How to Build a High-Impact Internship Program

9 snips

Feb 5, 2026

Adam Rossen, a law firm owner who built a curriculum-based internship program over 15 years, discusses mentorship, community impact, and scaling internships. He covers project-based learning, SEO-driven work that boosted firm traffic, formal speaker and book-club elements, targeted criminal justice recruiting, and practical logistics for building a selective, impactful program.

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ANECDOTE

Humble Beginnings: 'Come Hang Out' Internship

Adam Rossen started his internship program informally by saying 'come hang out' and letting students observe court and do small tasks.
That version provided value but lacked structure and repeatability.

ANECDOTE

COVID Pivot: Large Remote Internship Cohort

During COVID Adam took 13 interns remotely and ran intensive projects like memos on high-profile cases and SEO content.
That work produced 30,000 words of content and dramatically increased site traffic and firm growth.

INSIGHT

Intern Work Can Multiply Firm Growth

Using interns for strategic content can scale firm growth faster than headcount alone.
Adam credits the SEO project as a major factor in tripling revenue in 2021.

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Are you a law firm owner looking to create an internship program? In this episode of the Maximum Lawyer Podcast, Adam Rossen - a lawyer who founded his firm in 2008—shares the 15-year journey of developing a robust law firm internship program. The episode highlights lessons learned, the importance of mentorship, community impact, and practical advice for building effective internship programs, especially in the legal field.

Having a solid internship program can really make your law firm stand out and be something to use to attract and retain new talent. Adam speaks to some of the key things to have when formalizing a program. One thing to incorporate is speakers. This will create a real world experience for interns who can learn from the best. Adam had some judges speak to his summer interns this past year. Another component is having a summer book club which makes the program more formal and curriculum based. His students read a book on the federal criminal justice system, written by a judge.

Adam and Tyson chat about how to recruit for an internship program. One thing a firm can do is create some marketing materials to promote the firm. If you have a good relationship with colleges and universities in your city, you can connect with them to help promote the program to their students. Something to consider, which is something Adam has done in his firm, is connect with criminal justice organizations to help recruit individuals who don't have a background in law to intern at the firm. These can be individuals who are looking for a change in career or who have been in contact with the law and want to work in the field.

Listen in to learn more about creating a robust internship program!

4:04 Growth and Speaking to Students
10:18 Formalizing A Program
14:06 Program Structure & Recruitment

17:28 Advice for Starting an Internship Program
20:27 Long-Term Impact & Networking

Connect with Adam:

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Tune in to today’s episode and checkout the full show notes here.