{"id":36461,"date":"2025-02-26T16:13:18","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T21:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=36461"},"modified":"2025-02-27T08:57:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T13:57:46","slug":"alumni-share-insights-on-legal-careers-with-furman-students-during-pre-law-networking-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/alumni-share-insights-on-legal-careers-with-furman-students-during-pre-law-networking-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni share insights on legal careers with Furman students during pre-law networking event"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone who goes to law school takes a different path there. That\u2019s why Furman University\u2019s Pre-Law Society sponsors an annual For the Love of Law event connecting students in law with alumni and area attorneys.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s speed-networking event happened Feb. 25, in the Trone Student Center\u2019s Watkins room, with students asking 10 area attorneys from a variety of practice areas about how they chose a law school, how they picked their focus, what their typical day looks like or what advice they\u2019d share with a young aspiring attorney.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is incredibly important for students not only to strengthen their mentor network and networking skills but also to discover that everyone\u2019s passion for law and path to law is different,\u201d said Maya Russell<\/a>, pre-law advisor with Furman\u2019s Office of Pre-Professional Advising<\/a> (OPPA), which organized the event.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

Furman alumni and area attorneys shared their career insights with students Feb. 25 during a networking event sponsored by the Pre-Law Society. Photo by Owen Withycombe, Furman University.<\/p><\/div>\n

Economics major Bella Bilott \u201926 said the speed-networking format taught her to get to the point quickly and prioritize her most important questions. Making a good first impression is key in any career, and \u201cit\u2019s a skill that can always be further improved, especially by participating in these types of events,\u201d she said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The Furman Advantage<\/a> serves as an ideal foundation to excel at law school, Russell said, and the university\u2019s extensive mentor network of alumni who are attorneys bolsters that education. Several of the firms that attended the event hire summer interns and are eager to work with Furman\u2019s prospective law students.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEngagement with the legal profession prior to law school can be highly beneficial in helping students confirm that law school is the right next step for them,\u201d Russell said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Boland Grayson \u201925 is president of the Pre-Law Society and wanted insight from the participating lawyers about how they chose their law schools. Each attorney the politics and international affairs major spoke with had a different experience studying law, and they encouraged him to forge his own path by pursuing the topics that most interest him.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

Matt Torres \u201925, a philosophy major, speaks with visiting attorney Henry Parr \u201973 during a pre-law speed networking event Feb. 25 in the Trone Student Center\u2019s Watkins room. Photo by Owen Withycombe, Furman University.<\/p><\/div>\n

Christy Litz \u201920 is now an attorney at Greenville-based law firm Parker Poe. She plunged straight into law school after earning her bachelor\u2019s degree in biology at Furman. Her undergraduate internship with Greenville\u2019s Medical Legal Partnership helped inspire her to pursue her law degree at the University of South Carolina School of Law.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Phillip Martin \u201909 took some time before deciding law school was right for him. After graduating from Furman with a degree in Asian Studies he went on to teach English in Japan for a year before returning to the United States. He then worked for an industrial construction company for years before deciding to pursue his law degree at the University of South Carolina\u2019s law school. Now he\u2019s an attorney at Greenville firm Merline & Meacham.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to do it right away. If you\u2019re not sure, don\u2019t be afraid to go out and get a job, whether it\u2019s in law or some other field you\u2019re interested in,\u201d Martin said.\u00a0 \u201cThat experience can only help you in law school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Furman students asked questions to help them navigate their interest in law school and a career as an attorney at an event organized by the Office of Pre-Professional Advising and the Pre-Law Society. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"featured_media":36450,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,75,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-pre-law","category-the-furman-advantage"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36461"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36492,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36461\/revisions\/36492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}