Natalie Lesh ’93

Person seated at a desk in a professional office environment, holding a pair of eyeglasses above papers spread on the desk. The workspace includes a computer keyboard, office chair, and vertical window blinds, with framed certificates or documents displayed on the wall behind the desk.

Demystifying the Da’s Office

The Erie County District Attorney’s Office is where many UB Law students and graduates have found their place in the justice system. NATALIE LESH ’93 has worked to deepen that connection, and the cause of justice is stronger for it.

Lesh, special counsel to the District Attorney, has been instrumental in expanding student placement in the busy prosecutor’s office. Today, dozens of UB Law students gain hands-on experience during the school year and summer, assisting with all aspects of case management, including discovery and legal research and writing projects. Students have the opportunity to visit the Erie County Central Police Services Lab, Erie Crime Analysis Center, the Holding Center and more. “We want to expose them to as much in our world as possible,” she says.

“Natalie took hold of the internship and externship program at the DA’s Office and gave it structure,” says Lisa Patterson, the law school’s director of externships and access to justice initiatives. “She made sure the students have a meaningful experience.”

Students can also deepen their understanding through the “The Modern DA” course, taught by Lesh and other experienced prosecutors, where they track a case from arrest through trial and appeal. “Our job is to do justice,” she says, “and if that means we dismiss a case or divert a defendant to an alternative program, we do that. We’ve had such a great response to the course. We’ve hired several students who came to us after they took it because they saw a different perspective of prosecutors than what they might see in the media.”