It is hard to believe that it’s been 15 years since I graduated from Michigan State University College of Law. I was drawn to MSU Law because its size, as medium-sized law school, offered a lot of opportunities for specialized courses and clinics.
MSU Law taught me the writing and analysis skills I use every day in my regulatory and compliance work related to law school accreditation with the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Chicago Bar Association.
MSU Law showed me the value of being a lifelong learner. Graduating in 2010, in the middle of the Great Recession, my career took me in a direction I hadn’t considered – legal education (legal research provider, student services staff, and administration).
Four years after law school graduation, I started a Ph.D. program in Higher Education, taking advantage of my then-current employer’s tuition waivers. My professors were complimentary of my writing (thank you, MSU Law). And my law school research skills proved handy when most of my dissertation research had to be conducted via LexisNexis and HeinOnline.
Together, my J.D. and Ph.D. have helped inform my current work, which involves monitoring and implementing U.S. Department of Education regulations, guidance, and directives and overseeing law school accreditation standards. I have also had the opportunity to teach higher education law to education graduate students and law students.
At a certain point in my career, I realized that I wanted to give back specifically to law students.
Part of this stemmed from my teaching higher education law to students – watching them engage with and learn the material, answering their questions, and giving them feedback. Another part was paying it forward – my MSU Law professors gave me their time and feedback and recruited local attorneys to supervise my moot court team practices. However, I was unsure where to start.
A friend and colleague from the ABA’s Law Student Division told me that Division staff always needed attorneys to be judges for the ABA skills competitions. So, as my schedule permitted, I volunteered for rounds at the annual ABA Mediation and Negotiation Competitions. Competition rounds averaged about three hours, but the time flew by watching how diligently and thoughtfully law students from across the country had prepared for the competition.
As competition judges, we gave feedback to the competitors. What struck me was how gracious the law students were in thanking us for our time and thorough analysis of their work.
They understood the importance of interacting with and learning from other attorneys. To me, judging was fun – the issues and hypotheticals were interesting, and it was enjoyable to work together with other local attorneys.
As a long-time reader of the MSU Law alumni e-newsletter, I had noticed opportunities to serve as judges for the 1L Research, Writing, and Advocacy (RWA) Oral Arguments, but arguments were usually on weekday evenings – hard to do when I live in Chicago.
This year, I was excited to see that there was a full day of oral arguments on a Saturday in April and quickly signed up for both shifts. Seeing the 1L students present their arguments and respond to questions from a hot bench reminded me of my 1L oral argument experience – nothing had changed.
The students still had nerves, fumbled with notes, tried to answer the judges’ questions and then get back to their arguments, and then looked incredibly relieved when the argument was finished.
Knowing that volunteers are critical to make oral arguments a successful 1L student learning experience made it a priority for me to participate and give students the simulated argument experience they deserved. The judging panel questioned each student during their argument (and coached them to an answer if needed). And, of course, provided thoughtful feedback.
Serving as a volunteer judge was a great opportunity to meet current RWA faculty and learn more about the programs at MSU Law. The experience felt like a small, albeit meaningful, way to give back to my alma mater. In fact, I enjoyed the experience so much that I asked to be added to the contact list for judging!
Another MSU Law volunteer project I worked on this year was writing cards to the Class of 2025 graduates encouraging them as they study to take the bar exam. By setting aside some time each week, I was able to write 40 cards, which made me reflect on the advice I had been given at different points in my career.
In today’s digital word, handwritten cards can brighten someone’s day since they are more tangible than email and cheer up a mailbox that is mostly full of junk mail and bills.
We are all busy lawyers, and it can be challenging to find time to volunteer. For too long, I thought I did not have the time or experience to meaningfully contribute. When I began working with law students.
Now, it’s my turn to invest in tomorrow’s lawyers. Doing it for my alma mater was just the cherry on top of a Dairy Store sundae.
I encourage my fellow Spartan lawyers to invest in today’s law students like those who invested in us. MSU Law has skills competition judging in both in-person and online formats. Your local law school likely has similar events in-person and online, as does the ABA Law Student Division.
Law professionals serving as volunteers is an important way to give back. It’s also meaningful, enjoyable, and a huge reminder of why we became lawyers in the first place.
Please volunteer. The next generation of lawyers needs you.