Second-year law student Eric Ray has gotten the most out of his two summers in law school. After completing his first year, Eric interned with the Third District Court of Appeal and this summer he will be a summer associate with Holland & Knight in Miami. "I recommend the judicial internship to anyone interested in litigation or appellate work. It provides a great inside perspective on how the courts function and how mistakes are made and corrected."

Originally from West Palm Beach, Florida, Eric is a graduate of Colgate University. His degree is in political science with minors in history and art history. While at Colgate, Eric played on the tennis team, studied abroad for a semester in Florence, Italy, and served on the Inter-Fraternity Council. After graduating from college in 1999, he went to work for New York's premiere public relations firm, Rubenstein Associates. During his four years as an account executive with Rubenstein Associates, one of his major clients was the State of Israel. "Coming to law school after working hard in the professional world, I was much more mature and focused than I would have been if I came straight from college. However, I certainly have enjoyed the return to student life and its perks like not having to shave every day."

At UM Eric is an intern with the Center for Ethics and Public Service's Community Economic Development and Design Project (CEDAD), a member of the Inter- American Law Review, and since October of last year, he has been clerking fifteen to twenty hours a week with Podhurst Orseck. Two of his legal areas of interest are commercial law and real estate.

Eric, who once competed in junior tennis tournaments throughout Europe, continues to play tennis recreationally. He has also picked up golf and is very active in intramural sports at UM. During breaks in the academic year, Eric is into international adventure travel. His favorite country visited so far is Namibia and he just returned from a trip to the Dominican Republic.