Derek graduated with a Political Science major and a History minor in 2010. He had always wanted to go to law school, and worked hard to make that happen. “After graduating from UW Oshkosh, I applied relatively late to several law schools, was wait-listed at some, and was not accepted. So I took a year off and worked part-time before applying again the next year, and I was accepted everywhere I applied,” Derek writes. “I chose UW Madison both because it was within an hour and a half of my hometown in northeast Wisconsin, and because it is one of two law schools in which you do not have to pass a bar exam in order to be admitted to practice.”
Law school provided Derek with a network that would prove important. “I came to be at my current job through a colleague who interned there in law school. I did not go through a formal application process – I was simply recommended by my colleague, and was given an interview. I started the next day and have been at the firm ever since.”
Today, Derek works at a small general practice firm in Milwaukee. “We handle almost all civil law matters but the majority of our cases are family (divorce), probate, and estate planning. As with many attorneys in their first few years of out of law school, the majority of my practice involves drafting and researching in support of the senior litigation attorney at my firm, and I also regularly meet with clients and represent them in hearings,” Derek notes.
Derek recently married Margie; they met in law school (“…and if that’s not an endorsement to go to law school, I don’t know what is!” he says). Margie is an Assistant District Attorney in Kenosha County. Interested in law school? Derek and Margie would be perfect people to talk to (and remember, networks are everything…!). You can reach Derek (and Margie!) at darond80@gmail.com.
(The Darons graciously allowed us to use a wedding photo for this post. Just when you thought they couldn’t get any cooler, they were married in a former courthouse in West Bend. How delightful is that?!)