Ruchelman P.L.L.C. actively participates in the extern program for students in the LLM Program at New York Law School. We provide real life professional experience to the extern and the extern receives two credits towards the award of a degree. Our younger lawyers benefit by providing hands-on supervision of the extern, a needed step in professional development. Recently, we expanded our extern program to include J.D. students at New York Law School who have taken enough tax courses to demonstrate a desire to pursue a tax focus in the practice of law. This spring, our extern was Vanessa Lebbos, now a law school graduate. In her article, Vanessa explains her journey in law school, her interest in taking tax courses, and her experience at our firm. Mentoring an extern can be its own reward. That certainly was our experience with Vanessa.