Summer Experience: Moses Park ’26L This summer, Moses Park worked in the Strategic Initiatives and Technology Group at Mastercard.

Moses Park ’26L, far right, with his fellow Mastercard legal interns.

Moses Park ‘26L is a second-year law student at Washington and Lee University and an international student from South Korea. Before law school, Moses worked for two years at an education non-profit and co-founded and worked as a COO at an electrical mobility start-up company. This past summer, he interned at Mastercard’s headquarters in Purchase, New York. After law school, he plans to start both his career and his family in the U.S. alongside his girlfriend.

What did you do for work this summer?

I worked with Mastercard’s Strategic Initiatives and Technology Group, which consists of various teams, allowing me to gain exposure to multiple practices. I contributed to the Government Contracting Team’s regulatory compliance with EU foreign subsidy regulations and assisted in creating a manual to provide government contracting guidelines for business units. Additionally, I supported lawyers in restructuring, M&A, and data privacy matters by drafting memos and conducting research.

I had numerous shadowing opportunities, including shadowing two Senior Managing Counsels during their SEC filing process and in Corporate Finance and M&A due diligence meetings. For the SEC filings, I had the chance to observe how a corporation prepares for this process and was present in the room when they filed their 10-Q documents. In M&A due diligence, I observed how different corporate teams—finance and technology—conduct their due diligence and how Mastercard interacts with outside counsel. Toward the end of my internship, I also had the privilege of shadowing Tim Murphy, Mastercard’s CAO, and learning directly from him.

How did you find this position?

I found the position through the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) website, and I was fortunate to find it as it was listed at the end of the list. I applied because the role aligned with my interest in transactional work, and Mastercard only accepts interns through LCLD. My initial interview was a 30-minute screener with Trecia Pessoa, a Senior Managing Counsel who started the internship program with LCLD. I then had a callback interview with two practicing lawyers for about 45 minutes.

Describe your work experience.

It was a Priceless experience. I especially enjoyed working with the team—they are all highly experienced lawyers, and I learned a great deal from them. Everyone was incredibly willing to engage, and each coffee or lunch conversation offered valuable insights. For example, I wouldn’t have grasped the importance of tax in M&A without encountering Peter Yim (M&A) or learned about antitrust if I hadn’t met Peter Berstein (Antitrust). With over 600 lawyers at Mastercard, you can reach out to anyone for guidance, and I truly enjoyed every minute of the experience.

What were some skills you developed this summer?

I improved my legal research and drafting skills by supporting restructuring, M&A, and data privacy projects through memos and in-depth research. The ability to write concise memos that get straight to the point was absolutely crucial. One project that particularly honed this skill was creating government contracting guidelines for business units. There was an older version of the guideline, a well-written 12-page document, and my task was to make it more concise and accessible for corporate teams. As a result, I successfully transformed the 12-page document into a 7-page chart, making it more streamlined and user-friendly.

What surprised you about the work you did this summer?

There’s always room for improvement, both for corporations and individuals. Mastercard, one of the most successful companies in the world, may seem perfect from the outside, but I learned that even the best companies have areas to grow. I realized that nothing is ever truly perfect, and continuous improvement is always possible. It was incredibly inspiring to see a giant corporation constantly seeking ways to enhance its processes, with already successful and established professionals actively striving to improve and learn new skills.

What was your favorite aspect of this summer work experience?

Networking and meeting new people from different practice areas was one of the highlights of my experience. As I mentioned, everyone was very welcoming when asked about their work. I had the opportunity to speak with many lawyers from various practice areas, but as someone with a business background, I particularly enjoyed conversations with General Counsels who transitioned from law into business management. Their experiences resonated with my own business background and interests in the intersection of business and law.

Has this experience helped you figure out post graduate plans, and if so, how?

Definitely. I’ve always wanted to be a transactional lawyer, and this summer solidified that interest. It also gave me the opportunity to explore specific transactional practices like M&A, SEC filings, antitrust, and entertainment law. While I initially thought M&A would be my primary focus, I found myself increasingly interested in tax law as well, which was an unexpected and exciting discovery.

How do you think this experience will shape the rest of your time at W&L Law?

One key lesson I took away from my summer is that relationships are one of the most valuable resources I have. Going forward, I plan to be more proactive in reaching out to people I haven’t had the chance to meet yet. In terms of my future plans, my growing interest in tax law led me to change my schedule this semester to take State and Local Tax with Professor Pollard. I also plan to take Federal Income Tax and aim to participate in the Tax Clinic.