During her summer working in the office of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Simone Gerald-Burns found it enlightening to learn that people from all walks of life can find themselves in the unfortunate situation of filing for bankruptcy.

“The most interesting thing to me is to see the judges talk to people,” Gerald-Burns said. “There are a lot of successful people who end up in a bad situation, and there are also a lot of people with nothing left to lose.”

Over the course of seven weeks working in the court, Gerald-Burns said she received hands-on lessons in empathy and fiscal responsibility.  From her coworkers, she learned the value of a collaborative spirit.

“I like being able to see how people interact in an office setting, which is very quiet compared to school,” she said. “You have your own responsibility, but you can also call on others when you need to.”

Going to lunch with her colleagues from time to time, Gerald-Burns valued the chance to hear them talk about the journey through school that led them to their career path.  She said she feels better equipped to make decisions about her own future after hearing about the learning experiences of those in her office.

“Learning to talk to more people who are not just people my age also helped me be more comfortable talking to people in authority,” she added.

Above all, Gerald-Burns came away from her job with a meaningful understanding of concepts she had previously only seen on television.

“Before this job, I didn’t know anything about bankruptcy besides the spot on the wheel in Wheel of Fortune. I think this experience will help me keep good credit and pay my bills on time, and the work experience will certainly help me in my career,” she said.

Gerald-Burns’s position at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court was funded by the Boston Bar Foundation, along with 10 other positions for teens in Boston this summer.

For Lily Doyle, the BBA Summer Jobs Student hired by Nelson Mullins to support the firm’s work this summer, “intellectual property” was a new concept.

As she helped keep records relevant to some of the firm’s IP cases, she was always learning gaining new information from what she was filing.

“I learned a lot of terms and a lot of information from correspondence about how patents are done. It didn’t even dawn on me how these things happen,” she said.

One of the most exciting parts of her summer was learning that some attorneys at the firm went to the same high school as Doyle – Boston Latin School. She said she enjoyed hearing and relating to their personal stories spanning from their teen years to their current careers. On a daily basis, the attorneys’ team of assistants also made her feel very welcome, she said.

All of Doyle’s work experience prior to her summer at Nelson Mullins took place away from a desk. In the past, she did work outside, and held a position at the Museum of Fine Arts.

But working at a law firm helped to prepare her for future office experiences.

“I got a sense of a nine-to-five job for the first time. This is also my first job where I am the only person my age,” she said.

Doyle says she could see herself becoming a litigator in the future, because she finds litigation to be the most fascinating aspect of practicing law. She also enjoyed learning more about city government during the BBA’s mock city council hearing, which the students participated in by debating a fictional city ordinance.

“Working here was different than I expected. From the outside, law firms can seem bureaucratic and not as personal, but I saw the attorneys laugh with each other a lot and everyone seems very close. I’m glad I had the opportunity to learn more about the people,” she said.

Watching Verrill Dana partner Robin Murphy during a pro bono mediation session with a family going through a custody battle, BBA Summer Jobs Student Suzett Amado found herself engaged the whole time.

“Robin just got right to the point. She really listened to them and got them to agree without arguments,” Amado said, impressed.

When she began her summer in the BBA Summer Jobs Program, Amado said she expected the internship to involve a heavy load of administrative tasks. While she did her fair share of those, she said she was pleasantly surprised and grateful to have experienced some aspects of the legal profession firsthand, such as Murphy’s pro bono family law practice.

Over the course of the summer, Amado expanded her legal vocabulary. She learned what a deposition was, and was eventually invited to sit in on one. Amado took BBA President Mark Smith’s advice from the Summer Jobs kickoff event, where he told the students to ask attorneys at their firm about their ‘war stories.’

“When I applied, I never expected to get as much one-on-one experience with attorneys. We get lunch sometimes, where I’ve gotten to talk to real people who have done things like work on murder cases, and that has been really interesting,” she said.

Amado said working at Verrill Dana has been a unique experience compared to past summer employment. Specifically, she said the firm is very organized and employees are expected to be professional, which has made her feel “more prepared to handle a 9-5 job.”

“I feel like I know better now what it means to have an office job, and answer phones and talk to people. I even got to have my name on my cubicle, which was really nice,” she said.

Out of the enrichment seminars the students attended each Wednesday, Amado said the mock city council hearing was her favorite. Led by former city council president and Nixon Peabody partner Larry DiCara, the students had the interactive experience of debating a hypothetical city ordinance.

“I knew that the city’s government existed, but it was cool to be a part of the discussion rather than sitting by and watching,” she said.

Amado, who just began her senior year at Boston Latin Academy, is interested in pursuing a career in law. While she doesn’t know what practice area she would like to focus on, she aspires to one day work as a district attorney.

“The Summer Jobs Program is a good opportunity for anyone who wants to go into law. You learn a lot interning at a law firm – especially a firm like Verrill Dana,” she said.