Duke Law Life

I feel like I took a very intentional approach to my law school application process. For me, the quality of the community was very important— I knew that the legal profession was tight-knit (i.e., you often interact with the same folks) and that every person I met would be a potential co-worker! 

Ultimately, my visit to Duke made it a no-brainer. You could just see how naturally strong and collegial the community was. Every conversation left a positive impression, whether it was with a professor or a student.

I also think the caliber of Duke Law’s corporate and transactional programs are unparalleled. I don’t think there’s a better legal education for those interested in corporate law! 

All jokes about lawyers aside, I think the legal profession is interesting in that it is intellectually stimulating, formative, and consequential. 

It’s intellectually stimulating because you have to think through arguments as a litigator, and predict the consequences of clauses and agreements as a transactional attorney. It’s formative because it’s a relatively self-regulated profession that demands something of its members. And it’s consequential because you can use it to make a living, change your community (or nation), and help others with real problems. It’s a very unique combination of theory and practice! 
 

The type of people who come to law school are used to excelling in almost every area, especially academics. But the first-year “doctrinals” click with different people on different levels. For me, Torts and Criminal Law clicked really well. 

I think it taught me to accept that you won’t be the star student in every class (classes filled with extremely intelligent people, to boot). And I think that’s a really valuable lesson to learn early — especially in a profession filled with high-achievers.