A path to in-house legal practice
How an extended internship at Sherwin-Williams headquarters is giving one CWRU student an inside look at corporate operations.
Years ago, when Connor Black would pass by Sherwin-Williams paint stores in his small hometown of Defiance, Ohio, he never thought that, one day, he’d end up working at the company’s headquarters in downtown Cleveland.
Fast-forward to today: That’s precisely what Black is doing as a corporate legal intern at Sherwin-Williams’ brand new sleek, state-of-the-art building that overlooks Public Square and the Lake Erie shoreline. The internship is part of the experiential education requirement for his JD at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Unlike many other internship positions, Black’s is uniquely set up as an extended appointment that continues through May 2027. This gives him the time it takes to build longer-term relationships with colleagues and learn the ins and outs of a company as large as Sherwin-Williams.
“With a position like this—and it being such a big company—you have to try to learn about the different lines of business and areas,” Black explained. “So that's honestly half the battle—just learning the actual business itself.”
With a degree in finance already under his belt, Black was excited to dive into other areas of business this summer. So far, he’s conducted research in corporate and securities law as well as environmental law, and supported the legal team of 100+ with document review, SEC filings and public disclosures.
Many of these tasks are ones Black felt prepared to handle, thanks to his legal writing coursework at CWRU School of Law. Two semesters of “Legal Writing, Leadership, Experiential Education, Advocacy and Professionalism” taught Black to conduct research, draft contracts, and write memos and briefs, among many other fundamental lawyering skills.
“It was really nice to be able to tie that [coursework] in and have a starting point,” Black said, “and to have an idea of how to structure things in a way that makes sense.”
One of the best parts of Black’s internship, he said, is that it gives interns a peek into the inner workings of a large company.
“It gets to the heart of how publicly traded companies function and a lot of the decisions they make,” Black said, “whether it be for their own requirements, broader social initiatives or different things for the market.”
As Black begins his second year of law school and shifts to a more flexible, part-time schedule at Sherwin-Williams, he’s getting a sense of what it’s like to work as in-house counsel—work that is broad and often requires attorneys to act as generalists.
“I think it's one of the best learning experiences you can get,” said Black. “There aren't many jobs where you're going to be able to see so many different things as a 1L, and I think it's been really, really helpful.”
To balance that newfound perspective with an outside counsel experience, Black has accepted a 2027 summer associate position at Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP. Gaining experience in both in-house and law firm settings, he said, will provide a well-rounded foundation for his legal career.
