University of Houston Law Center 3L So Yoon recently interned with U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew M. Edison in the Southern District of Texas and with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Dallas as well has clerked at Fogler, Brar, O’Neil & Gray LLP.
Yoon admits her initial law school performance as a 1L was not top-ranking. However, she persevered and found opportunities for personal and professional growth, making her a stronger student and better job candidate.
University of Houston Law Center 3L So Yoon
What is one valuable lesson you learned at UHLC?
One valuable lesson that I learned in law school is that it’s not the end of the world if you don’t do well in your first year. People make it seem like if you’re not in the top 10% your first year, you’re never going to get a job. Just because you didn’t do well in your first year, which doesn’t mean you don’t have a good perspective moving forward. I didn’t do well in my first year, but I still had jobs moving forward. I even had the opportunity to work in competitive jobs, I worked at a federal court and a federal agency as an intern. Again, just because you didn’t do well your first year, it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. I also believe that UHLC advisors and the CDO can help you in developing that thought process, many are encouraging and assure you that it’s okay.
What did clerking at Fogler, Brar, O’Neil & Gray LLP mean to you?
I got to work with successful lawyers who have established their practice areas and know what they’re doing, I learned a lot by being surrounded by really intelligent people. I wanted to do better to impress them, and I think there are a lot of motivating factors and inspiration in that.
They’re also good at guiding you to where you need to be, they do so by assigning you projects and thoroughly explaining materials to law clerks. The best part of being at that firm is that everyone is very family-like. They check up on you to make sure that you’re doing well, and that you’re not overwhelmed. Overall, they make you feel like you are part of the community, so that was nice.
In what ways did interning with Judge Andrew Edison help you in your career?
What Judge Edison does best is acquainting you with his legal practice. We had the opportunity to observe a lot of court proceedings through Zoom that not many interns got to participate in before COVID-19. Attending these court proceedings helped us interpret multiple perspectives.
Judge Edison also helps you improve your writing as he assigned a lot of writing assignments. He gave us a lot of opportunities, such as writing drafts for court opinions and memorandums.His clerks helped as well with the writing process by reviewing and giving us feedback. They gave me a lot of advice and showed me how to read, write and re-structure every part of the writing component. So, in that aspect, Judge Edison helped with broadening my perspective of everything and his clerks helped with developing my writing skills.
What led you to pursue a legal education at UHLC?
One nice thing about UHLC is the fact that we have a big legal market in Houston. We also have a big diversity program at UHLC, so the student body is pretty diverse.
What were some of your favorite professors or memories here?
My favorite memories so far have been being able to collaborate with my classmates. Especially going through a hard time as a 1L or 2L student, you have your classmates to help you push through because they are also going through the same thing as you.
I’ve enjoyed most of the professors here. So far, Professor Tracy Hester has helped answer a lot of my questions. Professor Bush has also been good at answering any future-related questions that I’ve had. I’ve also taken Professor Thompson twice so far and she has really helped with giving constructive feedback on our writing and taught us a lot on how to write professionally. Every professor has been open in giving advice for future career choices or when I’m having trouble because they have a very open-door policy.
What advice do you have for individuals considering law school as their career path?
One piece of advice that I have is to try to enjoy law school. It’s really stressful as you are going through it because it never really gets easier, but you meet a lot of people and you’ll learn a lot.
Original source can be found here.