by Seth Keith
Last October, 2L Seth Keith attended the 2019 Equal Justice Works Conference & Career Fair in Washington, D.C. It's the nation's largest public interest legal career fair, bringing together more than 200 public interest employers from around the country to conduct interviews for summer internships and full-time postgraduate positions.
My first time to D.C.! I arrived on a Tuesday night and checked in to the High Road Hostel, an international hostel I would stay at for the week. The hostel was having a pasta dinner social night, so I sat down to eat with people from ten different countries, spoke a little Italian with a guy from Italy, and chatted with a couple from Nigeria. The hostel was sweet, located in Adams Morgan, a super diverse neighborhood in D.C. Adams Morgan is also known for its festivities, full of bars and eateries. The neighborhood is quite lively. I loved it, the diversity, the food, everything, my kind of place.
I woke up Wednesday at 5 a.m. to get to the Supreme Court and get in line for oral arguments that day. I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity since I was not sure I would ever be back in D.C. After hours waiting in line in the rain, I finally got in and was able to observe oral arguments for the D.C. sniper case. When I sat down, and the Justices took their seats, I was entranced. It was like a dream. I was mesmerized, soaking up every little bit of it. Justice Ginsburg started things off with a question that took an eternity to get out but made me smile nonetheless. Halfway in, Justice Breyer began whispering jokes to Justice Thomas, making him laugh a bit before going back to sleep. And Justice Kavanaugh put on quite the performance, asking solid questions, tough on all the attorneys.
Unfortunately, the attorney for the D.C. sniper did not have a good day. I lost count of how many times she interrupted the Justices. It was pretty bad. I felt sorry for her because it appeared to be her first time arguing in front of the Supreme Court. She was clearly nervous – I would have been too – but the repeated interruptions were inexcusable. Justice Gorsuch eventually told her to stop interrupting him and the other Justices. Chief Justice Roberts presented her with a hypothetical and she said that question was not before the court. He responded, “Well it might not be before the court, but it is before you because I just asked you the question.” All the action aside, if you are in D.C. during Supreme Court oral arguments and you are remotely interested in appellate litigation, oral arguments, or constitutional law, check out the hearings. It was awesome!
I spent Thursday in the Library of Congress studying for my Natural Resources Law mid-term. I spent some time in the law library and the rest in the historic round reading room, which is impressive. The elderly gatekeeper did not want to give me access at first, informing me the round reading room is for researching the law. In due time I convinced her I was indeed there to research and study law in the large, historic, shiny library. She let me in!
Friday was the Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair. I arrived early in the morning to complete mayhem. There were 1,500 law school students in attendance, all swimming like salmon up a stream toward the promised land of a summer clerkship or a post-grad offer. I heard many people equate the process to speed dating. There are tables of employers everywhere with long lines of students waiting to talk to the “prized” employer. For me, it was the non-profit environmental law firms. I was able to get face-to-face with environmental advocacy lawyers for Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Oceana Inc., and the Environmental Law and Policy Center.
Table talk at the conference is interesting. Table talk is an opportunity to speak with employers informally without a scheduled interview. I tried to be conscious of the fact that the attorneys were there talking to people non-stop for the entire day. One employer told me she lost her voice for days last year after the conference. There were a surprising number of employers that expressed a genuine interest in hiring students from Nebraska and the Midwest. Several employers stated they want to connect with this part of the country and spread the work they do to the Midwest.
The conference had a lot to offer outside of the interviews and table talk. I observed a speaker panel on environmental justice work with several environmental attorneys and attended the keynote speaker series given by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch. She was absolutely inspiring. I also had an opportunity to meet with the Director of the fellowship program for Equal Justice Works. Equal Justice Works has a robust fellowship program for any students looking for post-grad opportunities, and I would strongly encourage anyone with interest in public service work to check it out.
Most importantly, one of the table talk sessions I felt like I successfully turned into an interview then turned into a job offer with one of the non-profit environmental law firms. I immediately accepted the offer! I would definitely recommend the Equal Justice Works conference. I plan on attending my 3L year. I learned a lot from the trip, made some great connections with environmental advocacy attorneys, received great advice, and ultimately landed a job offer for my 2L summer.
If you came to law school to pursue a passion and a career in public interest work, I would encourage you to pursue that passion by all means. Pursue it with faith in yourself, trust in opportunities, and a relentless drive. Putting in hard work and the required effort can pay off. More opportunities are out there than you may think. For more on how to maintain sight of your aspirations while in law school, see this article written by Kala Mueller, the law college's Director of Public Interest Programs, or reach out to me anytime.
I want to give a big thanks to the Career Development Office and Kala for making me aware of this opportunity and helping me secure funding to cover some of the costs and expenses of the trip.
Seth Keith is a second-year law student studying environmental law and policy at the University of Nebraska College of Law. Seth served as President of the Environmental & Agricultural Law Society in his first year of law school and is currently serving on the Chancellor’s Environment, Sustainability, and Resiliency Committee. Seth will spend his upcoming summer working for the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago.