NCLA Internship Spotlight

Randy Quarles

2023 Clerk

Law School: University of Chicago

Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT

Campus Activities: Flag Football, Basketball

Hobbies: Marksmanship, Skiing, Reading, Video Games

What were your duties as an NCLA intern? Researching the myriad ways in which the SEC, FTC, FCC, DOT, and so on can be prevented from sticking their tendrils in places they don’t belong and drafting and editing legal documents to remove the tendrils from the places they already are.

What did you most enjoy about your internship? I enjoyed learning about the applications of administrative law and the various arguments that get made for and against agencies. I also enjoyed learning about the different ways one can get information out of the Government, such as FOIA, discovery, and newspaper leaks.

What interesting thing(s) did you learn about administrative law? I learned that there are many more kinds of deference than just Chevron, and most of them are worse, and I learned that it is possible to push back against the inertia of a disinterested populace and malicious Government, if one works hard to do the right thing.

How might you use what you’ve learned later in your professional career? Understanding the limits of Government power is a good thing for any citizen to know, and I can use this knowledge to help myself or others if I ever end up in a situation where the Government has decided it’s my turn to face the music.

Any advice for other students who want to intern at NCLA in the future? Apply early, research some of the cases so you can get a sense of whether you really want to work here, learn how to bluebook, and don’t believe everything you hear on TV, or anything you hear from the head of an administrative agency.