Significant Career Lesson From An Attorney At Gunderson Dettmer
To explore law, a paralegal position offers valuable insight into "how people work and what their lives are like," while pursuing "whatever's interesting" through diverse experiences like the Peace Corps, internships, or even taking the LSATs/GREs early can inform career choices. Ultimately, understanding one's temperament and discovering what makes them happiest is key to a fulfilling legal career.
Law School, Paralegal Experience, Career Exploration, Internships, Temperament
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Colin Chapman
Attorney
Gunderson Dettmer
University of California Berkeley
Law degree - University of Michigan
History, Art History, Political Science, American Studies
Law
Legal
Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Student Athlete
Video Highlights
1. Consider becoming a paralegal to gain insight into the day-to-day work of a lawyer and determine if the legal field is a good fit.
2. Take the LSAT or GRE before embarking on any significant life experience (like the Peace Corps) to be best prepared for law school applications.
3. Explore diverse internships to discover your interests, whether it's litigation, business law, or regulatory work. There is no one path, and trying different experiences is valuable.
Transcript
Q11: Significant lesson – career
What entry-level positions are there in this field that an undergraduate college student might consider?
Well, you have to go to law school to be a lawyer. You can't be a lawyer without going to law school.
A paralegal is one route. We see people who try that frequently. I think it depends on what you're trying to get out of it. If you're trying to see whether you enjoy the environment, a paralegal can be a fine thing to do. You will really see how people work and what their lives are like on a day-to-day basis, and that can be pretty useful.
Since you have to get into law school, figuring out something that you enjoy doing that will help move you along in some way is also useful. I did the Peace Corps. I was pretty certain I was going to graduate school, but I didn't know whether it would be law school or maybe public policy school.
Before I went into the Peace Corps, I took the LSATs and the GREs. I did that mostly because I thought, "I'm a student. I know how to take tests, and it's like being an athlete – you're in shape for it." So I thought if I waited until after I was in the Peace Corps, I wouldn't be in shape for it, and I wasn't exactly sure what being in another language would do. I'm really glad I did it beforehand.
If people are going to do something that's sort of offbeat and they think they're going to go to graduate school, I would recommend doing the work and taking the test before you go.
I've lost the thread of the question, but for law, you're not really limited. I think you should just pursue whatever is interesting to you. If it's working with underrepresented people, there are plenty of internships you can get to do that.
Most people can't figure out whether they want to be a litigator or work on the business side or the regulatory side. It's hard to see that. We've had people come through here who have interned here, then interned for the government, and then done a variety of different things. If you have enough time and interest, you can do that.
But I think just trying different things is important. A lot of this is about your temperament and what you're happiest doing, and that's the biggest thing to try and figure out.
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