Taylor Porter Summer Associate Profiles - Caroline Darwin, Coulter McMahen (LSU Law, Class of 2017)

June 08, 2016

Taylor Porter is proud of its annual summer associate program, which hires highly motivated, well-rounded law students to participate in two, six-week sessions. Under the guidance of practicing attorneys, our summer associates gain hands-on experience and interaction that reflect real life as a lawyer. During the first summer session of 2016, Taylor Porter has eight summer associates, and our law firm is proud to profile these eight students and gain their insight from the Taylor Porter summer associate program.

Learn more about the Taylor Porter Summer Associate Program



Caroline Darwin, LSU Law, Class of 2017

Caroline Darwin will enter her third year at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU, where she is a Chancellor's Scholar and a moot court board member. She also is a member of LSU's Admiralty Moot Court team, which won the national championship and award for best respondent brief at the Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition in San Francisco. She also received an award for best oral advocate in the Robert Lee Tullis Moot Court Competition. Caroline received her B.A. in Mass Communication from LSU, where she served as Vice President of Tri Delta Sorority and President of the Greek Board of Directors. Caroline formerly clerked for Taylor, Wellens, Politz and Duhe in Baton Rouge, and was a judicial extern for Judge Jewel E. "Duke" Welch at the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals during the Fall 2015 semester.

What practice area(s) are you most interested in and why?

I am most interested in litigation because each case brings about new challenges. You’re never going to get the same case twice.

How has the Taylor Porter summer law clerk program helped prepare you for becoming a lawyer?

The summer law clerk program has helped prepare me to become a lawyer by exposing me to the everyday life of an attorney. 

Who are your Taylor Porter attorney mentors and what have you learned from them about the legal field that will stick with you?

Erin Kenny and Pat Seiter are my attorney mentors. I have learned a great deal from them both, and I most appreciate how supportive they both are. They both make time to talk with me anytime I go to them with questions. This has taught me the importance of paying it forward and being supportive of those that come after you in the field.

What do you like best about the TP Summer Associate Program?

The Taylor Porter Summer Associate Program has allowed me to experience different aspects of practicing law. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting experience outside the classroom and putting what I have learned into practice. Aside from conducting research in a number of practice areas,  I have also attended depositions and observed oral arguments at federal court.

Coulter McMahen, LSU Law, Class of 2017

Coulter McMahen will enter his third year at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU after transferring from the William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas Little Rock. During his first year, he received "Top Paper" in Legal Research and Writing, was invited to write for the Arkansas Real Estate Review, and was selected to the UALR Law Review. During and following his first semester at LSU, Coulter participated in the Robert Lee Tullis Moot Court Competition, competed in the Tulane Sports Law Invitational, and was a Dean's Scholar. Coulter graduated from LSU with a bachelor of science in Finance and a minor in Geology. Following his first year of law school, Coulter worked in Hartford, Connecticut, for Travelers Insurance, as a legal intern in its Corporate Claim Legal Department. However, one job that really had an impact on him was his work for James Construction Group, where he was able to meet and interact with people from very different walks of life. During college, he worked at LSU Fire and Emergency Training Institute, McGlinchey Stafford, and Seismic Exchange, a Houston-based oil and gas company.


What practice area(s) are you most interested in and why? 

Right now, I am open to all practice areas because I have not had enough experience in one area or the other to really pinpoint a field and say that is the one I am most interested in.


How has the Taylor Porter summer law clerk program helped prepare you for becoming a lawyer?

First, the Taylor Porter summer law clerk program has helped further develop my communication skills, which is one of the more important aspects in the legal field. Through the summer law clerk program I have gotten the chance to interact with the attorneys/staff from various backgrounds, and that has helped me a lot. Another thing the program has taught me that I would not normally retain in a law school classroom is learning how to bill hours. I had not had any prior experience billing hours in the past so that is something I will take with me from this program.


Who are your Taylor Porter attorney mentors and what have you learned from them about the legal field that will stick with you?

My mentors are Tom Easterly and Jonathan Moore, and both have taught me the practical aspects of becoming a lawyer that I would not have necessarily learned in a law school classroom. Both have been extremely helpful and always there to answer any question I may have.


What do you like best about the TP Summer Associate Program? 

The Taylor Porter Summer Associate Program is great because all attorneys/staff take an “all hands on deck” approach and really focus on getting to know each and every law clerk. As a clerk, I think it is extremely important to get to know as many people as possible, and the TP Summer Associate Program does its best to make sure that happens.  

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