The next Bison Spotlight is a native of Bolton, Connecticut, Jake Sargent. He is a member of the Class of 2020, pursuing a degree in Criminal Justice Management. On The Hill, he is a member of the Men’s Soccer Team, a Student Orientation Leader, and holds a work-study position in Financial Services. Outside of school and work he enjoys working out, traveling and being outside. A fun fact about Jake is he studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain during the Spring 2019 semester.
Jake is interning for the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office in Worcester, MA, as a Spring Court Intern. He assists his supervisor, an Assistant District Attorney, with tasks including making copies, preparing case files, and organizing files for upcoming court dates. When he is not busy, he is allowed to watch criminal trials, which is an incredible experience for Jake.
Jake in Barcelona, Spain, where he studied abroad during the Spring 2019 Semester.
A normal day for Jake consists of dropping his bag off across the street at the DA’s office building and then heading into the courthouse. He then meets his supervisor and goes over the day’s plan regarding trials. The court hearings start around 9:00 am and typically run most of the morning. Jake said, “In these hearings, you can see anything including motions, pretrial conferences, discoveries, and court assignments for trial. During the final hearing, the parties were sent to another courtroom to carry out their trial. This usually occupies my mornings, either watching hearings (running errands whenever needed) or watching actual trials. After lunch, it mostly consists of preparing for future trials. There is so much organization required. Cases are formed and ready weeks before their hearings.”
Jakes’s favorite part of his internship is the people he works with. He said, “All of the ADA’s I work with are truly genuine people. They want to do good in the world and that is why they became attorneys. They are a really great group of people and are wonderful role models to look up to”.
When we asked Jake his biggest takeaway from his experience he said, “To become an effective attorney, an unmatched level of organization is required. Most case files are prepared and ready to go weeks before they are even set for trial. My supervisor’s planner has trial dates two to three months in advance.”
Jake continues to learn a lot from his internship at the Worcester County DA’s Office. The CPDC team is very proud of Jake for this accomplishments and wishes him the best of luck in his future career!
