Cassidy Crockett-Verba (B.A., 2017)
J.D. Candidate at the University of Richmond Law School in the class of 2021
Is there a "general education" program for all law students at the University of Richmond?
The first year is all "general education," or a series of survey classes, which are the same at most law schools. Here you take Torts, Civil Procedure, Contracts, Legal Writing and Legal Research in your first semester. Then, you take Property, Criminal Law, Legislation and Regulation, Constitutional Law, Legal Writing, and Legal Research in your second semester. After that, you pick an area to specialize in. There isn't so much a "general education" in the way we think of it in college. We learn a broad overview of these areas, but there's things that don't get touched on during your first year (such as family, intellectual property, tax, or corporate law).
At what point do you begin to specialize? What are your particular interests?
You can start to specialize in your second year. Since all of your first year classes are assigned, you can't pick your interest until your second year. My interest is in intellectual property law, specifically video games and copyright laws.
Do most of the students pursue internships with legal firms in the summer?
I would say it is about half and half between legal firms and public interest jobs. The University gives us a stipend if we take a public interest job over the summer so it is up to each student to decide where their interests lie. Most large firms have a GPA requirement and will only take students from the top of the class. Medium and small-size firms tend to look for second year students as most first year students don't have enough experience to be useful to them.
Has the study of history been useful to your development as a law student?
Well, I actually read law codes in class for both history and art history. Dr. Bebber actually had us reading laws from King Henry VIII and the Magna Carta which has definitely given me a boost in studying the common law as it is based on this. Dr. Bebber and Dr. Zanoni were the very helpful and influential people in my life and education. Dr. Bebber's Britain class taught me to think about the law and the way it affects the people as well as how to look critically at how the law mirrors the community and values. His reading response assignments gave me the experience I needed to look at things critically and not just read them because I was told to do so. Dr. Zanoni's class on Food History (our senior capstone class) was essential in honing my research skills. She encouraged me to tackle tasks that I wasn't so sure I could handle and law school is one big task that nobody is sure they can handle. Her assignments forced me to look at primary sources and link them to my topic as well as to each other. Linking cases to a topic and to other cases is what lawyers do every day. Not that other professors weren't amazing and super helpful (Dr. Muraoka in the Art History department especially) but these two really shaped my study of the law. They were also both super excited for me when I told them I got into the University of Richmond. They truly care about their students and it shows in everything they do.
How do you like Richmond? Do most of the law students live on campus, or throughout the city?
I really love Richmond! There's always something going on and it has something for everyone. Most of the law students live throughout the city. There is a law dormitory but we mostly live throughout Richmond. A lot of people live in either the West End neighborhood about 5 minutes away or in the Malvern Gardens area about 15 minutes away. I live in the Museum District about 10 minutes away and within walking distance of about eight breweries, Carytown, and the Fan neighborhood as well.
Do you have any advice for students considering Law School?
You need to be sure that you want to be a lawyer. Don't go to law school because you will make a lot of money (you probably won't) or because you can use your J.D. for something else (you probably won't). Law school is hard and demanding but it is worth it if your end goal is to be a lawyer because that's what you want to do.