"Explore many options, and discover what you like to do."

Lucy Fowler knew throughout her Bates career that she wanted to go on to practice law. A 1997 Bates graduate, Lucy majored in history and was active with the debate team, two experiences that she said were very helpful to her later law career. Currently, Lucy is an associate at Foley Hoag, a large law firm in Boston, Massachusetts. As an associate, her job responsibilities consist mainly of behind the scenes work. Often she drafts pleadings and briefs, does fact discovery, conducts legal research, and occasionally interviews witnesses. Mostly her job entails reading and writing, as she is only beginning her career with the firm.

Lucy learned of Foley Hoag while in law school. Many law firms will come to law school campuses to conduct interviews, and this is one of the main ways law students find future job opportunities. However, Lucy did not go directly to work for Foley Hoag after law school. She clerked for a federal appellate judge in the year following law school, a position highly competed for among law school graduates. During this year, Lucy called Foley Hoag, set up an interview, and was hired.

Lucy strongly advises students thinking about a career in law to take a year off between college and law school, and find a fun and interesting job. She says that many college students she talks to say that after Bates they will be paralegals for a year. Lucy does not recommend this as the best way to prepare for a legal career, however, because although being a paralegal will give you knowledge of the atmosphere of a law office, it does not teach you what lawyers actually do. She stresses the importance of exploring many options, and discovering what you like to do, because then you will be able to make much better career decisions after law school. Many people assume that practicing law is really how it is portrayed on TV shows like “The Practice” or “Ally McBeal”, and this is not the case. While a legal career is very rewarding, Lucy advises students to talk to lawyers and research very carefully the actual profession, to make sure it is what they really want. There are also many different kinds of law that are not very well known, and it is important to research these as well as mainstream legal professions.

Potential lawyers must have good analytical and communication skills. Reading and writing make up most of a young lawyer’s job responsibilities, and so in order to be successful, a lawyer must be able to read and write well. Lucy said that for people looking specifically at litigation, important qualities are being assertive, goal-oriented, hard working, and able to handle clients well.

While in college it is important for students to take a lot of classes involving analytical thinking, and lots of reading and writing. Lucy felt that her history major prepared her very well for law school in that respect. Being a part of the debate team was also helpful to Lucy, as debating helps you learn how to shape and articulate opinions. Most importantly, Lucy says that Bates students considering law school should talk to as many lawyers in as many different fields of law as possible.