THE THIRTY SOMETHING
LAW STUDENT
Always Keep your Eye on the Big Picture
What was your original intention when you applied to law school? You should always keep your initial personal statement in mind and use that as a reference point whenever you lose focus of your “why” or feel overwhelmed by the rigors of law school, the pressure of the competition, or your accumulating financial debt. You do not necessarily need to know what type of law you want to practice before going to law school. But, you should feel certain about your desire to become a lawyer, or be sure about why you chose law school in the first place. Having a clear purpose before you enter law school will help you get through it, and avoid the waste of money that results from dropping out within the first year. So begin with the “end” in mind.
Building on Experience and Leveraging your Previous Career into your Legal Studies
Networking can be different for you than your peers and that is a good thing!
While you may be getting a later start on a legal career than many of your law school classmates, you have a lot that you can bring to the networking game.2 Remember that you bring many talents to the table and have obtained a diverse range of transferrable skills from prior careers. Seek out and build relationships with faculty, career service advisors, practicing lawyers, and others who can give you advice on how to best capitalize on your existing skills and previous experiences. Other seasoned professionals will see great patterns or skill sets in you that may not be necessarily apparent to you right now.
In addition to building a network within the
legal world, you should continue to nurture
your personal and professional networks and contacts from before law school. Make sure your former colleagues know your “story” about why you decided to go to law school You may want to use some of these contacts as professional references and it will be important for them to understand your new career goals. Often, some of your former colleagues may provide useful referrals to individuals they know in the legal field.
Creating a niche for yourself in the law3
The first step in developing a niche practice is to claim a certain area of the law by positioning or “marketing” yourself therein. Many older law students have already done so in their previous areas of work and come to law school with the intention that they will “marry” their previous careers with their newfound legal expertise. 4
Shana Scott already had a master’s degree in public health and worked at the Centers for Disease Control before she decided to enroll in the full-time program at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Over the years, she had been interested in figuring out how law could be used in addressing public health disparities. After consulting with friends with established successful legal careers, Shana decided to apply to law school at the age of 30. Now in her final semester of the health law program at Loyola, she successfully crafted a space where she can focus her career into one specifically aimed at addressing the issues that she cares about.
Theresa Rocha Beardall completed a master’s degree in American Indian Studies, focusing on Federal Indian Law and tribal courts before attending law school. This training in tribal legal systems was a natural and helpful transition into a law program.
Moreover, her work even helped Theresa
land a position working for the American
Indian Studies program at the University of Illinois. Theresa knew that she wanted to continue working in the arena of social policy and inequality. Successful, she has been able to do this at a number of legal clinics and a non-profit law firm specializing in Indian Law. Much of her 2L and 3L coursework has been tailored to these academic interests. This proved helpful as she landed positions in several competitive PhD programs. Thus, for Theresa, having a devoted niche created a supportive space to work toward her career goal of becoming a professor of Indian Law.
Pump up your credentials, workplace skills, and professional experience 5
Previous work experience or other graduate or professional degrees are tremendous assets that can both enrich your law school experience, and help make your resume stand out. Craft your resume in a way that emphasizes both your hard skills, such as proficiency in foreign languages, as well as soft skills, such as teamwork and time management. Consider also seeking out internships, pro bono work, clinic positions, or other opportunities that can help build your law-related skills.
Brenda D. Villanueva spent several years working in the United States House of Representatives prior to starting law school. Her hands-on experience with legislation and the legislative process proved to be helpful in complex research assignments at school, and any difficult legislative history projects at externships. Moreover, her substantive policy background guided her field of law choices throughout her law school experience. Brenda used her network and legislative background in several leadership roles at her law school, and in a national law student board. Whether through leadership opportunities, to legal work product, Brenda was able to capitalize on unique workplace skills and professional experience in several facets of her time in law school.
by: Theresa Rocha Beardall, University of Illinois College of Law
Christine Ricardo, University of Chicago Law School
Shana Scott,
Brenda D. Villanueva
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