Find work you love, attorney tells students
—By Elly Wong
High-profile attorney Thomas Mesereau, who defended celebrity clients Michael Jackson and Robert Blake in recent years, spoke to USC Law students on Sept. 24 about the type of service that isn’t always in the public spotlight: public interest.
Mesereau told students that he has found public interest law to be the most fulfilling work in his career.
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| Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau |
Mesereau began the session, which was sponsored by the Public Interest Law Foundation, by telling students about his own experience in law school.
“First of all, I love speaking at law schools,” he said. “I remember the time when…I was trying to figure out what I should do with my degree.”
After graduating, Mesereau tried out a few career options. He started his career at a litigation firm, and soon moved on to become a prosecutor in the Orange Country District Attorney’s Office for a year. He then spent three years working for Getty Synthetic Fuels, Inc. However, he soon became bored with his work and was anxious to do something different.
“Many [lawyers] start out at big firms because the money is good, things are exciting, there are big clients,” Meserau said. “But once [that] excitement wore off, it wasn’t for me.”
He decided to take a risk by straying away corporate firms to create a path of his own. He joined a civil firm, taking on criminal cases, and later opened his own office, which he still operates.
“If I did anything that was right in my career, it was not restricting myself in trying new things,” he said.
Mesereau gave some practical advice to the students, encouraging them to try new ventures with their degree even if they may not be the most popular or financially stable routes.
“Horizons can get limited at big firms, causing lawyers to feel dissatisfied with their careers,” Meserau said. “I was lucky enough to find a passion.”
He said that lawyers have so many options to make a difference, and yet many studies indicate lawyers are unhappy professionally. The reason, he said, is that lawyers give up trying different things.
“You can represent whoever you want: you have freedom,” Mesereau added. “You can be individualistic and help a lot of people who need it.”
That’s why he started taking pro bono cases.
Ten years ago, Meserau was given the opportunity to defend a homeless black man who was accused of killing a white woman in Alabama. He won the case, and since then, continues to devote his time and own money to defend those who cannot afford their own attorney.
Today, he heads the Mesereau-Ephraim-Villaraigosa (M.E.V.) Free Legal Clinic in South Los Angeles, at Brookins AME church, where professional lawyers donate their time twice a month for counseling.
Mesereau believes public interest work is a win-win situation for both the clients and the lawyers.
“I don’t just do this to help people, which I like doing,” Mesereau said. “But I do it also to help myself. It makes me feel alive.”
He finds that when lawyers come to the clinic, it “rekindles their idealism they had in law school when they wanted to make a difference with their professional lives.”
Mesereau said that public service also can keep lawyers from the danger of becoming disconnected from their clients or juries.
“One thing pro bono work does is to get you in touch with ordinary people,” he said. “You get to discover about who they are, who their families are, who they love.”
Mesereau concluded the talk by reiterating the plethora of options a law degree brings. The key, which he has found from his own professional experiences, is finding a job that that brings fulfillment.
“There are ways to make a difference,” Mesereau said. “Don’t give up. There are so many ways to practice law if you’re willing to give.”
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