WILLIAMS COLLEGE LAW SOCIETY NEWSLETTER FALL 2013

ANNOUNCEMENTS The Law Society is now accepting self-nominations for the follow-ing executive board positions: President/Co-President, Vice Presi-dent/Co-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations Director, Events Director, Law Teams Director, Law Journal Editor-in-Chief. Due November 2! The Law Journal Committee would like to thank its new faculty committee members: Professor Alan Hirsch, Professor Cheryl Shanks, and Professor James Nolan. Their insight is invaluable to the Journal's progress as we look forward. Congratulations to Katherine McDowell'15, Minwei Cao'17, and Miaoru Guan'17 of the Mediation Team for placing 7th at this year’s Nationals!

CALANDER November 6th-Testmasters (LSAT Prep)

Join us in Paresky 220 for free LSAT prep! November 16th– Andrew Wang ‘08 Event

Come here alumni Andrew Wang discuss the Supreme Court’s most recent term and gain insight on what it’s like to clerk for a judge.

November 19th– Moot Court Scrimmage Join Moot Court as they prepare for regionals in front of guest judges

Attorney Philip Mcknight' 65, Professor Alan Hirsch, and Pre-Law Advisor Michelle Shaw '95 in Griffin 3 at 7pm.

December 4th-General Meeting

IN THIS ISSUE Announcements (1)

First Impressions (2)

Ask Michelle (2)

Syria Discussion (3)

Committee Updates (3)

Eight students of the Class of 2017 discuss their motives in joining the Law Society. [MARISOL SIERRA] Why did you join the Law Society?

Olivia: I wanted to learn more about current legal events, learn about opportunities, and meet interesting people.

Min: I am interested in going to law school, but I have not had any prior experience in debate or the law field. I

want to expand my perspective pertaining to law. Will: I'm in mock trial […] because I like it. Mary Beth: I joined

law society because I plan to go to law school after college and I thought the society would be a great oppor-

tunity to get involved in an area I'm interested in, meet people who are also

passionate about law, and get more experience with various law-related activi-

ties. Miaoru: I wanted to try the mediation team [after doing] mock trial in high

school. Wilmer: The law society gives me an opportunity to explore if a legal ca-

reer is a career I want to potentially pursue. Roya: Limitless options. Scott: My

current plan for after college is to go to law school; therefore, I am very interest-

ed in staying informed and connected on campus with the law community both

for the future and the present. I also wanted to be a member of the Mock Trial

team, having done that the last four years in high school.

Describe your experience so far in one word.

ENLIGHTENING. INTERESTING. HELPFUL. ENJOYABLE. FUN. AMAZING.

FANTABULOUS. BUSY.

What do you hope to gain? [Information and] learning about how to conduct myself in a pro-

fessional setting. [Learn] more about the law. I expect to gain

more information and better decision on considering a law career

for the future. Since I'm on the Moot Court team, I expect to gain

trial experience and better public speaking skills. I also hope to

gain knowledge about the various areas of law and ways to ma-

neuver the world of law once I'm out in the work force. Friends

[and improvement with] my public speaking and presence. An

insight to the legal world, its opportunities, and what it has to offer.

Insight. I expect to gain a lot of connections, along with a lot of

information that will help me decide what I really want to do going

forward, whether it be in law or not.

From top left to bottom right: Olivia Larsen, Min Kim, Will Sager, Mary Beth Dato, Miaoru Guan, Wilmer Montesdeoca, Roya Huang, Scott Shelton

On a scale of 1 to 10, how

active do you consider your-

self to be in the club? Average: 5.5

On the same scale, how ac-

tive do you want to be? Average: 7.75

POTENTIAL MAJORS: English&Economics/

Undecided/Chemistry/Political Economy or Histo-

ry/Environmental Studies&Geoscience/Biology/

Comparative Literature&Economics/Classical

Languages or History&Astrophysics or Physics

IS ALL REALLY LEGAL IN LOVE AND WAR?

The Situation Although President Obama has decided to not take military actions against Syria, he still left the threat of a potential strike if President Bashar Assad does not give up his chemical weapons. With the violence of civil war growing more in Syria, however, it remains unclear what steps should be taken to deal with this violent conflict.

The Discussion In our discussion [we] grappled with crucial questions regarding international law. For starters, the group discussed whether any nation had a legal right to intervene in another country, especially one that was not a signatory of the chemical weapons treaty. The Law Society also debated the role that the United Nations should take in dealing with this breach of international law, especially in light of the fact that so many nations seemed ambivalent about upholding the international norm of a ban on the use of chemical weapons. Though, ultimately, the Law Society was unable to come to any definitive agreements, the fruitful debate the topic inspired left participants with more questions than answers, as any true debate should. [MARISOL SIERRA, SHANICE SCANTLEBURY]

51% Americans who disapprove of President Obama’s handling of the conflict in Syria.

44% Americans who believe a military strike would be justified if Syria fails to surrender chemical weapons.

70,000 Estimated death toll as of mid-February as a result of the uprising in Syria (United Nations Human Rights Center)

3,043 Average amount of deaths per month as a result of the uprising in Syria. Statistics provided by: ABC News, CNN, and Huffington Post

ASKMICHELLESHAW What advice would you give incoming first-year students inter-ested in pursuing a career in law? Each student is unique and I encourage anyone interested in a ca-reer in law to reach out to me early and often to discuss his/her par-ticular circumstances and to get the full benefit of the pre-law ad-vising resources here at Williams. What's the best way a junior can spend his last two years prepar-ing for law school or a job in the field? During the fall semester, a number of law schools schedule infor-mation sessions at the Career Center. You can meet with the law school admissions officers, learn more about the qualities of each law school, and present them with any questions or concerns that you may have. In order to help you with your law school research and legal job search, the Career Center's home page also has re-sources available to you. You can search for summer internships or full-time jobs in law-related fields on the Route 2 System, or under the Law, Government and Public Policy links. Law firms tend to hire in the Spring, so don't get discouraged if you are still looking while your friends in consulting and finance have already secured their post-graduation jobs. Also keep in mind that you don't have to work in a law firm to get valuable skills for a future career in law. You can learn advocacy, analytical, and reasoning skills in a variety of areas, including government and nonprofit. Some students are conflicted about whether their interest in law is enough to merit pursuit of a career, how does one know if law is the right path? If you are really struggling about whether the law is the career for you, listen to your gut. If you feel the need to take a break from the classroom, it is often good to take a gap year or two. If you are deciding between a career in the law and something else, you owe it to yourself to take the time to fully explore that "something else." You may find the experience quite affirming and eye-opening. It's a fact that, in practice, law is nothing like it is on tele-vision. Work in a "legal environment" if you can. Have conversa-tions with alumni, family members and friends who are lawyers and can talk to you honestly about what the day-to-day practice of law is really like and give you exposure to a variety of legal fields. As an alum and your Pre-law Advisor, I wel-come the opportunity to have these conversations with you as well!

Michelle Shaw ‘95 is the Assistant Director and Pre-Law Advisor at the Career Center. Visit her at Mears House or email her at michelle.a.shaw@williams.edu!

LAWTEAMS The Mediation Team had fun competing at Northwestern and are celebrating their 7th place

victory at Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa. Moot Court is preparing for regionals in Fitchburg,

Massachusetts while Mock Trial is getting ready to travel to Trinity College for invitationals.

YAZMINE NICHOLS ‘15

LAWJOURNAL

The Law Journal is currently working on their Fall issue. They continue to update the Journal with

each publication, expanding the content and updating the layout. They are also finishing

off their online blog and introducing a subscription program for journal readers off-campus.

CORBIN CHU ‘15

PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT

The Professional Development Committee are currently in the process of setting up the Men-

torship and LSAT Prep programs. When the launch date of these programs draws closer, they

will be sending out more information. Please look forward to it!

YOGEETA CHATOREDUSSY ‘15

EVENTSPLANNING The Law Society hosted a successful discussion on the growing discussion on Syria back in Sep-

tember. They have many events planned for the rest of the semester (see Announcements on

P1), including a mixer during Finals Week in December!

SHANICE SCANTELBURY ‘15

PUBLICITY&OUTREACH The Publicity committee has been hard at work creating flyers for various Law Society events

throughout the semester, including the Mediation Team Bake Sale and the upcoming LSAT

Seminar. They also worked the Law Society table during Parent’s Week.

CHASE HICKS ‘14

COMMITTEEUPDATES Catch up with your favorite law society committee!