I Started Law School . . .

booksThank you to Professor Slavin for asking me, back in my first month as a wide-eyed 1L, to be on the blog. I thank you for both your confidence in me and this opportunity to attempt to prove you correct.

I started law school at a disadvantage; I didn’t want to be a lawyer. I say this is a disadvantage because I met many people who not only wanted to be a lawyer but had known this about themselves since childhood. Some followed in the steps of a family member and some found their way by other means. That wasn’t me. I don’t want to dwell on myself for very long; I only introduce this to preface my assessment of the legal community in Milwaukee.

As a woman who knew nothing more about being a lawyer than the little that I had seen on television, I was surprised and pleased by what I have found through Marquette. I moved from one of the largest cities in the country with a huge, and quite imposing, legal community to Milwaukee—for reasons other than to go to Marquette University Law School. I allowed myself to be swayed by the sparse contact that I had with Marquette officials to move to a city that I had previously given little thought to, let alone visited.

I’m glad that I did. I have found that the law students, lawyers, faculty, judges, and various staff members that I have interacted with since I have been at Marquette have, on the whole, been open, direct, and caring. The professors have been helpful, and the legal community welcoming. I don’t say this to say that another legal community would not be so welcoming, only that this one was a happy surprise to me.

In one semester, not only have I learned a great deal about the law and made, hopefully, life-long friends, I have also met and conversed with lawyers, judges, senators, state justices, and their generally over looked administrative assistants. I have learned from and with graduates of Harvard and Howard, Councilmen and the like. I had a detailed conversation with the president of that Association for Women Lawyers and competed in a Mediation competition with students in their 2L and 3L years. I have worked in the Milwaukee Justice Center directly assisting pro se litigants in starting or continuing real legal suits, and learned from a criminal trial judge more about jury instructions than I would have expected to know by graduation.

Again, I apologize for seemingly puffing myself up. I don’t say any of this to be a braggart. I simply want to express the wealth that the Milwaukee legal community holds. I also want to suggest that anyone who is not currently taking full advantage of this wealth is denying themselves a rich opportunity.

I have some things to say about the Milwaukee community in general, but that will have to wait for another blog posting.

And you will be glad to know that I do want to be a lawyer now. That story may be another post, as well. 🙂

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Gordon Hylton

    From 1997 to 2001 Marquette Law School required first year students to take a course entitled, “The Lawyer in American Society.” The goal of the course was to challenge students to think systematically about the consequences of their decision to attend law school and prepare for entry into the legal profession.

    Some students found the course more than a little unsettling and a larger number complained that they didn’t understand the point of the class (which steered away from the Model Rules that form the center piece of the Law of Lawyering course).

    Your comments make me wonder if perhaps we abandoned the course prematurely.

  2. Jessica E. Slavin

    My perspective was a lot like Ashanti’s when I came to law school, and I didn’t realize until I got there how many students knew what being a lawyer might be like and actually knew what they wanted to do with the degree. At the same time, I was also surprised to realize how many students were, like me, completely ignorant of actual lawyering practice.

    So, the idea of “The Lawyer in American Society” is appealing to me in a certain way. But I suppose that many students gather their own impressions about the lawyer’s role through their interaction with faculty, other students, and other members of the legal community.

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