.