Database Management Intern
Cochran Allan is an estate planning firm located in Tysons Corner, VA and I was a Database Management Intern this past summer. In this role, I was tasked with projects pertaining to managing company files, inputting post-mortem accountings, and troubleshooting the firm’s document management system. A specific project that I worked on was working on a client’s post-mortem accounting. This project allowed me to use a proprietary software to input stock information and track how much money was going in and out of this client’s account post-mortem. This software would then compile all the data into a PDF that could be used later by the IRS if they chose to do so. Another project I was tasked with was to review client files that the firm had as a hard copy and make sure they matched with the files the firm had in their database. For this project, I would look at the hard-copy files, compare them with the database files, and scan updated files accordingly. This project allowed me to learn the process of managing the law firm’s database management system and help the firm digitize their large hard-copy library. In this internship, I learned a lot about how a small law firm differs from a large corporation. We learn a lot about corporate duties and functions through multiple classes at Temple, so it was interesting to see which of those functions also apply to a small business setting.