Greetings from the Pre-Law Society President!
Hello! My name is Elizabeth (Liz) Kosik, and I am thrilled to be serving as the Pre-Law Society President for the 2023-2024 academic year. As a Junior at Loyola, I am majoring in philosophy and pursuing a career in Human Rights law. I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to be involved in many areas of campus life, including being a Resident Assistant for Student Life, a member of Loyola’s Cheerleading Team, and a Digital Content designer for WLOY.
I am fortunate to be joined by an amazing board this year, with Brianna Silva serving as our Vice President, Terrene Obuah as our Secretary, and Grace Dwan as our Treasurer. We are all excited about the opportunities and initiatives we have planned for this year, and we intend to get started on them right away! Our plans include offering workshops, inviting guest speakers, organizing LSAT prep meetings, advising sessions, and more. We have created a monthly newsletter to keep everyone abreast of all our upcoming events, and Terrene will be sending that out, so please keep an eye out for it!
Thank you for supporting the Pre-Law Society, and we look forward to a productive and exciting year ahead!
~ Liz
Welcome Letter from Dr. Beverlin, Pre-Law Advisor
Hello Pre-Law Students,
Welcome to the new Loyola Pre-Law Newsletter! For those that don’t know me, my name is Matt Beverlin, and I am the Loyola Pre-Law Advisor. While I am indeed a faculty member in the Political Science Department, I also aim to assist any and all of you on your journeys to law school. That means I am here to help no matter your major.
I’ve always wanted a near monthly newsletter! And here it is. In the past I sent emails out a few times a year and this new newsletter will replace all of that. You’ll get the same information in one place, and it will also showcase feature writing on speakers and events. If you want to an opportunity to get published and share your thoughts with fellow law interested students, we’d love to see your contributions. Please email me or Terrene (ntobuah@loyola.edu) for more information. We’re open to your story ideas.
This month I’m offering some basic information about Pre-Law preparation broken down by class. You might wish to scan through it all no matter what year you are. This information is accompanied by upcoming events sponsored by the Pre-Law Society.
1ST AND 2ND YEAR STUDENTS
I am lumping First and Second years together, because much of my message to you pertains to either class. If you got this newsletter directly you are one of the roughly 260 people in the Pre-Law Society (PLS). If you did not get this newsletter directly, then my first suggestion is you sign up for PLS on the Bridge. For further information about the group please contact the PLS President, Liz Kosik at emkosik@loyola.edu. Liz has been an extraordinary Vice-President and now has stepped into the President’s role.
The first couple of years at Loyola is a time to discern if you actually want to go to law school. Law school is an intense and expensive multi-year enterprise. That’s another way of saying: you really don’t have any immediate deadlines to worry about. At this point, I would involve myself with the student group, get good grades (3.5 or above as a rule), and make an appointment with me at some point. I find that sometimes people reach out to me way (way) too late to make much of a difference in the application process. It’s a bit late to plan internships, law related jobs, course selections, research work and so on when you have one foot out the door. My message is that considering and planning for law school is never done too early but can sometimes be attempted too late.
When choosing classes for next year take a look at the law related courses listed on the Pre-Law section of the Loyola website. While you’re there take a look at other resources including the Path to Law Document. I believe you should major in whatever you want. There is no “gaming” a major to get into law school, much of which hinges on your LSAT score and grades, regardless of chosen major. Having said that, I do teach Con Law II next semester as well as PS441, a law related research course. Con Law II is challenging, but also the closest approximation of law school you’ll get while at Loyola. You’ll read cases, brief them, and take tests aiming at preparing you for law school style exams. Con Law is a mandatory set of courses in law school, so you can get some familiarity with the area of law now to relieve some later stress. PS441 will give you an opportunity to develop your own topic, which can bolster your law school application with a presentation at the spring research colloquium.
3RD YEAR
By March of your third year, you are neck deep in LSAT study. If you’re not, don’t panic. Well, panic a little. Then get on the LSAC website and look into the test. LSAT studying is primarily a second half of Junior year experience if you plan to go directly into law school. Since you will be applying the next fall, spring of Junior year is time to run a final check of what you’ll need to apply very soon. This includes game planning who your letter writers will be. Typically, you’ll want two professors for this, and this coming summer is the ideal time to ask them with lots of advance notice. Happy letter writers are better letter writers.
SENIORS
It does not seem right to call Seniors “4th Years,” because it does not have the same satisfying ring of completion to it. Seniors ideally apply to law school during a sweet spot of approximately mid-October to Thanksgiving. Before Christmas is fine, though less ideal. Because law schools have rolling admissions, largely ignore the spring deadlines. Late deadlines are best reserved for stretch schools or schools you have a last minute change of heart about.
A message here for all readers: by the time you’re a Senior the dice have been cast. Any “resume-building” activity must be completed before you hit send on your application, meaning by late fall. To circle back to how I started this letter, that’s why it’s best to start planning during your 1st and 2nd year.
That’s it for now. Hopefully you found the information helpful. I’ll send one of these again in the Spring. Have a great Fall!
Matt Beverlin
Pre-Law Advisor
Political Science Department
Hello from Terrene Obuah - Secretary, Pre-Law Society
Hi everyone! My name is Terrene Obuah and I’m a Junior here at Loyola, otherwise recognized as the Class of 2025. I’m a Psychology major with a double minor in Sociology and Peace & Justice Studies. On campus, I am also the Vice President of Psi Chi National Honors Society. This is my third year with PLS and I’m forever grateful to be your secretary for the 23-24 school year! We have a lot of exciting things planned, such as upcoming guest speakers, expungement clinics, activities on the Quad, LSAT prep/advice, and more! As Beverlin shared, we are introducing a Monthly Newsletter where we’ll be showcasing the previously mentioned information regarding Pre-Law Society! Being the lead on the newsletter is very exciting, but if anyone would be more than willing to put forth a piece of their own for further engagement, please feel free to! With that being said, don’t forget to make sure you’re keeping up with us on the Bridge, following @loyolaprelawsociety on Instagram, and Loyola Pre-Law Society on LinkedIn!
by Terrene Obuah
One of our most recent events this fall welcomed Derek Baumgardner, where he shared plenty of insight on his experience as a student at Loyola, which helped him venture out in the workplace and eventually to Law school. Mr. Baumgardner is a land use, real estate, and environmental attorney with the law firm of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, LLP here in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to joining Whiteford, he served as an administrative law judge in Montgomery County and was an agency head and general counsel in Baltimore City government. He also has experience in business law, civil litigation, transactional law and trusts and estates. He previously clerked for The Honorable Brian D. Shockley on the Circuit Court for Worcester County, MD and for the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland. His current practice involves representing developers, for-profit businesses including traditional and renewable energy companies, land acquisition entities, non-profit organizations, individuals, and other purpose-driven companies and organizations in land use, real estate, and environmental projects in regulatory compliance, entitlements, and before local boards, commissions, legislatures, and courts. An avid urbanist, conservationist, corporate ESG advocate, and public policy enthusiast, Mr. Baumgardner is active in multiple trade associations relating to urban development and land use policy, as well as a board member of Trash Free, MD, an environmental non-profit with a mission to reduce trash in the waste stream. Mr. Baumgardner is a graduate of the University of Baltimore (J.D. 2011, M.S. 2008) and Loyola University Maryland (B.S. 2005).
Key highlights of Derek’s interaction with the members of Pre-Law Society revolved around his following statement: "a career in law can be whatever you want to make it." Derek emphasizes how his experience in school was a lot different than the expectations and experiences now. However, he recognizes the different approaches and paveways that can still ensure law school as the end result. Who else has felt like without securing multiple internships each summer of undergrad, they’ve doomed their chances for getting into graduate/law school? Or, that they have to be immediately ready to attend graduate/law school or a specific program straight out of undergrad?
To reassure students, he shared how as a 1L, “everyone is in the same boat, all starting from the bottom, all starting from the beginning. I couldn’t tell any difference between my peers and myself. A pre-law program or path might spark interest, which is valuable, but I don’t think there’s any substantive thing about it.” Furthermore, during his time as a student, Derek recognizes how paid internships didn’t exist and it was through personal networking that he enhanced his experience in the field. Working at the Attorney General’s office, Derek emphasizes how this experience contributed to his value and admiration for his career path.
Derek urged students to take advantage of the many grasps of experience, planning for one’s future as suitable to one’s needs, and revealing how many successful attorneys he knows went out and had gap years or indulged in “mini first careers” before they attended law school as students. When asked a key phrase of advice, Derek stated: “pick something you’re interested in, and do very well at it. It doesn’t matter if you’re a poli-sci major, a history major, a business major, or even a musical arts major. I have friends of all different majors and studies that are my fellow colleagues now - please, take whatever interests you now, and do it well.”
For those of you who might have missed Derek’s useful insight on his experience, feel free to contact him or me at dbaumgardner@whitefordlaw.com / ntobuah@loyola.edu for any further advice, concerns, or questions.
Attorney Speaker, David Rawle - October 16 (6PM)
The Pre-Law Society is hosting an attorney speaker on Monday October 16th at 6:00 in Knott Hall B01. David Rawle will be joining us to talk about his career in the law. Here's David providing a little bit of background info. below.
What do you do with a history degree from Boston University? Return to Baltimore to decide what to do next. I spent the year after college thinking about “what’s next?” With the thought of law school, I worked in the law library, taking the LSATs (and GREs just in case). Then it was on to the University of Maryland School of Law. Upon graduation, I had the opportunity to clerk for a judge on the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. After the one-year stint, I joined the tax department of a local law firm. I quickly decided that tax law was not for me. At that time, mergers and acquisitions were hot, and I made the switch to the firm’s corporate group. For me, the switch was one of those unplanned strokes of luck—I found the area of law that fit my skills and personality, leading to a 35-year career in business law. I left private practice a few years later to join Maryland’s Office of the Attorney General. The AG’s office offered me the ability to continue what I loved while expanding into new areas. I started with Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development raising funds for housing and advising various housing programs. I later moved to Maryland’s Department of Commerce, continuing my finance and transactional practice, but also entering a host of new areas of the law. I recently retired from the law to pursue educational and charitable interests.
Law School Visit to Campus - October 23 (5-7PM)
St. John’s University School of Law is visiting Loyola on Monday, October 23rd from 5:00-7:00. This private visit opportunity will be held in Beatty 236. Registration is on the Bridge on the Pre-Law Society group page. St. John’s is located in New York and Loyola has sent a number of students there recently, with many more applying. Their Dean of Admissions requested this visit to increase applications from Loyola and will be there herself. If you are interested in attending law school in New York this is a great opportunity.
