If there’s any doubt that summer internships have a big impact on law students, Dallas County Court-at-Law No. 2 Judge King Fifer is proof that they can and do.

In the early 1990s, Fifer was home in Dallas for the summer while attending the University of Tulsa College of Law. His mother convinced him to volunteer for Merrill Hartman, then-judge of Dallas County’s 192nd District Court.