Regions Welcomes Legal Interns

In June, the Regions Legal Department welcomed 10 law school students for their annual corporate law session. Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary Tara Plimpton and the Legal team launched the program a few years ago to provide enhanced exposure and experience to students who are spending their summers as law clerks for local firms.

“Law firms provide valuable experience to young lawyers, but I think it’s also important to expose students to other areas of law, so they’ll understand they have many options as they progress through their careers,” Plimpton said.

The students were paired with attorney mentors from the Regions Legal department for a crash course in life as an in-house lawyer. They sat in on meetings that included many business and support groups across the bank and enjoyed presentations from Regions leaders, such as Leroy Abrahams, head of Community Engagement; Clara Green, head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Tom Speir, head of Corporate Development and Strategy; Ashley Garrison, head of Human Resources Strategic Delivery and Talent Management; and Brian Jackson, head of Consumer Products and Origination Partnerships.

“I had no idea about corporate law,” said Sav Miles, a student at the University of Alabama School of Law serving as a summer law clerk at Baker Donelson. “This experience gave me more clarity about what it’s like to be an in-house lawyer and really emphasized the breadth of opportunities out there after graduation.”

This experience gave me more clarity about what it’s like to be an in-house lawyer and really emphasized the breadth of opportunities out there after graduation.
Sav Miles, Regions summer law clerk

Fellow participant William Wethington agreed, adding that it was interesting to get a glimpse inside the operations of a Fortune 500 company and see how Legal is involved in every business and department. Wethington attends Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law and is spending part of his summer as a clerk for Bradley.

Another theme that emerged was how much the interns valued the one-on-one time with their mentors. “I enjoyed hearing from Stacey [Turner] and Elizabeth [Townsend] about what their days look like, how they work with other Legal teams and groups across the company and how they balance career and family,” said Emma Smith, a Wake Forest University School of Law student working at Maynard Nexsen.

The Regions Legal internship program is part of Plimpton’s strategy to collaborate with local law firms and help grow legal talent in the Birmingham community. It’s an alliance that benefits both sides since Regions currently employs approximately 215 lawyers across the company.

I enjoyed hearing from Stacey [Turner] and Elizabeth [Townsend] about what their days look like, how they work with other Legal teams and groups across the company and how they balance career and family.
Emma Smith, Wake Forest University School of Law student

“Law firms are a great place to start a legal career,” said Chief Governance Officer Andrew Nix, who, along with Legal Services Manager Katie Loggins, coordinates the internship program. “And we’re thrilled when those experienced lawyers from firms we work closely with choose to make the move to corporate law at Regions later in their careers.”

Loggins agreed, saying, “Law degrees provide so many opportunities other than just being a lawyer in a firm and I’m happy we can provide a brief preview into some of those possibilities.”

Based on participant feedback, the session was another success and the students left the program with positive impressions of both corporate law and Regions.

Montez Williams, a student at the University of Virginia School of Law currently clerking at Burr & Forman, made this observation: “Everyone here seems to love their jobs and love Regions!”