Get Busy

35 organizations make it tough to choose, fun to explore

Story and Photos by Maria Iacobo

USC Gould School of Law students went shopping recently to find out what organizations, activities and tee shirts their law school has to offer. The annual Student Organization Fair buzzed with activity as students visited some or all of the 35 clubs and organizations that had set up tables throughout Crocker Plaza.

With all the groups gathering in one place, “new and incoming students can see what’s available to them activity-wise throughout the year and what types of organizations are here to meet their needs,” said Megan Hopkins ’13, Student Bar Association president. “Clubs range from activity-based, such as the Surf Club, to policy-based, such as the ACLU.”

Nick Shapiro '14 and Rick Bohn '14

A new organization – Space Law Society – offers students an opportunity to be involved in the next legal frontier, according to its founders Rick Bohn ’14 and Nick Shapiro ’14 . As more countries send ships, machinery and astronauts into outer space for a variety of purposes, international laws will be needed to ensure activities are governed fairly.

“You think back to the days of Columbus when people traveled to new continents and founded new countries, it was all about might makes right,” Bohn said. “They fought each other for these lands. What happens when you go to a new planet? Are we going to fight each other for it? Are we going to develop treaties and systems to work with this? There are a lot of cool issues.”

Bohn and Shapiro say their group will be debating with other Space Law societies in a moot court this coming year.  And, although their society is still fairly new to U.S. law schools, there are many such organizations in foreign law schools.

“If you’re going to get a paycheck as a space lawyer, you’re going to be doing everything you would as an earth lawyer,” Shapiro said. “You’re going to be doing project finance, regulation, bankruptcy, insurance and liability. Some of the most interesting questions, and those that we’ll moot over in national and international competitions, are in international law. So the treaties that have been ratified back in the 1960s are now coming back into this time where space-related industries have evolved tremendously, and we’re trying to evolve our law along with that.”

	The 2012 Student Organization Fair

Student organization leaders say that getting involved with your classmates outside of the classroom and developing  networking skills with the legal community are two of the many reasons student organizations are an important part of the law school education. 

“We get out of the law school and see the different art scenes Los Angeles offers,” says Romtin Parvaresh '14, president of the Art Law Society. “We also have a lot of guest speakers come and talk about intellectual property law as it relates to art.”

As a 2L, Hopkins was a member of the Public Interest Law Foundation board, president of the Legal Aid Alternative Breaks program (LAAB) and president of the Women’s Law Association. Each organization provided unique experiences that have contributed greatly to her legal education.

“Student orgs really make sure that the law school experience is more holistic and really meets all of the student’s needs,” Hopkins says. “In addition to being academic and supportive for the ongoing career of the law student, it also is a place to really feel at home and feel like you can develop yourself personally and professionally.”