Learning from Shea Westermann how his summer clerkship is impacting his second year of law school

We learned from former legal assistant, Shea Westermann, the impact his summer clerkship is having on his second year of law school and his future career, so thought we’d share.

Did a summer clerkship provide some clarity to your classwork?

Yes, clerking this last summer at Blethen Berens was incredibly insightful! It was an amazing opportunity to finally get into a situation where I could apply what I have learned so far to helping real people. Conducting research and drafting memorandum and court pleadings expanded upon what I learned in my Legal Writing and Legal Research classes. Similarly, working on drafting leases and estate planning documents touched on the concepts we were taught in our Property and Wills & Trusts courses. Hypotheticals that we work through in textbooks and in class can only take you so far, and I think my opportunity to learn from talented attorneys has been beneficial to my legal education as a whole.

Did clerking impact your excitement for practicing law?

Absolutely! What seems like never-ending days in the classroom and library certainly contribute to some burnout over the course of the school year, but being able to shake things up during the summer was a reinvigorating experience. Every day brought exciting opportunities to learn something new and challenges to test my knowledge. The team at Blethen Berens also made every day an enjoyable experience, whether they were helping me navigate through some complex legal situation or cracking jokes at the coffee machine. I was excited to come to work every day, and the experience has made me even more excited to practice law!

How does the start of your second year compare to your first year of law school?

It certainly feels less hectic and there are much less unknowns. Where last year at this point, I felt like I was still testing the waters and learning how this whole law school thing works, I now feel like I am now comfortable navigating the waters. While the content is still new and can be quite difficult, having a full year under my belt helps when determining how to prioritize my assignments and reading schedule. I have learned how I can best craft my schedule and what study processes I prefer to use during the semester to prepare myself for finals, which has led to much less stress that was pretty prevalent during my first year.

After clerking for one summer, is there anything you thought you could have done differently in your first year of law school?

I think one thing that I could have done differently during my first year is think about how the issues I was learning about directly applied to real world practice. Since I already had a background in the legal field before starting law school, I think I would have benefited from looking ahead to how class topics will play out in practice. I feel that I better grasp concepts when I can think about real world situations instead of random class hypotheticals, and since I have an experience with real world situations already, I think I would have benefited from thinking about them more often than I did. This year, I have been thinking much more about how these concepts will work in practice and doing so has helped me deepen my understanding of them.

What do you look forward to in your second year of law school?

I look forward to deepening my understanding of the law and applying what I learned during my summer clerkship to my courseload. During our first year of school, our curriculum is largely chosen for us, in order to cover the primary areas of law, so I am also excited to start choosing my own classes and dig deeper into the areas of law that I find most interesting and would like to practice once I graduate. I have also enjoyed new experiences, such as being an Editorial Staff member of the Drake Journal of Agricultural Law, and hope to gain additional experiences this spring by working with clients at the Drake Legal Clinic.

Thank you, Shea, for sharing your thoughts and insight with us. We wish you the best in your second year of law school!