Aug. 10, 2013

Former judge urges students to aim high following internship

Encouraging students to continue to strive for professional success, retired Orange County Superior Court Judge Francisco F. Firmat addressed Project SELF interns, their families and members of the Orange County legal community during the annual Project SELF Recognition Dinner on Aug. 7 in Irvine. The roughly 250-person event celebrated this year's 54 students placed as interns throughout 44 Orange County law firms and law-related businesses through the Project SELF (Summer Employment in Law Firm) program, which provides low-to-middle income high school juniors with a hands-on summer internship. Now a neutral at ADR Services Inc., Firmat was born in Cuba, and his family sent him alone to the U.S. with no knowledge of English and nothing but a note and a few dollars pinned to his clothes, determining that it was better for him to be an orphan in the U.S. than to face revolutionary turmoil in Cuba. He addressed the students in both English and Spanish. Interns were also presented with certificates of recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives, the state Senate, Orange County and the city of Santa Ana. The Orange County chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators and the Orange County Bar Foundation also awarded the participants certificates of achievement. The paid, eight-week internship began June 18. — Ben Adlin