Our Summer Commission

One of our greatest joys in working in Uganda and Rwanda is having the opportunity to welcome a number of U.S. Legal Fellows each summer. Last year we hosted 8. This year we have 13. They stay for nine weeks after completing their first year of law school. The current group is ending their second week in Africa.

We think this is a pretty special group of people. They are taking a leap and travelling to a part of the world completely new to them. They are working with the Ugandan and Rwandan Judiciary. They serve primarily as clerks in the Supreme Court but they will also branch out to different jurisdictions during their time here. They are living in a new culture. They are learning a new legal system (especially in Rwanda.) They are really put to the test.

Scott always starts the first interview with “Why do you want to do something so hard?” We cheer on their “YES” to an experience that stretches, challenges and affirms their call to the law. They have to exercise academic, professional, emotional and spiritual muscles that they may never have been used before. It’s not always easy but they come through so much sharper on the other side.

A couple of stories about the kinds of people we have the honor of welcoming:

The Africa Map – During the first day of training here in Kampala, Scott hands the law students a blank map of Africa and asks them to fill in the names of the countries they know. There’s always a geography wiz who gets them all correct but for the most part – our legal scholars know maybe a handful of countries. The map in this post was my favorite – this unnamed student gave it a stab and with tremendous self-deprecation – rose to the occasion with great levity. This student’s ability to identify “Delaware” and “Also Delaware” as well as assign himself the assignment to “Sit Down w/a map of Africa and fill my educational shortcomings” showed great humility, humor and a willingness to not take himself too seriously. These are qualities we cheer on throughout the summer.

Scott’s mantra during the summer is “BE INTERESTING AND UNOFFENDABLE” as they pursue their legal degrees and consider how they will use their education. He uses example after example of how students are held back by worrying about what others think, trying to be like everyone else and being afraid of having an opinion or idea that is outside the box.

We also encourage them to consider, "What is your foundation and purpose?" "What is distracting you from this?" This summer we're reading through Bob Goff's book, Undistracted. Bob walks us through relevant practical challenges around all of these ideas.

As the summer progresses, we see students do things they never imagined doing. When the time comes to an end, we are sad to say good-bye but often, Scott has the opportunity to write a letter of recommendation or reference for our former interns as they move forward in their legal careers.

This spring, Scott wrote just such a letter for a former intern who’s pursuing a clerkship at a Southern California prosecutor’s office.

Scott’s Recommendation - ”Claire (a pseudonym) worked with me in Uganda for about 9 weeks last summer (2022). She was technically an intern with the Uganda Supreme Court but she spent most of her time with the DPP (the Directorate of Public Prosecutions), the main prosecutorial body in Uganda. Within the office of the DPP, she worked on an anti-trafficking initiative.

Claire was unfailingly punctual, professional, hardworking and engaged. She is incredibly bright and driven. She also has a unique "human touch" that can be lacking among prosecutors (I say that as a former prosecutor) that applies not only to victims and witnesses but to the case as a whole. I saw her handle matters and projects as a prosecutor as well as matters as defense counsel in the course of her work here and her professionalism was unrivaled no matter her client.

Claire’s work product and analysis skills are stellar, as evidenced by her assistance in drafting a number of policy and training documents related to "Aggravated Trafficking" cases here in Uganda, a new area of the law. Analyzing a foreign law is one thing, conducting training for practitioners on that foreign law in that country is quite another, but that is what Claire did.

Your office would be foolish not to hire Claire. But should you fail to do that, I fear she will find work as a public defender in your area. Should that occur, I have little doubt that your trial attorneys will regret that she is opposing counsel rather than down the hall as a colleague.”

(This was just one of many recommendations that Scott has written – He always tells students that after he wrote his first brief as a first-year attorney – The partner told him that his writing was “very pedestrian and non-compelling.” Another example of not letting others define you!)

We are grateful for the opportunity to cultivate seeds of promise in these gifted young attorneys.

Please join us in praying for their summer and our ability to encourage and support them during this season.