"I think teaching is the best job in the world"

What are your job responsibilities?

I teach first-year required and upper class elective courses in a law school. I also run a public interest program for law students (we raise funds to enable students to carry out programs they have designed and proposed) and work with faculty and staff on committees, including the admissions and career services committees.

How did you discover and obtain your current job?

I clerked for a federal court of appeals judge for a year, practiced in the DC office of a large Wall Street law firm (corporate finance transactions) and practiced in the Hartford office of Connecticut's largest law firm (corporate transactions). I was asked to teach one course as an adjunct professor at the law school from which I had graduated, and then was asked to interview for a full-time position at the same school a month later. I was extraordinarily lucky to get the job, and have been teaching now for 15 years.

What advice would you give students interested in working in your field?

Jobs teaching in law schools are very hard to come by; it depends a lot on where you went to law school, how you did in school, where you have practiced (and clerked), and (most importantly)luck. Jobs in large law firms are generally open to law students graduating near the top of their law school classes, with law journal experience. However, if you start out in a smaller firm and develop an area of expertise, some firms will hire you as a lateral transfer after you have been practicing for a few years. It depends a lot on what kind of practice you do and how hard you work.

How can students gain insight into this career?

Students interested in going to law school should explore law practice - visit friends or relatives who are lawyers, go sit in a courtroom for a couple of days and watch what goes on, talk with lawyers who are there. Before going to law school you should visit the schools in which you are interested - observe classes, talk to students, check out placement information, talk with recent graduates, talk with professors.

What is the potential growth for your field?

There are a lot of lawyers in the US - most industries need law professionals to help them do what they do. Government programs almost invariably have legal components to them, with increasing levels of complexity as time goes on. Though jobs in large law firms tend to be cyclical, depending on the ups and downs of the economy, government lawyers have steady jobs, as do lawyers helping ordinary people with day-to-day problems. There are never enough lawyers available to help people who are disadvantaged, though those jobs also do not provide the financial benefits that lawyers for the rich receive.

What are important characteristics of people who succeed in your career?

Willingness to work hard, ability to think creatively, intellectual flexibility, skill at writing, attention to detail, critical thinking.

How can students best prepare themselves while still in college?

Write!!!! Write!!!! Write!!!! Take as many opportunities as are available to write research papers - there is no skill more important for lawyers than ability to communicate effectively in writing. A wide-ranging liberal arts education is best - you can learn specifics about law in law school. Become comfortable with public speaking - do theater, debate, student government, anything that gives you a chance to express yourself orally. If there is a substantive area that interests you, study that in college, and take opportunities to learn more outside of class.

What are your future plans?

I think teaching is the best job in the world, so I hope to stay here for the rest of my career. One of the great things about law is that it is always changing and developing, so there are always new intellectual challenges. It's very hard to get stale in this field.