Learn about why Giancarlo Serrato joined the Becky’s Fund team!

My name is Giancarlo Serrato, and I will be working this summer as a legal intern with Becky’s Fund. I am originally from Geneva, Switzerland but currently reside in Maryland.

By way of education, I attended high school in Geneva Switzerland, at the Collège Du Léman, and later earned a B.A. in political science from the George Washington University in Washington D.C. I am currently a law student at the Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law and will be entering my second year in August of 2013.

My interests in interning with Becky’s Fund over the summer are based on my desire to learn about domestic violence law, and develop better advocacy, research and writing skills for my future endeavors as a law student and eventually as a practicing attorney.

I hope Becky’s Fund will offer me the opportunity to explore the legal intricacies of domestic violence law and work on researching and assimilating domestic violence policy on both a micro and macro scale. I want to learn about a new area of law and in that process, apply some of the skills I learnt from my first year at law school. In addition, I want to gain as much real life legal experience as possible. Although law school introduces its students to thinking like lawyers, there is a huge disconnect between theory and practice. I want to be exposed to situations in which I will be required to apply critical legal thinking and reasoning, and work one on one with clients and other parties concerned. Taking part in helping craft practical and effective legal solutions to client problems and policy issues, will be a perfect vehicle by which to help my eventual transition from law student to practicing attorney following law school.

Finally my interest in working with Becky’s Fund is also motivated by its legal activism role in fighting against domestic violence. A lawyer’s duty is not only to protect those that come to him for help, but also to protect and fight for those that are not aware of their rights and cannot easily protect themselves. Working to put the law on the side of domestic violence victims and working on promoting awareness to counter domestic violence from occurring in the first instance is the sort of legal activism that I believe is essential to becoming a true advocate, and something I want to be a part of.