By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

Nashira Swift-McKeller is like a lot of other college students these days.

The 23-year-old attends Buffalo State College, where she is working toward a degree in communications design, and earns extra cash through a part-time job.

Where she differs a bit from her peers, however, is that she isn't hustling fast food or working a retail counter in the mall to earn her paycheck. The McKinley High School graduate is an employee of the law firm of Lipsitz & Ponterio. She has the position thanks to the efforts of 8th Judicial District Administrative Judge Paula Feroleto and her husband, attorney John Feroleto.

Two years ago, the Feroletos said, they decided to give back to the community that has been so good to them. Judge Feroleto came up with the idea of creating a summer internship program for city youth.

"The graduation rate in the City of Buffalo is pretty low," she said at the time she announced the program. "At the same time, law firms and the courts are two of the biggest employers in the city. The firms usually hire people in the summer to file and do other jobs, so (we hope to) get these jobs to kids who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity."

Swift-McKeller was one of the lucky few to earn an internship in the inaugural year. While the Feroletos envisioned students filling a need in the firms and learning valuable skills over the short term, for Swift-McKeller, a six-week internship turned into a permanent position.

"It was the last week of the program and I was about to go back to Buff State and I asked if I could stay on," she said. "So I just sort of continued doing what I was doing and stayed."

Though it may seem an odd pairing to have a communications major working in a legal practice, she said it has been an invaluable experience.

"Law is not what I want to do in my career," she said, "But what I do here has taught me so much that I think I will use when I graduate."

When the Feroletos rolled out the internship program two years ago, John said it was more about experience than earnings.

"I am hoping it will give the kids a chance to get some exposure to working in an office setting," he said, "and possibly benefit from some mentoring along the way."

To that point, Swift McKeller said her experience at the firm, where she works between 12 and 20 hours a week, has taught her things she could not have learned in the classroom.

"I have one specific job here, but I still talk to everybody and learn as much as I can," she said. "Not only can I talk to them about work, but I might have a situation at school and I can ask them for advice and they tell me what I need to do."

For John Lipsitz, a founding partner of the firm, he considers it fortunate to have landed a student like Swift-McKeller.

"We view this as a sort of community service to help young people learn what we do and hopefully demystify the legal process and made it a little less intimidating," he said. "We're very pleased with how things have turned out."

Though Swift-McKeller said she loves what she is doing, there was a period of adaptation to working in an office. It was one of the key components the Feroletos hoped the program would teach young people.

"I was very nauseous the first day," Swift-McKeller recalled, laughing. "I really didn't think I was going to fit in and do the job right."

Those fears were quickly pushed aside as the staff taught her the legal ropes.

"Once I started, I fell right in and they were great teaching me what I needed to know," she said.

With plans to continue to grow the legal internship program next summer, does Lipsitz have any advice for firms that may be hesitant to bring on an intern because of cost concerns or other issues?

"This has been a really good experience for us, as well as Nashira," he said. "I would say it isn't always about the bottom line, and this is money well-spent."