College Experiences That Helped An Of Counsel At Best Best And Krieger LLP Succeed
To set up for career success, the interviewee highlights the importance of building connections and networking by "making friends with people who are successful," as a fraternity brother secured the first job. Critically, for aspiring lawyers, GPA is paramount for law school admissions, outweighing the significance of major or extracurricular involvement like student government, because "law schools want their...classes that they admit to have great GPAs because the American Bar Association tracks those numbers, and that's how rankings are...driven off of numbers."
Networking, GPA Importance, Law School Admissions, Prioritization, Mentorship
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Brandon Kline
Of Counsel
Best Best & Krieger, LLP
California State University, Sacramento
Lewis & Clark Law School, JD/LLM
Economics, Political Science, American Studies
Climate, Environment, Sustainability & Waste Management, Law
Legal
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Greek Life Member, Student Athlete, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Building a strong network of friends and mentors can open doors to opportunities and provide valuable support throughout your career.
2. Cultivating relationships with professors can lead to valuable letters of recommendation, which are crucial for aspiring attorneys.
3. GPA is a critical factor for law school admissions, often outweighing the specific major or involvement in extracurricular activities like student government.
Transcript
What did you do in college to set you up for success in your career?
Making friends with successful people can help you become successful. I was able to join a fraternity and got lucky with the people I was paired with. My fraternity brother helped me get my first job after I finished my executive fellowship.
Throughout my career, I've had people provide letters of recommendation for me. On your way to becoming an attorney, you'll need those letters. I think it was a good idea to find a couple of professors whose classes I really liked and stay in touch with them.
Touching on your last question, something I wish I had known as an undergraduate is that if you want to be a lawyer, your GPA matters more than your major. I could have majored in communications. I was double majoring in economics and government, and I thought that was critically important, but it wasn't. Only your GPA matters.
I was also very involved in student government, and I wish I had known that doesn't really matter either. Student government is great for development, but it won't get you into law school. If it's between you and someone without student government experience but with a 4.0, they're getting into law school.
Their major could have been infinitely easier than yours, but the hard rule of law school admissions is that numbers matter. Law schools want admitted students with great GPAs because the American Bar Association tracks those numbers, which drive rankings. Rankings don't consider your major; they only reward law schools for admitting students with higher GPAs.
I really wish I had known that. I might have ordered my priorities differently before law school if I had known.