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Armed with the Post-9/11 GI Bill, veterans are looking for access to higher education. For those officers and enlisted service members already complete with their Bachelor’s, going after a graduate degree is a great option. And law school is one of the best.
To many, law school is an attractive path. For those veterans interested in continuing their public service, there are many options as a lawyer working across all branches and levels of government. And attorneys are known for high salaries, making a private-sector career appealing to many veterans.
Joining the blog for a guest interview is David Atkinson. David was an army officer who went from active duty to Georgetown Law School and is now an in-house lawyer at an education technology company.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I grew up ten miles south of a small town in rural Missouri in a single-wide trailer with my parents and three siblings. I joined ROTC while in college to offset the costs of going to what was already one of the cheapest schools in my state (Truman State University). During my senior year, I decided to go on active duty and volunteered for Airborne School. I was assigned to 1BCT, 82nd Airborne Division where I served for three years before taking command of a detachment in the 44th Medical Brigade.
What did you do in the military?
During my first two years, I was the medical officer for the squadron (a battalion-level staff job) as well as the medical platoon leader with 30+ medics. After returning from deployment to Afghanistan I became the XO of the brigade’s sole medical company. Then, for my final year on active duty, I was made the commander of a detachment.
How did you decide on pursuing a JD?
Like all good adventures, it was really based on an off-hand comment by a girl. We were arguing and she said I should become a lawyer. I paused and thought, You know what, maybe I will. I had already planned to apply to various other master’s degree programs, so throwing applications to law school in the mix wasn’t too big of a deal. What wasn’t clear to me upfront, though, was how much more challenging the LSAT was going to be than the GRE. Whereas I finished in the top 3% nationwide in verbal reasoning on the GRE, I was only in the 83rd percentile for the LSAT. That put me below the bottom 25th percentile of all law students at Georgetown. It wasn’t my LSAT score that got me into Georgetown. My acceptance was probably largely based on me being a veteran.
What attracted you to Georgetown?
There are four big things going for Georgetown.
- It’s a “T-14” school, meaning it’s considered a top-tier law program, which avails its students of more and better opportunities for internships, fellowships, clerkships, and jobs than most lower-ranking law schools.
- It’s in DC, which is a city I’d loved since playing in the Independence Day parade as a marching band member in high school. I still find the monuments awe-inspiring.
- Given the proximity to the federal government, DC is ideal if you’d like to intern at a federal agency or work for the government upon graduating. I ended up interning at the U.S. Senate during a semester, which would be impossible to do in any other city.
- Georgetown has the largest course catalog of any law school. DC is filled with lawyers, and many of those lawyers are happy to be adjunct professors. This means you get a greater variety of courses from people who actually practice law as opposed to a purely academic professor. For example, I took courses on venture capital, law of robots, cyberlaw, cybersecurity, poverty law, and small business law.
Is there anything you would have done differently in applying to law schools?
I would have put more effort into the LSAT. As alluded to, I must have only barely been accepted by Georgetown. I was not accepted to any law school I applied to that ranked higher than Georgetown, so the choice of where to attend was basically a foregone conclusion. Georgetown is a great school, but it would have been less stressful for me if I had performed better on the LSAT and felt I firmly belonged.
What was the biggest challenge as a veteran law student?
I can’t speak for all law schools, but Georgetown has a great veterans program. They are very active and supportive of one another. Having said that, the program is geared mostly to people who want to practice government-related law (national security, entering JAG, etc.), so I didn’t participate in the group. Additionally, I didn’t want to be pigeon-holed as a veteran. I just wanted to be a normal student. The most difficult part, then, was just the avalanche of new information you have to learn as a first-year student. It’s the same problem for everyone, but veterans haven’t been in the classroom as recently as most of our peers, and there is an art to taking notes, knowing which questions to ask, and so on. I’ve heard of other veterans struggling with the indirect manner in which civilians tend to talk, or being annoyed by civilians who pontificate about global affairs without having any real-world experience, but I didn’t experience those issues personally.
What are you currently working on?
I was hired to be an in-house corporate counsel for an education technology company. That means I don’t argue in court like on TV. Instead, I help handle paperwork like contracts. Working in-house is the way to go if you can get it. No suits, no billable hours, no 60+ hours a week, and free snacks.
Looking back on your transition, what would you have done differently?
I would have kept closer ties to my peers and commanders. I’ve only spoken to a handful of people from the military since leaving. I regret not continuing to reinforce the bonds I’d made over the years with so many great people. Time and distance have wreaked havoc on those relationships.
What were some unexpected challenges in the transition process?
Moving was the most difficult part for me. I didn’t know where I’d be living, what I’d need, and so on. The army picked up my stuff and took it to Missouri while I was still in North Carolina, but then I met a girl in NC so I spent the summer with her. By the time I moved I only had a suitcase with me. It took three weeks before my goods arrived. It was not an ideal scenario. But I was always quick to remind myself that I’d experienced worse in the military.
Most importantly: what’s the best chow hall you experienced in the military?
The one at Bagram was probably the best. At Fort Bragg, the one next to Devil Field had delicious breakfast…but bland dinners!
Related:
Veterans at Georgetown: W. Isaac Lyons