As the first intern at Builden Partners, Ally Pruitt made quite an impact with the company from 2017 to 2018 during her senior year at DePaul University.

Currently, in her second year at UIC John Marshall Law School, she was recently named Law Student of the Year by National Jurist, the magazine for law students. Ally is John Marshall’s first-ever winner of this award.

Jocelyn Brumbaugh caught up with Ally to discuss her internship experience at Builden.

Q: What type of work did you do during your time with Builden?

A: I had a variety of duties. I did a lot of writing and editing content, press releases and biographies for attorneys. I also attended client meetings and assisted with logistics for the Legal & Professional Services Council.

I conceptualized the idea of The TakeAway, which is a video recap of LPSC’s monthly events, and then filmed and produced the first year of content for it. It is great to see The Takeaway is still going strong. I even helped scout the new office space when we outgrew the old space.

Q: How did being at Builden help your career?

A: Builden helped me in so many ways. As a law student, it was beneficial to be able to interact with lawyers and other business professionals. From these interactions and working with Builden, I gained a stronger understanding of the legal and marketing fields, including how to network, interact on a professional level and compose professionally written emails.

Now that I am nearly done with law school, I realize how much Builden helped me to understand the language and terms that are important to attorneys. I am definitely aware of the content that matters to lawyers.

Q: Any advice for future interns?

A: Get everything out of the internship that you can! Ask questions, be involved and give it your best effort. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Make sure to learn and grow as much as you can in every aspect of your professional development.

Based in the firm’s Chicago Loop office, Builden’s internship program offers college students the opportunity to interact with a variety of clients in the legal industry. Interns prepare internal communications, social media content, press materials and conduct research projects for clients. They also engage with Legal & Professional Services Council, a 500-member nonprofit, run by Builden founder Jocelyn Brumbaugh. This includes attending events and networking sessions with Chicago professionals.