Emma Kuhns (U of I)

​Hello again, everyone! This is Emma Kuhns checking in after her spring job shadow
days. To reintroduce myself, again, I am currently a junior at the University of Illinois -
Urbana-Champaign studying Agricultural & Consumer Economics with a concentration in Public
Policy & Law. I grew up on a hog and grain farm near Mason, IL and have been involved in the
agricultural industry my whole life. This led me to choose my college and major and now, is what
inspires me to pursue a Juris Doctorate from a law school in Illinois. I hope to use my degrees to
be of service to the grain and feed industry in Illinois.
Both of my job shadows were with Hasselberg, Grebe, Snodgrass, Urban, & Wentworth,
Attorneys and Counselors in Peoria, Illinois. For my spring job shadow, I had the opportunity to
meet with attorneys in the firm like Kyle Tompkins, whom I met with in the fall, James Grebe,
David Wentworth and William (Bill) Streeter. I met with each of them first at the Grain and Feed
Annual Conference where I was recognized as one of the scholarship recipients. They talked to
me about their involvement with the association over the years and their passion for
representing it as well as some of its members.
Following our time at convention, I toured their temporary and permanent offices and
learned more about the structure of their practices. I had the chance to sit down with Mr.
Wentworth and learn more about the litigation aspect of agriculture as well as his current
projects. I greatly enjoyed this portion as I have not had much experience with litigation in the
past and he gave me a deep dive into his practice. He specifically touched on an environmental
case he was currently charged with that aligned perfectly with some of the information I had
learned in my environmental law class last semester.
I want to thank the Hasselberg, Grebe, Snodgrass, Urban, & Wentworth team for
welcoming me into their offices and sharing their line of work with an aspiring student. This
experience has further my excitement for law school and my career afterward. If there is one
take away I have from this experience is that I have chosen the right field to study and I can’t
wait to be a part of the Grain and Feed Industry!