What is your advice for current students who have an interest in pursuing a degree in law?
My favorite question! It sounds typical, but GET INVOLVED. It doesn’t really matter what it is, but get involved in something — community service, church, fundraising, politics, sports, etc. You want to be able to differentiate yourself from other applicants and having a passion or interest that’s different than the norm is huge.
I also can’t discount the importance of grades and the LSAT. They are undoubtably important. However, they aren’t everything. My LSAT was below average when I applied to UGA. But that has no effect on how successful I will be as an attorney. I tell students who are concerned about their LSATs that no one asks once you are in law school, and that has been true for me. That to say, take it seriously. Do your best and set yourself up for success by preparing and doing what you can to do well.
I also would encourage getting a degree that is not political science or international affairs. I know it sounds crazy because everyone I talked to told me to pursue those degrees. But, once again in an effort to stand out, doing something that sets you apart in the field never hurts.
This applies for everyone, but especially if you want to be in this field — you need friends. You need people in your corner who are willing to vouch for you and go to bat for you. But that does not come easily. I spent many years developing my relationships with my in order to know I could call on them. It takes a lot of effort and hours to get to know your classmates and professors, so it’s best to start early. Many people feel that lawyers are social climbers or don’t really care about people. I try and make a particular effort to be as genuine as I can with people and help where I can.
In this same vein, treat everyone with respect. In today’s world of political polarization and the increasing urge to not associate with people who disagree with you, be different. Some of my best friends are people who I disagree with on just about every political issue out there. Remember that all communities are smaller than you think – especially the legal community. I would hate to be known as someone who is considered intolerant or disrespectful. One of my mentors told me to never say anything you wouldn’t want to be asked about under oath. And while that may be a little extreme, I do think it’s a good check on yourself and a reminder to be tactful and handle things with grace.
Whatever you do, do it with excellence. That can be something big, like studying for the LSAT or the bar exam, or something small, like getting to know your freshman year English professor or joining a club at the org. fair. But do it with excellence. Invest in your future by spending the time now to become excellent.
Alexandra’s Story:
Because law school was always the dream, I knew that I needed to do what I could to make myself stand out during my undergraduate career. My freshman year, I got involved with now-Governor Kemp’s gubernatorial campaign that ended up being a huge factor in how my law school journey played out. Starting off just as a volunteer, I got to spend time with senior leadership on the campaign and that turned into me working as a campaign fundraiser for the better part of my undergraduate and law school career. Being in the fundraising world put me in contact with individuals, attorneys and non-attorneys, that have been so helpful in my journey.
Once Governor Kemp won the election in November 2018, I transitioned into working for the First Lady’s team and was responsible for putting on her events, which included the Governor’s Mansion Open House, that facilitated over 1,500 people from across the state visiting the Governor’s mansion. In spring of 2019, I then worked in Governor Kemp’s official office as the Chief of Staff’s and Executive Counsel’s intern. The Executive Counsel at the time, David Dove, became a close mentor and ended up writing my letter of recommendation for UGA Law the following year. After working one session in the official office, I decided to return to the fundraising world.
I worked for an incredible woman, Stephanie Jones, who is a giant in Georgia fundraising. During my time with her, I had the opportunity to work with several local politicians, Governor Kemp and his various fundraising organizations, and three U.S. senators — including Senator Johnny Isakson. Senator Isakson has been a pillar of respect and political leadership in both Georgia and national politics, and I had the amazing opportunity to work in the same office as him for the better part of two years. Senator Isakson was a kind and intentional man. When I was applying to law school at UGA, he wrote the admissions committee a letter on my behalf advocating for my admittance.
I applied to law school the first time in August of 2019 through the UGA Scholars program. UGA Scholars admitted a small number of UGA undergraduate students to UGA Law in the equivalent of “early admission,” which allowed students to not have to take the LSAT. I was guaranteed from various sources that I would be admitted no problem through this program; however, my application was deferred to regular admission, which was a pretty big blow to my confidence. I then studied and took the LSAT in January 2020 and re-submitted my full application. As I mentioned earlier, David Dove, the Governor’s Executive Counsel and alumni of UGA Law, wrote one of my letters of recommendation. My other letter of recommendation was written by another UGA Law alumni and lobbyist who I met through my time working at the Georgia capitol. I also had my letter from Senator Isakson. And then I got waitlisted.
It never occurred to me that I would not be attending UGA for law school. I was so sure of this that I had convinced my parents to sign a lease for an apartment in Athens back in November 2019, because I was SO sure I would be staying in Athens. So, come April of 2020, it was the peak of a pandemic; I had been waitlisted at my dream school; and had my parents, very lovingly, but cautiously asking me what I was going to do because I needed to start apartment hunting elsewhere and finding a sublease in Athens if I wasn’t going to get into UGA Law.
I called David Dove, who was a friend as well as a mentor at this point, pretty much freaking out that I wasn’t going to get in. He helped me draft a “Continued Letter of Interest” to send to the dean of admissions, to further express that UGA was my top choice and dream school. A few weeks later I was accepted.
There are a few particular instances that I can exactly point to how and where God was working in my life. And this time was one of the clearest. I remember the day before I was accepted just praying that God would put me where I was supposed to be, because I remembered that while I was praying for His will, I wasn’t sure if I really meant it. And once I got in, I made a promise to Him and to myself that I would not waste this opportunity.
Once I got to UGA Law in August of 2020, I did everything in my power to get involved. I joined countless clubs, served on several boards, and really tried to ingrain myself into the fabric of the community.
Law school is very hard, and it was the first time that I wasn’t “the best” when it came to academics, but academics aren’t everything. When you are in a pool of people who are all used to being at the top, it was a sobering reality to realize that someone had to NOT be the best. And after my first year, I realized that someone was me. So, I decided to try and be the best at something else — which, for me, was leading my class through SBA and experiential learning opportunities.
I worked in a litigation firm the summer of my 2L year, and I knew pretty quickly that was not what I wanted to do. One night when I was eating dinner with my parents, I told them I didn’t think I wanted to be a lawyer after all. Pretty sure they both had minor panic attacks at the dinner table, but as I soon realized, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to be a lawyer - I just didn’t want to be THAT kind of lawyer. During my 3L fall, I interned for The Coca-Cola Company in their M&A and Corporate Secretary department, which is where I solidified the idea that I wanted to be in the transactional/business world. However, those jobs are pretty hard to get if you aren’t top of your law school class (which I was not). During the fall and over Christmas break, I applied to more jobs than I could count but nothing was panning out.
I took “Federal Income Taxation” during my 3L fall and really enjoyed the class. I have always been a math-minded person and would always muse about how I like math and reading/writing, but there’s no job for that. I met with my taxation professor to talk to her about my difficulty getting a job, and she asked if I had ever thought about the tax world — I had not. She told me about a degree called an “LL.M” — a masters in law. I knew a few people who got their LL.M. in taxation, and she encouraged me that if I did well in her tax class to apply, and she would write my letter of recommendation. I got my grade back and decided to apply. Dean Rutledge offered to write my other letter of recommendation.
This was another clear example of how God was working in my life. I was losing out on jobs, which in my opinion, I “should have been getting.” Looking back, I can’t help but laugh at how good God is. He continued to shut doors in my life until he opened the window that led me to where I currently am. And I could not imagine a more ideal scenario.
All of the top ranked LL.M programs for taxation are not in Georgia. For someone who has never lived outside of Georgia and only ever been an hour from home, this was a big adjustment to wrap my head around — not being close to home. University of Florida is ranked Number 2 in the nation for this degree, and I am very excited to earn my degree from there this May. While law school fundamentally changed the way I think (in a good way) and how I approach the world, I have learned more in these two semesters at UF than I probably ever could anywhere else.
I passed the Georgia bar in October. I will also be taking the Florida Bar Exam in February and the Alabama Bar Exam in July in order to service clients across the southeast.
Despite my best planning, my time in law school went very differently than I expected. But we plan, and God laughs, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
