Rudman Summer Fellow of the Week: Madison Snyder

Madison Snyder is working for the Merrimack County Attorney Office this summer.  She is a rising 3L.

On the work of the Merrimack County Attorney Office: 

Their caseload is mainly misdemeanor and felonies that occur in Merrimack County. They assist smaller police departments with prosecution of their cases in district court, and they also prosecute felony level cases in superior court in Merrimack County.

On her work with the Merrimack County Attorney Office: 

They throw me in with a little bit of everything, anything that they think that I'll be able to pick up quickly.. So I've been doing plea negotiations, which are when the two parties agree to the terms of a plea agreement.  I'll read those in court.  And they also have me writing physical motions of either opposition or in agreement with different motions that either defense or their counsel submits.

 On what's it like appearing in the courtroom and working with the attorneys: 

I'm a Rule 36 attorney, so I have permission to appear on behalf of the state in court now, which is something I hadn’t been able to do before. It’s very interesting. 

Being able to work through my Rule 36 requirements and then make those appearances has been really beneficial, especially since I want to go into prosecution after I graduate from law school. It's basically doing everything that I would do as a prosecutor, but under the supervision of an attorney. 

I work with the entire office, mainly with two attorneys, a deputy county attorney and an assistant county attorney  Through both of them, I'm able to see their different perspectives and how they approach different issues.  One of the attorneys works with the drug court, which is a specialty division of court, an alternative to incarceration. They give defendants resources to help them work towards sobriety and get through whatever they're experiencing.

I watched two different trials,  last week and the week before that. And I've been able to go through the whole process with the attorneys, including jury selection, opening, direct, and help move that process along. So it's been really interesting to see the different perspectives in the office and to know that there's not one way to do things. it's been really interesting and entertaining to watch. And I’m getting a feeling of feel of how I like to approach an issue now. And I know that'll develop throughout my career. 

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.