Student and Alumni Profiles

What I Did Before Law School:

I worked for almost a year and a half in New York City at one of the Big 4 accounting firms, Ernst & Young. I spent time in the Banking & Capital Markets, Mutual Funds, and Hedge Funds groups.

What I Am Hoping to Do with My Law Degree:

I would like to get back into the corporate world at a large law firm that practices corporate law. I would like to try out a number of different practices at a law firm: I already have a solid understanding of what tax law is about but there are a lot of other areas to explore before I make the final decision.

My Best Experience at Penn Law:

My 1L year, the three other CSR (student government) 1L representatives and I hosted the 1st Annual Battle for Civ Pro Bragging Rights which was a broomball tournament at the ice rink on Penn's campus. We all thought our own Civ Pro sections were superior so we decided to settle it once and for all on the ice. We had well over 100 students show up, three professors actually played, two deans were in the audience, and it was just a fantastic event. It has become an annual event!

My Favorite Course:

Wow. It's really hard to choose just one class. It's probably a tie between Church & State with Professor Sarah Gordon and Corporations with Professor Michael Wachter. Sarah Gordon is my favorite professor of all time. She just has a very interesting style of teaching and can keep you entirely wrapped up in the subject for the whole class period. Wachter is the most thorough human being you will ever meet. You have to know the cases and statutes inside and out, but after each class each day I felt like I had accomplished something and had a very firm grasp about the legal concept that was central to that day's reading. Wachter also has this sneaky dry wit that keeps the whole class laughing for the entire semester.

An Example of How the Law School's Cross-disciplinary Approach Influences My Legal Education:

This year I was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship by the U.S. Department of State to research Islamic Finance, Shariah Law and study intensive Arabic in the Middle East. Perhaps it's not quite the same thing, but due to Penn's Cross-disciplinary environment the administration at Penn Law is fully aware of the value of alternative learning arrangements. I am taking a year and a half off from Penn Law to get a ground level understanding of the places and people of the Middle East. Based out of Doha, Qatar, I have had the opportunity to visit 10 countries (in the first three months), make acquaintances with people from all over the world, and build the base for an extensive Middle Eastern professional network for when I finish my Penn Law education. I credit Penn Law and its holistic view of education for realizing that not every student will follow the same educational path to his or her goals.

Penn Law is known for its collegial environment. Why is collegiality important to a legal education? How has it affected your legal education?

Admittedly, when I was deciding between law schools collegiality was close to last on my list of important factors. I was going to go to the school that afforded the best career options after graduation. And what was collegiality supposed to mean anyway? It was only after I arrived at Penn that I realized how lucky I was to have chosen Penn. Collegiality made a huge difference in how much I enjoyed the first year. When you're spending long hours at school and in the library, trust me, the last type or person you want to spend time with are the people that see you as an obstacle in the way of their success. These people don't seem to find their way to Penn.

My Favorite Philadelphia Moment:

Again, this is very difficult to narrow down. One of my classmates, Dimitri Islam, created a dining group that meets every two weeks to visit various eateries in the city. It is so popular that it has grown to an average of 50-60 law students who turn out for any given event. We basically rent out the whole restaurant and you never know what will happen when you get that many law students together. One night when we were having Dim Sum in Chinatown, several of my classmates convinced Jon Sorkowitz to try a Chinese beer for the first time. He was hesitant, but finally agreed. When he took his first drink, he exclaimed "Wow, it's rather watered down!" It turns out that the bottle was just a beer bottle with water in it. It was pretty funny.

What I'm Most Proud Of:

Not sure it's anything to be proud of, but I came into school with a plan to do nothing but books because I felt that was the only way to succeed. I've ended up getting involved in many different aspects of Penn life, and that has made the whole experience much more fulfilling. I also have done very well keeping up and ahead on my work.

My Extracurricular Activities at Penn Law:

Council of Student Representatives (Student Government) 1L representative, Black Law Student Association, Asian Pacific Law Student Association, Post Acceptance Committee, Penn Law Intramural Basketball, Penn Law Intramural Football.

My Favorite Place or Activity on the University Campus:

Favorite activity is just about anything with my classmates. We have an extremely close 2009 class (although now I am reclassified as 2010)  and someone always has something going on. And anyone is welcome to show up.

Q: I've heard people say that you really don't want to live in the dorms, and it is much better to get your own place in Center City.

A: If you're not looking to pay a higher price for living arrangements and you're not very familiar with Philadelphia then the dorms are a pretty decent option. I lived there my first year and I was 2 blocks from the Law School and 2 blocks from the gym. Time is at a premium during your first year, and if I needed to run home for lunch I could do that and save a lot of money. If nothing else, they are convenient. Are the dorms luxurious living? Obviously not, but you're not making lawyer money yet either...

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