Duke Law Life: Meet Maame Nyaneba Adu
Maame Nyaneba Adu
CLASS OF 2026
Prior Education: Washington University in St. Louis
Hometown: Pickerington, Ohio
Professional Interest: International Law
My Duke Law Life
- JD/LLM
- Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law
- Guardian ad Litem
- Civil Justice Clinic
- Admissions Ambassador
I chose Duke Law for three reasons. First, I chose Duke for the community. Second, I chose Duke for the quality of education I would be able to receive. As Duke is a smaller law school, professors are easily accessible and Duke has some of the best lawyers in every subject matter. I knew that at Duke I would be able to get some of the best international legal education in the U.S. and that was a large factor in my decision to come to Duke. Lastly, I came to Duke for the JD/LLM program. The ability to get both a JD and an LLM in three years is unique to Duke and was a deciding factor in my choice.
What made you interested in a law career?
I became interested in a legal career because I wanted to help people gain access to a complex and often hard to understand system. The legal system impacts almost every part of life. While the legal system is so pervasive, most people do not have the resources to understand or work within the legal system. I wanted to be able to assist others with this complex system while also thinking analytically and problem solving in my everyday life.
Most rewarding law school experience
The most rewarding experience I have had at Duke Law has been my time during the Guardian ad Litem program. The ability to be in a courtroom within the first few months of 1L was incredibly valuable to me and working with a family in Durham was a great way to get involved with the community around me.
Thriving in law school is about the friends you have, the classes you take, and good time management.
- Making good friends who both challenge and support you is incredibly important to thriving while you are in law school. These friends will not only be able to think differently than you about legal problems and bring their own diverse experiences to the law, but will be able to help you through the tough times during your first year — and you will be able to help them.
- Finding professors whose teaching styles you like is also very important. Every professor teaches differently and you will likely connect with some professors more than others due to their stylistic choices. Finding the professors whose teaching style suits your learning style is incredibly helpful for thriving in law school.
- Lastly, law school is all about time management. This not only relates to managing your workload and how much time you spend on each class, but also managing time to allow yourself to take high-quality breaks. As a student, it is tempting to try to work constantly, however, that is not sustainable and managing your time to allow for your brain to reset will help you not only survive, but thrive in law school.
My advice if you are thinking about law school
I would advise a prospective student to form as many connections with professors as possible. Most professors have had decades of experience and have great advice for tackling a profession as ever changing as the legal profession. Students considering law school should talk to professors about their time in the legal profession to decide if law school is the best path for them.
Meet more of our JD students who make this a great community. They offer great advice if you're thinking about law school.
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