STUDENT NAME:
 Joseph Rosati

LAW SCHOOL: Albany Law School

STATUS: 3L

UNDERGRADUATE: B.A., Political Science; Minor in Business, State University of New York at Albany

HOME CITY/STATE: South Salem, New York

Joseph Rosati, a 3L at Albany Law School and executive editor of the Law Review’s New York Appeals issue, was both smart and lucky when it came to earning his JD. He was smart, he said, in understanding the kind of institution in which he would thrive as a student. That included the importance of size, location and cost of attendance. He was lucky, he added, in choosing a law school whose professors are both top-notch teachers and recognized statewide and nationwide as authorities in their fields, and whose classes include hefty doses of practical skills learning.

“I didn’t even consider the quality of the professors and classes when I was doing my research and deciding among several schools,” Rosati said in e-mails and a telephone interview. Continue reading →

STUDENT NAME:
 Alanna McGovern

LAW SCHOOL: Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center


STATUS: 3L (full-time/day student)

UNDERGRADUATE: Stony Brook University, B.A. in English

OTHER EDUCATION: Study abroad with Sacred Heart University program in Dingle, Ireland. Concentration: Theology and Native Irish Spirituality

HOME CITY/State: Babylon, New York

Alanna McGovern, a much honored 3L at the Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, is among that rare breed of people who have wanted to be lawyers for as long as they can remember. So long that her family members – truck drivers, medical technologists, nurses, police officers but no lawyers – initially dismissed it as the babbling of a 4-year-old. That’s right, 4-year-old. Continue reading →

Student: James Anthony Wolff

Law School: New York Law School

Status: 3L, Evening Division

Undergraduate: The Johns Hopkins University, Peabody Conservatory of Music; B.A. in Music Composition

Home City/State: New York, N.Y.

James Anthony Wolff long ago confessed to being a serial entrepreneur; a 3D and space technologies entrepreneur to be exact. The record of his business dealings in just the past few years attests to his compulsion to start companies around his inventions of new technological processes and systems. Continue reading →

Student: Lola Sophia Bovell

Law School: University of Wisconsin Law School

Status: 3L

Undergraduate: University of Florida, B.A. in Political Science

Other Degrees: University of Florida, M.A. Women’s Studies

Home City/State: Miami, Florida

Advocating for disadvantaged or underserved communities is second nature to Lola Sophia Bovell, a third-year student at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Several years before she even applied to law school, Bovell was an admissions counselor and financial aid administrator at Keiser University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., helping many first-generation and nontraditional students navigate the college admissions and financial aid process. Continue reading →

Name:  Jared Brenner

Law School: Brooklyn Law School

Status: 3L

Undergraduate: The George Washington University, B.A., Major, History; Minor, Classical Studies. Graduated 2011, completing degree in three years.

Hometown: Princeton, N.J.

Jared Brenner went to law school so that he could learn to protect musicians and other artists in ways they didn’t – or couldn’t – themselves. Continue reading →

STUDENT: Kristy Brumfield

LAW SCHOOL: Loyola University New Orleans College of Law

STATUS: 2L, Civil Law, Evening

UNDERGRADUATE: B.S., Biology, Xavier University of Louisiana

OTHER DEGREE: Ph.D., Biochemistry, Louisiana State University

HOME CITY/STATE: Opelousas, Louisiana

Even as a college undergraduate, Kristy Brumfield wanted to be a lawyer. That is, of course, why she earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and teaches as an assistant professor in Xavier University of Louisiana’s biology department.

“Makes perfect sense to me,” said Brumfield, a 2L part-time evening student at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. “The appeal of law school, for me at least, was the intersection of science and law.” Continue reading →

Student: Sarah Marie Draper

Law School: SUNY Buffalo Law School

Status: 2L

Undergraduate: B.A. in Political Science cum laude (minor: African-American Studies), SUNY at Buffalo

Home City/State: Buffalo, New York

This has already been a banner year for Sarah Marie Draper, a 2L at SUNY Buffalo Law School. The Buffalo native and single mother of 6-year-old Ashanti won a string of distinctions, among them the John L. Hargrave Law Student Award from the Minority Bar Association of Western New York; a position in the law school’s Pro Se Practicum, which provides free legal assistance to pro se litigants in Erie County Family Court and in federal District Court in the Western District of New York, and a place as a competitor in the Frederick Douglass Moot Court contest (2014-15). Continue reading →

STUDENT: Julie Cummings

LAW SCHOOL: Golden Gate University School of Law

STATUS: 2L (Dean’s List all semesters, recipient of multiple scholarships, Law Review staff writer)

UNDERGRADUATE: Bachelor of Arts, Liberal Studies, linguistics emphasis; California State University-Fresno (Stilwell Sabre recipient for Most Outstanding Cadet in California)

OTHER DEGREES/INSTITUTIONS: Master of Science, International Relations; Troy University, Troy, Alabama (4.0 GPA)

HOME: Walnut Creek, California

For former military pilot Julie Cummings, it was a short jump from advocating as a volunteer on behalf of military families to advocating as a lawyer for needy civilian clients.

“When I realized I had a passion for advocacy, I knew that practicing law would be a perfect fit for my next career,” said Cummings, a 2L at Golden Gate University School of Law whose first career was flying Blackhawk helicopters on search-and-rescue missions as a U.S. Army officer. Continue reading →