Jury duty a turning point in Boomgaarden’s career path

By Bonnie Kirchman

Jury duty, something many of us hope to avoid, was actually a turning point in Ashley Boomgaarden’s career path. As a college sophomore, Ashley was called for jury duty at the Clearwater County courthouse. She found the experience so interesting that she decided to change her major and made being a lawyer her career goal. 

Now Ashley Boomgaarden has completed her first year of law school and is back at the Clearwater County courthouse, this time working as an intern in the Clearwater County attorney’s office. County Attorney Al Rogalla selected her to fill a position as a crime victim advocate intern, a position funded through a crime victim advocate grant. 

“I am excited to have a local, aspiring attorney working in our office,” Mr. Rogalla said of Ashley, a 2014 Clearbrook-Gonvick graduate. She is the daughter of Shawn and Nikki Groshong and is married to Jacob, an apprentice electrician with Clearbrook Electric.

Ashley is also excited to have the opportunity to work with County Attorney Rogalla and his staff. Ashley began her first year of law school at UND in the fall of 2018. With one year behind her, she is ready to take what she is learning in the classroom and apply it in a legal setting. She is also expanding her legal skills. Ashley’s internship work focuses on the victims, especially how prosecutors deal with victims. Most situations in a county attorney’s office involve victims of everything from theft to domestic abuse to assault. So understanding and learning how to work with victims is beneficial for students learning about the prosecutor side of law. 

“Ashley is already involved in a wide range of activities in our office,” Mr. Rogalla said. Ashley’s experience so far has found her contacting victims through telephone calls and letters and sitting in at meetings with victims. She has also had opportunities to attend juvenile court sessions with Attorney Rogalla. 

“I am being exposed to lots of different things,” Ashley says of her experience in the county attorney’s office. While the focus of her internship is dealing with crime victims, Ashley is seeing firsthand how many professionals interact in the legal process. While she is learning more about the roles of county attorneys and judges, she is also getting a better understanding of the work done by legal secretaries, probation officers, and court reporters. 

“You throw yourself in and hope you come out on the other side,” is how Ashley describes the challenges of being a first-year law student and the dedication required to succeed in the program. During her first year of law school, Ashley was a member of the Rural Practice Association, an organization for law students at UND that addresses legal needs and issues in rural communities. She also competed in the Moot Court competition, placing first among her first year Lawyering Skills classmates.

In the fall, Ashley will return to UND for her second year of law school. She will be required to take certain classes, but will have the freedom to select some other classes on an elective basis. This will allow her to continue to explore areas of interest to her in the field of law.

In additional to her classes, Ashley will be the president of the Rural Practice Association. This is a relatively new group, and Ashley is excited to continue as a leader for the organization. One project the association did in the past year was hold a panel discussion with rural attorneys. Alternatives to incarceration, with a goal of avoiding repeat offenders, was the topic chosen. Ashley hopes to repeat the panel this year and add other opportunities for students to network with lawyers from rural communities.

As for future plans, Ashley has two more years of law school. While she is interested in many aspects of legal practice, she is especially drawn to rural legal practice. She may have the opportunity to continue exploring law in the rural communities of Clearwater County. 

County Attorney Al Rogalla was very enthusiastic on this, “We hope Ashley comes back next summer!”