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Like many of her law school peers, Mackenzie Freeman ’22 enrolled in a clinic to gain practical experience that would give her a head start on her legal career. In the Community Enterprise Clinic last semester, she worked with nonprofit organizations, helping them with drafting important documents and contracts. The work strengthened the fundamental skills that she will use as a transactional and corporate lawyer.

After graduating, Freeman plans to work as an associate with the mergers and acquisitions group at McGuireWoods in Dallas. Last summer, she was an associate law clerk for the firm. She has also worked as a legal extern for the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation last spring and as a summer associate for Jackson Walker in Houston. She is currently a legal extern for the Durham City Attorney’s Office.

At Duke Law, Freeman has been involved with a variety of student organizations. She worked with the Innocence Project as a public policy analyst in her first year, and she was the webmaster and social media chair for the Black Law Students Association in her second year, as well as the co-chair of the Womxn of Color Collective. She remains a member of BLSA and a 3L representative for WOCC. She is also a member of the Pi Sigma Alpha American Political Science Association and the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, both of which were started when she was an undergrad at Baylor University, where she completed a degree in political science.

In her spare time, the Lititz, Pa., native likes to cook and play with her puppy.

Read more about her experiences in the Community Enterprise Clinic in our Q&A:

What kind of research have you been involved in with the clinic, or what kind of work have you been doing?

Most of my work with the Community Enterprise Clinic revolved around drafting documents, either forming 501(c)(3) entities or drafting contracts for nonprofits, including internal documents and for approvals of community development grants. 

How has your work deepened your understanding of or changed your views on the law?

My work enhanced my understanding of how difficult accessing the law can be, especially for grassroots organizations. Many organizations are formed organically and do local community work before formalizing the entity, which often takes much longer than expected and can cause delays in achieving the organization's goals. On the other hand, I saw the importance of having a structured organization, with the legal and fiduciary duties that protect a charitable organization.

How has your work with the clinic enhanced your law school experience?

Working with the Community Enterprise Clinic greatly enhanced my law school experience, as I was able to establish strong connections with local nonprofit organizations and their leadership. Sometimes it can be easy to focus on broader issues, especially in law school, but having the opportunity to build local Durham connections and see how I played a small part in effecting local change is a powerful and fulfilling experience every law student should strive for. 

How have your experiences prepared you for your career, or positioned you to improve your career, after you graduate? 

As someone going to a firm for transactional practice after law school, my experiences pragmatically prepared me for drafting documents, researching relevant law, and working collaboratively among peer and supervising attorneys. Prior to my work with the clinic, all pro bono work I had done was focused on litigation, but the Community Enterprise Clinic opened my eyes to a host of pro bono transactional opportunities that I plan to dedicate myself to post-graduation. 

Maria Bajgain is a communications specialist at Duke Law School. Reach her at maria.bajgain@law.duke.edu.