Major
Criminal Justice
Anticipated Graduation Year
2027
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
This presentation summarizes my internship experience at Grcic Law LLC focused on applied legal and policy research within municipal government contexts. During this internship, I completed two primary projects involving comparative legal analysis and regulatory evaluation. The first project examined firearm sales regulations in the Village of Niles, Illinois, analyzing local ordinances alongside Illinois and federal law to assess how firearm sales are structured, restricted, and enforced across different levels of government. The second project evaluated a proposed Niles ordinance regulating e-bikes and e-scooters by comparing it with existing municipal policies in Elk Grove Village, Schaumburg, and Deerfield.
Across both projects, I conducted legal research, synthesized statutory and ordinance language, and performed comparative policy analysis to identify key similarities, differences, and enforcement approaches. These projects highlight how municipalities develop regulatory frameworks to address public safety concerns while remaining consistent with broader state and federal legal systems. Overall, this internship strengthened my skills in legal research, statutory interpretation, and policy analysis, while deepening my understanding of how local government functions in practice.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
William Watkins, Undergraduate Program Director & Internship Coordinator, Department of Criminal Justice
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Legal Internship Experience
This presentation summarizes my internship experience at Grcic Law LLC focused on applied legal and policy research within municipal government contexts. During this internship, I completed two primary projects involving comparative legal analysis and regulatory evaluation. The first project examined firearm sales regulations in the Village of Niles, Illinois, analyzing local ordinances alongside Illinois and federal law to assess how firearm sales are structured, restricted, and enforced across different levels of government. The second project evaluated a proposed Niles ordinance regulating e-bikes and e-scooters by comparing it with existing municipal policies in Elk Grove Village, Schaumburg, and Deerfield.
Across both projects, I conducted legal research, synthesized statutory and ordinance language, and performed comparative policy analysis to identify key similarities, differences, and enforcement approaches. These projects highlight how municipalities develop regulatory frameworks to address public safety concerns while remaining consistent with broader state and federal legal systems. Overall, this internship strengthened my skills in legal research, statutory interpretation, and policy analysis, while deepening my understanding of how local government functions in practice.