ABA Journal, For This Lawyer, a Blip at Law School Didn’t Translate to a Failed Career:
Katie McConnell had always been an excellent student. But when she started law school, her days of straight A’s immediately appeared to be out of reach.
At the University of North Carolina School of Law, McConnell did what she had been trained to do as an undergrad at the same college: study hard, read all the books and put in the work. She thought that she did well on her exams—only to discover that she was at the bottom of her class.
“That’s not a great position to be in after your first semester because you’re starting to interview, and it really sets you up for what the rest of your career will look like,” McConnell says. “I was at a loss—what do I do?”
So she did what she had been trained to do her entire life—she worked harder. Yet she struggled. She couldn’t figure out what she was doing wrong. McConnell enrolled in a property law class in her second semester of that awful first year, and that’s when she found a mentor.
“My professor took the time to explain to our class what law school exams are looking for; how thinking critically looks; how to identify the issue, go through a fact pattern, provide a clear response and explain how you go there,” McConnell says of Dana Remus, who is now a partner with Covington & Burling and was a White House counsel for former President Joe Biden. …
Her straight A’s returned, McConnell graduated in the top 15% of her class, and she learned the greatest lesson of law school: “The influence of the right person can be the smallest interaction but have the biggest impact on you,” she says. …
For others looking to ace law school and beyond, McConnell recommends seeking relationships with mentors, whether that’s a professor, another law student or an attorney.
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