Grace O'Brien

Grace O’Brien, a final-year student on the BCL Criminology and Criminal Justice degree programme, obtained the internship through a summer exchange programme with Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts, becoming the first student on the programme to be awarded an internship at the federal appellate level.

During her internship with the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Ms O’Brien will be assigned to Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson, who was appointed to the federal appellate bench by President Barack Obama in 2010 and assumed senior status on the court in 2022.

Her time will be divided between Judge Thompson’s offices in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island.

University of Galway School of Law said it “extends hearty congratulations to [Ms O’Brien] on this extraordinary achievement and wishes her the very best with this tremendous opportunity”.

The summer exchange programme between University of Galway School of Law and Suffolk University Law School is directed in Galway by Larry Donnelly and Dr Conor Hanly and by Professor Sara Dillon in Boston.