My 2023 Summer Plans

When I first started applying to law schools, getting admitted seemed so far away, much less graduation. However, I am proud to say that this May I am finally graduating from law school! I am a first-generation student and the first in my family to receive a post-graduate degree. I am so grateful for this opportunity and am absolutely amazed at how far I have come. Graduating from law school comes with its own unique challenges. Aside from the regular concerns, like booking graduation photos, its time to start seriously thinking about the bar exam. As I wind down on my 3L year, I have made a lot of preparations to get to this point. I submitted my Moral Character and Fitness Application to the California Bar. Just last month, I registered for a seat to take the July exam. But I have been taking full advantage of the resources Loyola has for graduating students. This fall semester, I took the rigorous Fundamentals of Bar Writing course, where students do written exercises to prepare for the July Bar. In addition, we learn valuable lessons about growth mindset, mindfulness and how to orient ourselves to a successful bar exam season. In addition, I am currently enrolled in the Multistate Bar Exam Strategies course. This is a full-semester course where we recap and prepare on the subjects tested on the Multistate Bar Exam portion. I have really appreciated this course and how it has gotten me focused to take the exam. As excited I am to graduate, I know the next few months are critical as I focus in on final exams, and then prepare to immerse myself in bar prep. However, I am confident with my support system at Loyola and personally that I am prepared to work hard and give it my best in preparation. Cheers and best of luck to the Class of 2023!

Networking and Career Development Services Opportunities

 Loyola Law School has definitely given me the opportunity to immerse myself into the law areas I am interested in. As a future family law attorney, I feel that the Judicial Placement Program was instrumental to securing my post-graduate employment. But even from 1L, I was given the opportunity to explore family law right at LLS. As a 1L, I attended an event where Laura Wasser, LLS alum and celebrity divorce attorney, spoke about the nature of her work. Since then, I have not only attended every single year she has come to speak, but even helped organize the event as part of the Child and Family Law Society here in LLS. Last year, we also had an event where another LLS alum and Certified Family Law Specialist came to speak about pre-nuptial agreements. I worked for that firm the summer after that event so it was a great opportunity to meet one of the partners I would be working with. Further, the Career Development Office has been really helpful. They have reviewed my resumes and given me great feedback in a timely manner. Also, they have many helpful events throughout the year to get you interested and to learn more about different areas of the law. I absolutely credit the connections I have made at Loyola Law School for helping me advance my career and have seen the same for many of my first-generation friends!

Networking and Career Development Services Opportunities

Loyola has over 40 student organizations on campus so there will always be many events on campus for students to attend to learn more about a particular field of law and to network. One of my favorite events that I have attended on campus so far was the Entertainment Law Symposium hosted by Loyola’s Entertainment Law Review (ELR). This event was particularly interesting to me because I am passionate about entertainment law and intellectual property law. As a 2L, I am currently a staff editor on ELR and next fall, I will be a production editor. To join a law review at Loyola, students can participate in a write-on competition after 1L year to apply for a spot on one of Loyola’s three law reviews. 

Loyola’s Entertainment Law Review organizes an annual symposium consisting of panels that cover new developments in entertainment law. The symposium takes place on the law school campus and is open to practicing attorneys to obtain MCLE credit and is free for law students to attend. This year’s theme was: “The New Wave of Entertainment: A Look into the Future of Entertainment, Sports, and Technology.” The panelists included professors, practicing attorneys, and executives from entertainment companies. I had the opportunity to learn how changes in technology have shaped intellectual property and entertainment, for better or for worse. Each panelist has their own opinion, and it was insightful to be able to hear from a wide variety of different perspectives. After each panel, during lunch, and during a reception after the symposium, we had an opportunity to reach out and network with the present panelists. 

The panel topics for this symposium were: (1) Protecting What's Yours: Intellectual Property in the Digital Age; (2) The Studios: Navigating Work, Corporate Interests, and a Modernizing Hollywood; (3) Changing the Game: The Art of Sports Deals; (4) Music in the Metaverse.

Hopefully you’ll be able to make it to the next year’s Entertainment Law Review’s symposium! 

Networking and Career Development Services Opportunities

I feel that sometimes there are two narratives in law school circles when it comes to success in employment: one focused heavily on grades and another on networking. I do believe a happy middle exists between the two, and I have been fortunate enough to have attended and taken advantage of events that promote career development inside and outside of LLS.

I did OCI and Public Interest Career Day, the latter of which is how I ended up with my 1L summer job. I also found my current job at the ALDF through 12Twenty. I have attended a handful of law firm receptions and job fairs on campus. 

The proof is in the pudding of how strong the LLS Alumni network is when it comes to these events, it’s so easy to bond over mutual experiences with alumni who return to campus for such opportunities, and refreshing to glimpse what life might be like after law school.

A piece of advice that was given to me before 1L was to make sure you save every email address during these networking events. Sure enough, I’ve collected more business cards than I can count and have an ongoing bank of drafts of the check-in emails I owe to all the people I’ve been fortunate to have met through all of these events. I also take a keen sense of pride when I am able to connect a friend to someone that I met through all my networking to better help in their career.

I have begun building my own web of people in the legal community I can reach out to for job opportunities, general questions and advice, and know that a decent number of them began on the Esplanade at LLS during lunch hour.

Networking and Career Development Services Opportunities

Before law school, I spoke to several attorneys who told me things like: “don’t go to law school,” “it’s a thankless profession,” and “you won’t enjoy it.” 

Although this is not true, and I found that not to be true in my short time during my 1L, I attended an event in Spring of my 1L that proved to me that this was simply not true for many attorneys. Loyola and the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) hosted the first Public Interest Palooza. It was a Saturday afternoon of panels and workshops with Public Interest attorneys in different organizations and fields. It was an incredible celebration of Public Interest law. 

I remember thinking that it was wonderful to hear attorneys doing things similar to what I wanted to do speaking so passionately and excitedly about their work. When it came time to apply to organization boards, my first thought was how amazing it would be to get to plan Palooza, so I applied for that position on the PILF board and I was lucky enough to get it! 

Much of my spring semester has been dedicated to securing speakers, coordinating with the Loyola Events team, and working with both the PILF board and the brand new Loyola Interdisciplinary Journal of Public Interest Law (LIJPIL) board to create marketing materials and buzz about campus. 

We had over 100 registrants for the afternoon of public interest celebration. It was an amazing afternoon, and I recognized a lot of 1Ls who had the same experience as me—in awe of the practitioners who work so hard every day to make our crazy world a little bit better, practitioners who are exhausted but exhilarated, practitioners who are inspiring and inspired. 

I do want to take the time to shout out my incredible co-Chair, Rachel Fox, who helped secure speakers, keep me sane, and plan Palooza’s incredible success! 

To me, events like this feel critical. Too often these days do I feel like there is not enough discussion about how to make the changes we so badly need to make. How do we address the homelessness problem in Los Angeles? How can we understand trauma to best interview clients? How can we work on policy changes to address the critical issues of reproductive justice, immigration, and queer advocacy in this country? Rather than just reading articles about the fact that these are issues, events like Palooza give students and practitioners the opportunity to understand why these are issues, how to address the issues, and how best to serve our beloved communities. Events like these are vivid reminders of why I wanted to come to law school in the first place. 

I can’t wait to attend next year, and I hope whoever plans it has as good of a time as I did. Not only did I get to attend the event again as a 2L, but I got to meet each speaker, tell them just how much I appreciate their time, their work, and their energy to make our country better. While most people in law school would see this as networking, I primarily saw it as an opportunity to be surrounded by people as passionate about Public Interest Law as I am. I hope all of you have the chance to attend this event in the future! 

Networking and Career Development Services Opportunities

 One of my favorite things about Loyola is that there are plenty of employment, internship, and networking events offered throughout the semester. Most of the events take place during the lunch hour, 12 PM, and are often offered during the evening as well to accommodate evening students. Additionally, each event organizer usually offers a recording and or Zoom link in case anyone is unable to attend in-person. Another great plus, if you do attend in-person during the lunch hour, is that lunch/baked goods are typically provided. While each student organization has its own members, you don’t necessarily need to be a member to be welcomed into the scheduled event…all are welcome! 

I have participated in On Campus Interviews (OCI), Public Interest Career Day, and alumni, student, and other panels. OCI and Public Interest Career Day function similarly in that you upload your resume, cover letter, and writing sample to each participating employer, and you are subsequently considered for interviews with the respective employers. These events are tailored for finding employment/internships, but they provide great interviewing practice as each interview is typically 20 minutes long with a panel of interviewing attorneys. On the other hand, panels and mixers are more casual in nature and allow for cultivation of new relationships, potential employment, and mentorship. 

This past weekend, Loyola, the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF), and the Loyola Interdisciplinary Journal of Public Interest Law (LIJPIL) hosted the 2nd Annual Public Interest Palooza. I attended the panel hosted by the journal on Queering Legal Scholarship and the launch of the journal itself. It was incredibly informative, impactful, and fun. You do not necessarily need to be committed to public interest to attend the annual Palooza and celebrate alongside alumni, faculty, and other students. If you are interested in Big Law, mid-sized firms, or other employment types, several student organizations host a number of focused events throughout the school year for you to attend and explore. Just last week, Loyola hosted over 10 events. In addition to hosting internal events, Loyola is great about sharing external employment and networking opportunities with all students. The opportunities here are abundant!