Meet Ashley and Jenna — Coupang International Legal team interns

Hi Ashley & Jenna, please introduce yourselves. 

Ashley: My name is Ashley, and I am a second-year law student at Brigham Young University (BYU)’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. I am originally from Portland, Oregon, but moved to Utah in 2018 to pursue my bachelor’s degree at BYU and continued at BYU for my law degree. I am a first-generation law student in my family and the first person in my family to pursue a graduate degree. In my free time, I enjoy reading, weightlifting, hiking, and trying new recipes.  

Jenna: My name is Jenna, and I am also a second year at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU in Provo, Utah. I went back to school to pursue a career in law after a couple years of work and it was definitely the right decision. I love Korean food and reading, and this is my second time visiting Korea.  

What courses are you currently taking at BYU and what is your major’s focus?  

Jenna: I’m currently taking National Security Law and International Business Law while in Korea, alongside this incredible internship with Coupang. I plan to take more classes in international law, transaction law and IP over the next year. I hope to pursue a career in international transaction law or intellectual property law upon graduation.     

Ashley: I am currently enrolled in National Security Law and International Business Transactions, which are upper-level law school courses. I graduated magna cum laude from BYU with a major in Sociology and minors in psychology, family life science, and political science. In sociology, my emphasis was on the study of criminology and law, which was a major part of my decision to attend law school. Through my studies at law school, my interest has focused on international law.   

Tell us about your internship opportunity at Coupang and how it came about? 

Jenna: BYU Law School offers an incredible Global Seminar program, placing law students with businesses, law firms, and government agencies around the world for semester-long work experiences. I originally intended to do a working semester abroad as part of my final year of law school but decided to come this semester when I heard of the opportunity in South Korea at Coupang. This internship is intended to give me real-life experience in international transaction law, as well as a taste of the different paths that lawyers might take after law school is over.    

Ashley: Just like Jenna, I applied to this internship through the law school’s Global Law Seminar Program. BYU is known for having outstanding internship programs. This is in fact my third international internship at BYU. During my undergrad, I spent a summer in the U.K. studying international human rights. And in my first summer of law school, I had the opportunity to work in Hong Kong through an internship program, which sparked my interest in pursuing international law in the Asia Pacific. When I heard about the Global Law seminar program and heard about an in-house counsel position in Seoul, I was immediately interested- it was a perfect combination of international business transactions while working with a diverse and dynamic legal team.   

How was is it like to work at Coupang in Korea?  

Ashley: The internship at Coupang has been a remarkable experience. The team was immediately welcoming and got us onboarded with fun projects, ranging from working on AI legal research to contract drafting for cross-border logistics agreements. The opportunity to work in Seoul has also been a major highlight — I have loved exploring all of the cafes throughout the city, and on the weekends, I like to take advantage of all the hiking trails at nearby mountains. 

Jenna: Coupang has been a wonderful place to work. The International Legal team has been so welcoming and really let me get my hands dirty with the issues they deal with on a daily basis. Peter and Kay have been great mentors, helping to expand my understanding of the law and what it means to work as both an overseas and domestic lawyer. The work itself has been diverse and engaging, with a range of different projects that have taught me a lot about how an international company operates and deals with problems. I’m happy to have contributed a small part to its success in the past months. I’ve enjoyed our team lunches as well, and I will miss admiring the view from the 17th floor cafe windows when I’m gone. 

As a future lawyer, what will take from your experience here at Coupang in Korea?  

Jenna: The most valuable thing I will take from my experience here at Coupang is the mentorship from my team members. They have been invaluable in giving me feedback on my work and answering my questions about the law and everything else. I feel like I have grown immensely under their guidance. The overall experience working with international law, researching, and learning and drafting in real world situations will also be super helpful as I go forward into my classes and my career after law school. I’ll have a better understanding of how these things work and experience to draw from, so I’m very grateful for the opportunity to have interned at Coupang.  

Ashley: My biggest takeaway from this experience is that being a lifelong learner is the key to success. The legal landscape is always changing and growing in a field like e-commerce, which brings with it exciting new legal challenges and considerations. There is always something new you can learn in this industry and being willing to try new things and expand your knowledge base will take you far.   

Any fun/most memorable anecdote from your time in Seoul?    

Jenna: Navigating Seoul with a language barrier has been an adventure. Once while buying groceries at my local supermarket, the conversation diverted from what I expected (Bag? Points? Card?), and I was directed over to customer service. I was terrified that my card hadn’t worked or something similar, but a while later with the help of Google Translate, I discovered I had won a complimentary gift: Shin Ramen. I definitely have to roll with the punches and keep working on my language skills.   

Ashley: Jenna and I have had a lot of funny encounters during our time here in Seoul. We are both quite tall, so we get some pretty amazing reactions from people (kids, especially) who are surprised to see us on the street. It’s made for some fun interactions where people ask us where we are from and what we’re doing in Seoul. Everyone that we have met has been extremely kind and welcoming (even if they’re a bit shocked to see us at first).