NCLA Internship Spotlight

Bradley Larson

Summer Law Clerk

Law School: Columbia Law School

Expected Graduation: 2022

Hometown: Wauwatosa, WI

Campus Activities: Federalist Society Lecture Series Chair, Legal Outreach Mentor, Squash Club, Poker Club

Hobbies: Playing golf, fishing (but never actually catching anything), and going to baseball games.

What were your duties as an NCLA intern?

While at NCLA I was assigned a wide range of duties. Some of the more memorable ones were drafting a research memo, authoring a blog post to be published on our website, and taking the first draft of a petition for a Writ of Certiorari at the Supreme Court.

What did you most enjoy about your internship?

The thing I enjoyed most was the substantive work. I felt as if the stuff I was working on was important, and my contribution mattered. For example, I doubt many of my classmates had the chance to draft a document that ends up in the hands of the Supreme Court.

What interesting thing(s) did you learn about Administrative Law?

I learned just how much of a nightmare the Administrative State can be. Whether it was dealing with vindictive bureaucrats or seeing regulations that directly contradicted the actual law, seeing the Administrative State in action elucidated some of its biggest flaws.

How might you use what you’ve learned later in your professional career?

Administrative law touches nearly every other discipline. Learning first-hand how administrative law works in practice will help avoid lots of consternation, whether as a transactional attorney or a litigator.

Any advice for other students who want to intern at NCLA in the future?

Read up on the Administrative State. Not just why much of it is bad and/or unconstitutional, but how it was founded and why some people (on the right and left) still want it around.