Rudman Summer Fellow of the Week: Brooke Houser

Brooke Houser worked this summer for the Virginia Office of the Attorney General. She is Rising 2L

(The following excerpts from a recorded interview have been edited for clarity and brevity.)

On the work of the Virginia Office of the Attorney General:

This office is involved in all cases that are criminal and that go up to the appellate level and above.  And we're also involved any time the state is a party to a civil lawsuit. So a lot of times we are advising state agencies.  I’m working in the Real Estate and Land Use Section; we are primarily involved with advising our state agencies. 

On her work at the Virginia Office of the Attorney General:  

It has been an absolutely amazing experience. Just in my short eight weeks I have worked with eight different state agencies. Something that's unique about us, compared to other sections in the office, is that we are focused a lot of times on the happier topics -- for example, conservation, restoration, preservation. I've worked with the Department of Forestry, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, just to give a few examples. I’m working on two final projects this week, for two different agencies. For the Department of Conservation and Recreation, I’m working on comparing a lease template to the landlord and tenant laws of Virginia to make sure DCR is in compliance. And it's interesting because this particular type of lease helps the park rangers who are living in the Department of Conservation and Recreation state parks. So we certainly want to make sure that DCR is in compliance with all laws.

On incorporating AI:

Since we are in the Digital Age, and it's just going to get more digitized, I thought about doing a little bit of experimentation with AI. I'm a person who is a little more uncomfortable on the AI side. But I’ve decided, I can either have friction with it and ignore it and pretend it's not there, or I can learn responsible ways to use AI. And so I think it's really important as an intern to learn how I can use that responsibly because I don't want to use it to cut corners. We should be learning how to use it responsibly because AI can promote efficiency, which means that our clients can save money on attorney billing.

On her hopes and plans: 

As far as experience working in the future, the main reason I chose to come here this summer was because I knew how high caliber the talent would be at an attorney general's office.

And Virginia has a close place in my heart for some time.  I lived here while I was in the military for some training.  And so the people here just really resonate with me.  Virginia is one of my target states that I may return to, but also one of my main missions in life is to leave society better than I found it. And certainly that's what professionals of the Office of the Attorney General in Virginia are doing.

The Rudman Center fellowships support students who work during the summer for government agencies or 501(c)3 non-profit organizations that perform public interest legal work.   For more on the Rudman Summer Fellowship program, visit here.