Stories by Catherine Deyarmond
Illustrations by Matt Murphy
When prospective students tour the St. Mary’s University School of Law, Robin Thorner, J.D., Assistant Dean for Career Strategy, describes law school as too long and too difficult to take just any job
after graduating.
Students who do not actively pursue finding the best legal vocation for their strengths and skills will not “make for happy lawyers who feel like they are really providing meaningful work and contributing to the community,” Thorner said. “With that in mind, we are very focused on students’ individual journeys.”
Helping students find their path, the School of Law’s Office of Career Strategy provides highly individualized support to J.D. and LL.M. students as they seek real-world experience to find a fulfilling vocation, said Thorner, who oversees the office.
Individualized support
“We meet with every student every year they are here,” she said. “We believe strongly that the outcomes justify the very intensive student support service. Our team helps with all the traditional job application tasks and related materials, reviews résumés and cover letters, performs mock interviews, and provides tremendous resources in print and video for students.”
During the 2023-2024 academic year, the four Career Strategy team members provided 834 one-on-one student advising appointments and reviewed 518 résumés.
With programming around different practice areas and environments available to students, those in the J.D. and LL.M. programs can learn about myriad practice areas and employee types — practicing attorneys, sitting judges and others who use their law degrees in alternative ways.
Students are exposed to the law fields during career fairs, on-campus job interviews, employer engagement on campus, Mentor Circles programming and mock interviews.
Diverse careers
On the pieces showcased below, you’ll meet four J.D. alumni who have taken their careers in very different directions — appellate court, big law, global trade compliance and in-house corporate counsel — using the lessons they’ve learned at the School of Law.
Law graduates are finding their place in legal vocations. For the J.D. Class of 2023, 86.8% of graduates were employed 10 months after graduation.
St. Mary’s students find careers at law firms of all sizes, in business and industry, government, public interest organizations, federal clerkships and educational entities. The majority of graduates are working in Texas, though some move out of state.
“The law school staff members really care. They are very knowledgeable and are more than willing to help students in any area.
— Elizabeth Medellin, third-year J.D. student
As a student with no attorneys in his family, Richard Lyons, a second-year J.D. student, said he became involved with the Office of Career Strategy almost immediately upon starting school.
“I’ve been able to learn about the different legal fields, and I’ve had the opportunity to meet lawyers from all kinds of firms,” he said. “Meeting these attorneys on campus can lead to genuine job opportunities.”
Lyons said he spent the summer as a legal intern for a local bankruptcy judge. He is doing an Externship for class credit this academic year with Spurs Sports & Entertainment. A summer on-campus interview has already led to a job offer next summer at a local attorney’s office.
Elizabeth Medellin, a third-year J.D. student, said she figured out during the spring of her first year that she could benefit from using the law school’s resources.
“We get so busy and don’t think we need help,” she said. “The Office of Career Strategy has taught me I can seek assistance throughout the law school.”
The office staff first helped her with her résumé and later to find a mentor with whom she still regularly talks, Medellin said.
“The law school staff members really care,” Medellin said. “They are very knowledgeable and are more than willing to help students in any area. They push us to develop our interview skills and to research legal vocations so we find the right place in the legal field.”
