My own trajectory took me on a path from leading an environmental chemistry laboratory to navigating the nuances of the legal structure seeking to address environmental problems. In some ways I’m fortunate to have been born into an era that has recognized the value of addressing those problems with statutes and agencies. In other ways it’s made me recognize we don’t yet have it right. But it has made me aware that law and policy are the chief guides to navigate the most complex problems of our time, because law is the study of decisions made that reflect our values and best hopes for a sustainable future. While not every decision is groundbreaking or forms precedent, each one is important to have been made. Real people–stakeholders–are well invested in each outcome, and the highest stakes are often the toughest to decide. I’ve never lost sight of how people are affected by each decision, and I’m glad for that.

The environment was my focus for most, if not all, of my career hitherto. But I was always most concerned about how the environment affected people. Environmental stewardship was always a matter of social justice to me, because large environmental problems tend to affect unempowered people more, and they are less able to do anything about it. People are my focus, and law is indeed a “people” profession. Following that logic, I recognized the most personal manifestation of environmental problems is withing ourselves, our bodies: our health.

Health law came to my attention profoundly by two special scholars at our school. One is a J.D., M.D. and the other is a seasoned Yale scholar in the subject. I’m still amazed I had direct access to their teaching and guidance. I will always be grateful to have met them, no just because they’re so smart, but because they’re good people who have made meaningful contributions to the field. They helped me get clear on so many aspects of health law and to gather my own thoughts on the subject. If I have success in pursuing a career within it, it’s because they guided me so well.

I wrote my capstone (something like a law school thesis) on the subject of complementary and alternative medicine and the law. I was fascinated by the gap between can (i.e. actual skills) and may (i.e. jurisdictional permissions granted to a practitioner to use those skills. In fact, it has become my mission to explore and bear out how one type of practitioner–naturopathic physicians–are to be included in mainstream primary care. For many reasons, they have been historically excluded from licensure regimes in many states, but here in Oregon they have the most extensive scope of practice of any jurisdictions. So, it feels a bit of serendipity to be placed where I can really explore that much more deeply.

So, I remain fascinated, and as I move forward I’ll be bearing out the journey by studying what naturopaths do, and the many nuances where law and medicine meet. I intend to start a blog about that exploration, which I think will be unique, and I hope enlightening both to me and anyone who chooses to read it.

For now, though, I’m preparing for the arrival of my family and friends as we prepare for graduation ceremonies. I’m so excited about that! I get to introduce a dear mentor and friend on the Court of Appeals who is a keynote speaker at our Baccalaureate. I am also being inducted into our school’s Cornelius Honor Society, a gift of the faculty and staff by which I was truly surprised and deeply humbled.

But I say this in closing, particularly because I know applicants read these blogs. I was elected to serve as a student representative on our school’s admissions committee, and I have these general observations. I believe that heeding them helped me, and that they will help you when you choose to apply to law school.

Do the best you can, and carry yourself with the highest standards. In terms of numbers, the latter matters more than the former. Engage your community, because caring counts. And be yourself–have the integrity and courage to do so, and be forthright. You do belong and are a good fit somewhere. Maybe that place is Lewis & Clark. If so, you’re in for a wonderful experience.

It has been a great pleasure to share my experiences as a student at Lewis & Clark, and I hope that my blog posts have provided at least a small window into what it is really like to earn a law degree at Portland’s law school. Thanks for taking the time to visit, and I wish you all the best.

mi fortuna es su fortune

Recently I’ve pondered the fact that the deeper you get into this profession, the more you must hold in confidence, while at the same time you are held to higher standards to be honest and above-board lest you violate, intentionally or not, one of the myriad ethics rules. If ever there are tensions in competing values, the attorney will feel it here. Contrary to popular opinion, lawyers cannot lie. Really! A inconsistency can result in discipline, however minor. And it will be pursued.

It’s easy enough to do what you think it right, to be a nice person, to not not lie–but mistakes, even if honest, does not result in easy forgiveness by a state bar ethics committee. Every jurisdiction also defines what constitutes the practice of law, and to be a lawyer in one jurisdiction does not necessarily authorize you to even hold yourself out as a licensed attorney anywhere else because someone might think you’re licensed in that jurisdiction, ask you a question, rely on it–and tag, you’re it. Some jurisdictions don’t even require that there be a matter in front of a court. It’s always on you to be clear, specific and darn sure people around you understand who you are, what you’re doing, etc. Sometimes it feels like the end of being a person.

In real life, lawyers are real people, and I’ve met plenty who have kept their humanity. I intend to be one of them, notwithstanding the fact my interest in health law seems to compel such. There Is a real balance to be had, and even though there are many burdens placed upon you, there is support and guidance to be found. Your colleagues generally want you to succeed, and the best of them will help you. While I intended to be a mentor as I have volunteered to be in the past, here in Oregon, the bar assigns new attorneys a mentor to help them get oriented, which is a real comfort as I intend to join the Oregon bar.

Who you are in terms of character does matter–not just to pass character and fitness for the state bar, but to do the job effectively. It is entirely relevant that one be conscientious about staying true to her word, and follow through on obligations. To join this profession means that you will acquire great knowledge and will be given keys to many doors others cannot enter. You will be a trustee and effective manager of assets for clients, and so it’s especially important that you be above board in money matters, and to be true to your word that you do what you say you will do, and to regularly communicate with others about what you’re doing because you are accountable. You have legal duties to do this, but social norms give rise to these expectations. Silence and inaction are not options for the attorney. In sum, the threat of punishment should not be what drives you to comply–it should really be a facet of who you are to do the right thing, to communicate that you’re doing the right thing, and to follow through on what you say you will do.

So, I have a calendar that tells me what do when, and to make sure I’m touching base with everyone just so I set proper expectations, and remind myself of my obligations. I’ve made sure that much of those communication-type things are part of my calendar, and that my calendar is on sky drive so it syncs with my phone and I can get multiple reminders. These are all good practice for what lay ahead as I take on more obligations and increase my accountability to others.

But this is my way of doing things. I don’t say you should do these things because I have many effective colleagues who are completely different and won’t do all these “Type-A” things because they have another system that works for them. The fact that others are effective and yet very different from me reminds me that diversity in the profession meets needs that I won’t necessarily address. Indeed, if I thought that others should do exactly what I did, I’d be mimicking the conduct of those who in recent era would say I couldn’t be an attorney because of my personal or physical traits, for example.

So, it’s always good to do a reality-check and make sure your perspective is balanced.  Character and fitness for the profession may well be adjudicated by the fact you are willing and capable of responding in a responsible way to the requirements of the profession, but ethics do not dictate logistics on how you get the job done, nor tell you what works in which context.  Hence, law requires creative Type B personalities in addition to all the diversity that individual experiences can offer.  Reflect on that and think deeply about what you can bring to the table.

Writing at a favourite café.

Indeed, I recall reading a law school blog that advised others to focus on numbers and really the LSAT sample was a throw-away–like it didn’t matter so much if your numbers were good. I can confidently say that the blogger did not make it into Lewis & Clark, and likely neither did anyone who took that advice.

Lewis & Clark is a top writing school and you will write, write, write until the crescendo that is your capstone paper, which is basically the law school thesis you must complete to earn a what is a type of doctoral degree. You must have spent time developing your ability to write before you come to law school, not only because it’s most of what you will do here, but also because you will refine and practice it ad nauseum. You will learn to do the type of research which is highly focused and driven toward persuasive argument. You must understand that legal research and writing is what an attorney does. Allow me to elaborate.

Whatever the fact pattern presented, ultimately it must be backed up, considering both sides and argued why one side (yours) is the more persuasive one. You will be crushed if you dare do anything as (frankly, unethical) as not discuss relevant precedents just because they detract from your agenda of winning. No, what law school does is to train you–even if it’s by trial and error–to face down any adverse information head-on and then say why your argument prevails anyway.

And you must discuss both sides. You must acknowledge and wrestle with your adversary. That’s our system, and that’s what you must do, even if you’re thinking you’re going to be a transactional attorney or never litigate. Law school isn’t about being some sort of intellectual; this is vocational school. Mind you, this is coming from someone who has spent a lot of time learning for pleasure. Law school is learning for a purpose, and that purpose is not to impress your friends. It’s to give you a powerful tool of how to persuade effectively when it matters.

As I’m writing a research paper now and I’m finding some of my ideas are indeed novel, I’ve had to research outside the legal literature. All I can say is that it’s a different world out there I see now with these 3L eyes. Some writers with doctorate degrees who are writing on subjects that are important to me–and I’m totally interested in what they have to say–seem unfocused, meandering, abstruse, etc. It drives me nuts.

This is not to say that all legal writing is wonderful–believe me, it isn’t. But I know good writing when I see it, and legal writers get there more often. It’s clear, concise, logical and despite my critical mind (at this point naturally looking for holes in arguments) is satisfied that necessary considerations have been taken, and the only basis I have for disagreement is that reasonable minds can differ, not that something totally destroys the writer’s credibility because they left something out that should have been considered.

Now, back to life in law school: some courses in your upper division coursework will have papers due, not final exams. These papers are typically in the range of thirty or so pages, and your capstone may well exceed that. But the thing is that they are well-researched and original. Having your own ideas is all very well, and I’m sure you do if you’re interested in law school, but the ability to communicate them is essential. Backing them up and deeply analyzing them deeply considering everything you can find that both supports and detracts from your thesis is no task for meek. But look, I’m a chemist and I found my way, and I’m always getting better; the journey is the destination, as they say.

So, if you are applying to law school especially in these days when the economy is down and the legal market is experiencing paradigm shifts, there’s more pressure on you to prepare yourself well so you have the best opportunity to be darn good at what you’re going to do. Learn to write, practice relentlessly, and demonstrate your skill on every piece of paper you put your name on–from your undergraduate research paper(s), to your LSAT writing sample and personal statement–make sure it has no errors, is carefully reviewed, makes sense, considers both sides and puts your best foot forward. Then you’re ready to join the profession.

As is the case with many students at L&C, I thrive on challenges, and so as I’m preparing my final papers for my final law school classes, I proposed some topics in a spectrum from conservative propositions that eke out a small place between other well-researched topics of a similar flavor to a bolder ones which the literature has left largely untouched. “Start the conversation,” urged one advisor with a smile.

It was as much elating to hear as it was terrifying, because to do so left me without much guidance of other legal researchers of how to think about the topic, and I would be forced to go outside of the legal field for authorities and information, and I would have to propose a new framework. Could I really do this?

And then I began to draw on the knowledge I had gained over my years at law school and began a process of careful analysis and drew analogies to other frameworks and realized I could do it. As much as I would innovate an application of law in a new context, I could make it seem logical and reasonable to include nontraditional actors in a regulatory regime that tended to exclude others–and boldly propose greater inclusion, even integration. Thus began a journey that begins my greatest challenge and my greatest work that will be my segue to my career. I’ll have to keep you posted on how it progresses.

So far, my favorite change from last semester has been my writing class. Last semester, we mainly focused on writing predictive memoranda. The lessons and assignments focused on applying the law to the facts of our hypothetical clients’ situations and writing memos to our “supervising attorney” predicting what the outcome would be if the case were to go to trial. It was certainly interesting (and very important) to learn how to write this type of memo, but I like the content of this semester better. The focus has shifted to writing an appellate brief, which is addressed to a judge rather than a colleague. The major difference—and the reason I like it so much—is that now our writing needs to be persuasive. Our appellate briefs are by no means complete works of creativity; there is still a specific format that needs to be followed and there are rules about what needs to be included. However, writing persuasively allows for more wiggle room. I’ll be able to choose more vivid and descriptive words to explain the facts and how the law applies to them. Understanding and explaining the law correctly is important and interesting, but I’m very excited about the chance to use my words a little bit more creatively in order to help my clients (even though my clients are still fictional at this point).

Another exciting (and honestly, a little intimidating) aspect of this writing class is oral arguments. In the spring, the class is going to get the chance to do mock oral arguments in front of real judges! More on that later. For now, I just need to take advantage of the relative calm before the semester gets crazy. Back to reading!

My time with family was meaningful, but also a time of reflection for who I’ve been and who I will be.  Walking down old paths talking with my closest friend in law school (who is fresh back from his second big law firm experience in China), we discussed what friends we’ve made, what adventures we’ve had, what tremendous new things we’ve learned about law and society.  We were and are constantly being challenged to expand and grow even when we thought our limits had been reached, and with the support of those whom we’ve known for so long, and who are already doing great things.  Our education has been first-rate and comprehensive enough to set us to have our own innovations and contributions (for example, and I mention it only because I’m so excited for him, but my friend is being published in an ivy league law journal.  And he’s not the only one at our school to do this).

While this is my last semester of law school, when many other 3Ls are winding down and finding their next steps, I’m finding this to be my crescendo as I transition to what has become my mission, my path, my purpose: health law and policy.  Whereas I began my journey to law school thinking I was on a narrow and unwavering path from environmental chemist to environmental lawyer, the inevitable awareness I built of the law made me more aware of myself and my best role in it.  I’ve had many accomplished mentors, advisors, and friends guiding me along the way, and it’s all coming together for me.

What makes me most excited is that these last classes in health law and public health policy are taught by a law professor who taught at Yale for 20 years before re-joining us at Lewis & Clark, where she taught for over a decade prior.  She masterfully ties together all I’ve learned not only to my work here in law school, but well beyond into other disciplines.  In many ways, I have spent my time learning everything just so to ensure my preparedness for the richness of such a complex topic taught by such an amazing professor, though she’d be the first to contest any such praise in her humble way.

At this point, I’ve enjoyed working in different legal settings in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors from plaintiff, defense and judicial perspectives.  I’ve made real friends and connections with people doing great work.  And I’m feeling grateful to all of those special people for showing me the way to my next steps.  Because with their help, I’m helping others get to theirs.