Emily Rasulo '26

It is never a dull day at the Erie County District Attorney's Office! Each day presents new cases and challenges dealing with crimes happening in the community I have lived in my whole life, and to say the least, it has been very eye-opening.  The Erie County DA's office is responsible for fairly prosecuting every crime committed within Erie County.  I was assigned to work in the vehicular crimes bureau, appeals bureau, and the special investigations and prosecutions bureau (SIP), and this allowed me to develop quite a variety of legal experience and training.

In vehicular crimes, I spent most of my time assisting with discovery.  These were the most difficult cases for me, considering all of the cases I worked on involved a fatality.  I spent a lot of time watching body cam footage and listening to jail calls.  While doing so, I was ultimately looking for any admissions made by the defendant pretty soon after the incident occurred, or anything that could be used against the defendant at sentencing.

In appeals, I got to put a lot of my LAWR skills to work!  Here, I got to assist with writing letters to the New York Court of Appeals asking them to deny the defendant's application to leave for appeal, which required me to read and interpret briefs.

In SIP, I assisted ADAs with their investigations.  I helped them go through materials obtained through search warrants, mostly email and google files.  Here, I was looking for suspicious activity that would help indicate criminal intent for the crimes committed; mainly financial crimes and thefts.

Getting to work alongside many talented assistant district attorneys, investigators, and other support staff at the DA's office has inspired me to pursue a career in criminal law. I never thought that was where I would find my place.  The work done by people in this office has an immediate and important impact on the local community. Although that creates a lot of pressure, it is extremely motivating and rewarding.  It made me realize that my number one priority in deciding on a legal career is one where I can come home every day and feel good about the work I have done.

My favorite part of my internship was the plentiful opportunities to observe trials and other court appearances.  Getting to watch many different prosecutors and defense attorneys try cases has proved to me that there isn't one specific personality that you must have to be a trial lawyer.  One of the best pieces of advice I received from an ADA was that although there are many different tools you can pick up from observing other attorneys, you must present yourself as authentically as possible for a jury to take you seriously.  That made me feel much more confident in my ability to become a litigator one day, and possibly even a trial attorney.

Lastly, my experience working in the DA's office has encouraged me to pursue a career in public interest.  Every attorney I have encountered during my summer has been passionate and driven about their career, while still enjoying a healthy work-life balance. As someone with many outside interests, this was a very attractive quality of the job.  I also admire the overall positivity and camaraderie that exists among the staff.  It is collaborative, and this encouraged me to ask questions and get to know people. 

Thank you so much to the donors to the Antonecchia Fellowship, and all the donors who have provided fellowship to many others this summer.   It is encouraging to see all the support, since public interest law plays a vital role in our local community.  The fellowship opportunity made applying for summer jobs much more stress-free since I did not have to limit myself to paid jobs.  As someone who is interested in public interest work, I am happy that I was able to follow my heart in deciding where I would work this summer.  That being said, I still have expenses to pay over the summer, and it was a huge relief not to have to take out additional loans.  I was fortunate that my fellowship covered my rent and car payments for the duration of my internship.