As Aaron Rodenbo thought back to his early inspirations of being a lawyer he stated that he was originally inspired by reading the Rainmaker by John Grisham as well as watching the . This early inspiration led him to begin a examination of the law throughout his undergraduate experience at Saginaw Valley State University and then to Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.
While he was originally inspired to become a lawyer from what he saw and read prior to law school, what was portrayed in the book was not exactly what Aaron Rodenbo found to be true in practice. "99% of what I do is usually settled before trial", Much of what Aaron Rodenbo does on a regular basis has more to do with "discovery work" as many of the cases end up getting settled through "facilitation or case evaluation" instead of having an actual trial.
In law school he was simply excited to be getting ready for his own law practice and the work that lay ahead so success for him was all geared toward doing the best that he could to facilitate this. Now, after being in practice for five years he sees success as today as being the best lawyer that you can be on a daily basis. Aaron Rodenbo has never wanted to coast as a lawyer, he has never just wanted to be "ok" or "mediocre" in this profession. An example of this is that he represents many clients with traumatic brain injuries and because of this, and to better represent his client, he is working to teach himself everything that he can about neuro-psychology with respect to brain injuries.
He let me know that he chose to attend Western Michigan University Cooley Law School first because of the scholarship money that they offered him. Outside of this he also had a family member that was a practicing lawyer that informed him that WMU-Cooley was the best at preparing you to be a lawyer that could be ready to hit the ground running.
Throughout law school Aaron Rodenbo had to work hard and he felt that he left it all on the table by the end of his legal education. In thinking about this for other students Aaron Rodenbo recommended that you use the study guides that can purchase in law school, but also to prepare to work hard throughout law school. If you do all of these things Aaron Rodenbo stated that he is certain that you will find ultimate success.
Aaron Rodenbo's ah-ha moment came in his second term after he felt that he had become more proficient in his time, his reading and more. The key though was the time that he put in, as you have to do this.
Aaron Rodenbo also commented that it was so important to go job shadow someone that is a lawyer to better understand your own passion for the law. As he said "You do not want to pay the amount of money you pay in law school without really knowing if this is what you want to do." Aaron Rodenbo continued "If you think you want to be a criminal defense, go and find someone that is doing this in your local area and volunteer or job shadow."
If you are wondering about how to ask about this, Aarno Rodenbo says that you simply need to ask someone. He recommends also that you reach out to the law school that you are interested in attending to see if you can reach out to their alumni. Aaron Rodenbo did this and accessed the database of the 20,000+ alumni at WMU Cooley Law School as he was going through law school and you can do this too whether it is before you attend or once you are a current student.
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Are you a practicing lawyer? A law student? Would you like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of the Law School Insider? Send me an email at lawschoolinsider@cooley.edu