About the Nebraska College of Law

Nebraska College of Law Author

07/17/2014 Added

157 Plays

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Students and faculty discuss why Nebraska is a great place to study law.

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[00:00:06.704](dramatic instrumental music)
[00:00:08.902]What's so great about Lincoln
[00:00:09.907]is that it's this thriving, energetic community,
[00:00:13.345]and it's a combination of a university town,
[00:00:15.317]but also we're the capital and there's this great group
[00:00:18.003]of young professionals, and so in a lot of ways
[00:00:19.940]you get the best of both worlds in Lincoln.
[00:00:22.521](dramatic instrumental music)
[00:00:41.219]I think Nebraska is a great place to study law
[00:00:42.873]because number one you've got teachers
[00:00:45.659]who are really focused on teaching,
[00:00:47.494]professors who care more about making sure
[00:00:51.000]that you understand the law than proving
[00:00:53.400]to other people that they understand the law.
[00:00:54.936](dramatic instrumental music)
[00:00:59.800]I'm very lucky I have both first year students
[00:01:01.177]and upper level students.
[00:01:02.538]My first year students, obviously I get to know them
[00:01:05.102]very closely, very quickly,
[00:01:06.973]because it is a nervous environment
[00:01:09.354]being in a law school in your first year.
[00:01:11.069]I feel like when I interact with my professors,
[00:01:12.920]they just are so incredibly supportive.
[00:01:17.294]They provide me with contacts and professional networking
[00:01:20.393]and resources for research.
[00:01:23.229]I mean they just, they go all out.
[00:01:25.849]Faculty has really diversified my interests.
[00:01:29.336]They understand that, you know,
[00:01:31.078]you're not going to be an expert in every issue
[00:01:32.982]and you may not even be interested in all their issues.
[00:01:34.755]I found that when I have a question
[00:01:37.428]or I want to further explore something
[00:01:39.112]that we discussed in class,
[00:01:40.203]the faculty stays after class to talk to students
[00:01:42.664]and they're very accessible.
[00:01:44.565](dramatic instrumental music)
[00:01:48.005]Nebraska Law is a great place to study
[00:01:49.128]because we have this unique combination
[00:01:51.264]of quality education and an affordable price,
[00:01:55.547]and I think that's important because what that allows
[00:01:57.525]students to do when they leave here
[00:01:59.984]without a huge debt load that they might have
[00:02:02.181]from other places, it allows them to really pick and choose
[00:02:04.826]what they want to do with their law degree
[00:02:06.845]and they can do what they came here planning to do
[00:02:09.867]without being burdened with a high debt load.
[00:02:12.164]When I started out, I cast a very wide net
[00:02:14.634]at a bunch of different schools,
[00:02:15.845]and as I worked my way down,
[00:02:17.692]it became very clear that the very best bang for my buck
[00:02:21.372]was at Nebraska.
[00:02:25.575]I wanted to minimize my student debt
[00:02:27.781]so that I could really maximize my opportunities
[00:02:29.728]coming out of law school.
[00:02:32.061]When a student walks in the door
[00:02:33.679]their very first day, they have a number
[00:02:36.599]of orientation activities that will help them
[00:02:39.491]warm up to the idea of being a law student,
[00:02:42.397]being successful, and thinking like a lawyer.
[00:02:45.486]Immediately you're thrust into a new way of thinking,
[00:02:47.715]a totally new group of people, a different type
[00:02:50.873]of classroom experience than you may have experienced
[00:02:53.102]in your undergraduate studies.
[00:02:55.738]Be ready to be humbled.
[00:02:57.816](upbeat instrumental music)
[00:03:01.227]We have a number of programs
[00:03:02.249]that are either connected directly with a class
[00:03:04.666]or independent of class that help students
[00:03:07.220]to more fully develop what they're learning
[00:03:09.612]in the classroom.
[00:03:10.965]One of the neatest ones, I think,
[00:03:12.882]that we have spent a lot of time developing
[00:03:14.672]and a lot of students take advantage of,
[00:03:16.678]is our externship program.
[00:03:18.353]I've sent students for externships
[00:03:20.815]during the school year or during the summer
[00:03:23.168]for a number of both governmental offices
[00:03:25.924]and nonprofits.
[00:03:27.758]It's one thing to hear about a situation
[00:03:29.534]in your class, it's another thing to go
[00:03:30.992]and actually see that people are fighting
[00:03:33.488]for a particular right in court
[00:03:35.420]or that the skills that you developed
[00:03:38.112]in a class your first year, yes actually are important,
[00:03:40.433]and you're using them in an organization
[00:03:42.265]for someone's benefit.
[00:03:43.919]I think involvement in student organizations is vital.
[00:03:47.400]I am the co president of the
[00:03:50.919]Community Legal Education Project.
[00:03:53.133]Just this year we had our first Constitution Day event,
[00:03:56.108]which we had over 50 law student volunteers
[00:04:00.160]in almost 70 classrooms around the community in one day.
[00:04:04.654]It's something completely different
[00:04:07.124]to have the opportunity to kind of go
[00:04:10.714]into an area that's a little more narrowed down
[00:04:12.861]to something that you're passionate about,
[00:04:14.926]you're interested in, that you want to be involved in,
[00:04:17.193]and then getting to apply those things
[00:04:20.049]that you're learning in class in a more tangible
[00:04:23.110]and specific way.
[00:04:25.268](upbeat instrumental music)
[00:04:28.100]I'm very impressed when I look at our placement rates
[00:04:29.906]and what students are actually going out and doing
[00:04:31.682]and looking at just the high percentage of people
[00:04:34.209]who have jobs at graduation,
[00:04:35.769]those benchmarks after graduation.
[00:04:37.777]People are leaving here with the experience
[00:04:41.330]that they need, having built relationships
[00:04:43.431]with law firms, whether it's locally
[00:04:45.039]or around the Midwest, or wherever it might be.
[00:04:48.702](upbeat instrumental music)
[00:04:50.560]You can see the trajectory of development.
[00:04:52.766]It's almost visible, tangible, palpable,
[00:04:55.897]even just through the first semester.
[00:04:57.595](upbeat instrumental music)
[00:05:04.225]Expect to be very busy from day one.
[00:05:07.035]Be prepared to be intimidated.
[00:05:08.906]Be flexible, be ready to learn something new.
[00:05:13.124]You should also expect to have fun.
[00:05:16.149]I mean there's plenty of opportunities,
[00:05:17.849]you know socially here within the school
[00:05:20.270]and outside of the school,
[00:05:21.453]to really get immersed in the community,
[00:05:23.752]get immersed in the school.
[00:05:25.564]Just be prepared for something different,
[00:05:27.119]be prepared for a sense of community.
[00:05:28.954]When they come in here, I'd expect to be challenged.
[00:05:31.694]It's difficult and you're going to have to think
[00:05:34.508]about problems differently than you have before.
[00:05:36.814]Just embrace it because if you do,
[00:05:38.377]you know you're learning from a long history
[00:05:42.468]of how people have done this
[00:05:44.279]and how people have succeeded in this,
[00:05:45.993]and you know just be willing to kind of accept
[00:05:48.970]the advice that people are going to give you as you come in.
[00:05:52.104]You will have this nervous tension
[00:05:54.992]that will have an anticipation of what your classroom
[00:05:59.591]is going to be like.
[00:06:00.939]What are your other law students going to be like?
[00:06:03.188]What are your professors going to be like?
[00:06:05.210]Nobody's interested on the faculty
[00:06:07.522]in making people feel like they can't make it.
[00:06:11.367]Everybody wants you to succeed.
[00:06:13.548]People want to bring you into this community
[00:06:16.207]and you're going to get out of Nebraska Law
[00:06:18.947]what you put into it, and so if you come out,
[00:06:22.023]you know, two or three years later
[00:06:23.846]and you feel like you didn't take advantage of this place,
[00:06:25.852]it is all going to be on you
[00:06:27.294]because you are going to have lots of other people
[00:06:28.919]giving you opportunities.
[00:06:30.243]It's so character building
[00:06:31.636]and it changes your life in a really good way.

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