Alumni share advice with 1Ls at Mentor Lunch
Aaron Ginsburg ’14 always wanted to be a lawyer. And he knows that he wants to practice civil litigation when he graduates. But when he arrived at the USC Gould School of Law last fall, he wasn’t as sure about the route to his goal.
Thanks to some of the 175 alumni who participated in this year’s Mentor Lunch, Ginsburg and some 150 other students now have a better idea of which courses to take over the next two years, what summer opportunities to pursue and even the type of day-to-day work ethic the profession calls for.
“Mentor Lunch is a good opportunity to talk to people who are in the business and can offer solid, practical advice,” Ginsburg said. “We talked about legal writing, how to present myself in job markets, how to continue networking, why it’s so important to be a part of the Trojan Family, and how keep in touch with these attorneys as mentors.”
The annual luncheon seats alumni with first-year students according to professional interest. As Dean Robert K. Rasmussen noted in his welcoming remarks, the high rate of alumni participation in the event reflects the strength of the Trojan network.
“No other law school in the country could pull this off once,” he said. “We pull it off every year.”
Ginsburg chose the civil litigation table. As the son of an attorney, Ginsburg already grasped the importance of networking.
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| Frank Gooch III '76 and Aaron Ginsburg '14 |
“It’s not necessarily getting to where you are because you know someone, but having connections can get you in a position to prove yourself,” he said. “It’s getting that opportunity to show what you can do that is so important."
Much of the advice Ginsburg received came from Frank Gooch III ’76, a partner at Gilchrist & Rutter in Santa Monica. An accomplished litigator and four-time Southern California “Super Lawyer,” Gooch has attended more than 10 Mentor Lunch events.
“It’s so refreshing to meet the students. They are really top-notch people,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much it renews your faith to meet and talk with them.”
Gooch said that Mentor Lunch and other events such as the Small & Mid-Sized Firm Reception and the Alumni Mock Interview Program represent a more collegial approach to legal education than that which he experienced.
“In the mid-70s, it was a more cut-throat environment. The school today is positive and upbeat,” he said. “The atmosphere Dean Rasmussen has created is phenomenal.”
For Gooch, USC Law’s emphasis on collegiality is more germane to how law is most effectively practiced.
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| Erin McCann '09, Jamie Jung '08 and Kent Wakuta '08 |
“You very much have to be able to work on teams, and you have to be able to compromise to get anything done,” he said. “You get much more done being cooperative than being strident.”
Erin McCann ’09, an attorney with the Law Offices of Ellen F. Driscoll in Pasadena, is a product of USC Law’s collegial environment and another veteran of Mentor Lunch. She has attended the event every year since graduation, largely because she enjoyed the lunch when she was a 1L.
“I remember it very well,” she said. “It was my first networking experience.”
McCann said the event offers 1Ls a break from book-work and an opportunity to ask attorneys what a typical day is like and what they enjoy about being a lawyer. Now that she is an alumna, she relishes the chance to return the favor.
“It’s really fun to sit at a table with other alumni and speak with students and answer their questions,” McCann said. “I love being able to give them advice.”
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| Dean Rasmussen (center) with Arsine Phillips '86 and Dominic Nunneri '14 |
For MacKenzie Smith ’14, whose interest in family law landed her a seat at McCann’s table, the enthusiasm was mutual.
“Being able to connect with alumni is huge, especially alumni working in your area of interest,” she said. “It was so helpful to learn from Erin and the other attorneys what classes they took, and what they do now on a daily basis.”
McCann encourages alumni who have not attended the event since they were students to experience it as mentors.
“It’s a valuable experience to meet students and fellow graduates,” she said. “And it shows the commitment alumni have to the school.”
That impression was not lost on Ginsburg, who already has plans to reconnect with the alumni he met.
“Seeing how willing the alumni are to help makes me want to be able to give back in the future,” he said.
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| MaryEtta Marks '79 and Jessica Chu '13 |
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| Frank Gregory Casella '14 and Ronald Rosenfeld '64 |
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