Civil Clinic students Amy Sonnenfeld ('21) and Lydia Mann ('21) appear with Professor Ryan Sullivan after a court hearing for one of Amy's Clean Slate Project clients where she obtained an order setting aside the client's past criminal conviction.
by Kala Mueller
In his famous Letter to a Law Student Interested in Social Justice, Professor William P. Quigley recounts the experience of several law students who volunteered to work in the Gulf Coast over the winter holidays after Hurricane Katrina. As the students reflected on what they’d experienced during a week spent trying to save people’s homes, one student on the verge of tears said, “You know, the first thing I lost in law school was the reason that I came. This will help me get back on track.”
Oof. When I read this, it stopped me in my tracks, and yet…the sentiment is not at all surprising. Many students come to law school because of a desire to pursue a career in public interest; many fewer leave law school still on that same path. The topic of this “public interest drift” has been oft-discussed and even studied, and the cause is certainly multifaceted, but as Professor Quigley points out, undoubtedly “[t]he repeated emphasis in law school on the subtleties of substantive law and many layers of procedure, usually discussed in the context of examples from business and traditional litigation, can grind down the idealism with which students first arrived.”
I asked 2020 graduate Stewart Kane Guderian what advice she would give to new 1Ls. She said students should “think about why they are coming to law school and write it down or find a quote that helps remind them.” She found it was helpful to take it out when the semester got overwhelming.
It can be easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees. You’ll need to focus a great deal of energy on your courses and keep your head down much of the time. However, I would encourage you to look up every once in a while to let us remind you of why you are at Nebraska Law.
- Participate in some of the events that will be happening at the law college this October during Community Justice Month, including Justice Jam, where you'll hear attorneys give impassioned, four-minute speeches about why they fight for justice.
- Attend some of our employer events, where you can learn about the work of organizations like Nebraska Appleseed, Legal Aid of Nebraska, the Immigrant Legal Center, and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.
- Connect with some of the government and nonprofit employers who will be participating in our Government & Public Interest Fair.
- Check in here periodically (and join the Facebook group), where I hope you will find inspiration in the stories of the incredible things your fellow students and Nebraska Law alumni are doing in the public sector and the many ways they are positively impacting their communities.
There are also a number of student organizations you can join and other great events that will pop up throughout the year. It can be hard to break away from studying or sacrifice a lunch hour, but I promise you it’s valuable to hear the perspective of those who made it through to the other side and can show you some of the things you’re capable of doing with your law degree.
At the conclusion of his “letter,” Professor Quigley tells the student that he looks forward to standing by their side at some point, presumably after they’ve finished law school and become a social justice advocate. In the meantime, I and countless other members of the Nebraska Law community will be here to support you along the way.
Kala Mueller is the Director of Public Interest Programs at the University of Nebraska College of Law and a member of the College's Pro Bono Committee. She received her B.S. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she served as a senior editor for the Wisconsin Journal of Law, Gender & Society. Before joining the law college, Kala worked as a prosecutor and with a civil litigation firm.