This week on the Law School Insider Podcast we have the second interview with past professional bull rider turned successful lawyer, Shane Hilyard.
In the first interview with Shane Hilyard, we talked about his journey into getting accepted to law school. In today’s interview we talk to Shane Hilyard about his experiences in law school and some of the large challenges he had to overcome while in law school to find the success that he finally found in the career that he has now found in his own career.
Shane Hilyard had heard from people attending other law schools some of the horror stories that came with their experiences. These students mentioned that there were students at their law schools that would do such things as cut pages out of law books to try and hold people back from being successful. This cut-throat nature was something that Shane Hilyard did not know whether he would see or not as he started his own law school experience at WMU-Cooley Law School.
However, when he started at WMU-Cooley Law School he found that this cut-throat competition was not true at his law school. In contrast, he found that students were actually very approachable and there for a purpose. The people were always willing to help and to offer a helping hand with whatever was needed whenever it was needed.
Shane Hilyard said that he expected that law school would be be tough, but he did not expect it to be fun too. Shane also did not expect to have the support from faculty, staff and administration that he found at WMU-Cooley. This support made it that much easier to make the transition to Michigan from out of state and transition into being a law student.
During law school Shane Hilyard and his family would need this support. In his second year of law school his wife was diagnosed with Cancer. Once this diagnosis happened one of Shane’s professors noticed a change and him and questioned him about it. The faculty member listened and offered any assistance needed to help Shane and his family. While Shane Hilyard could have transferred, he decided to stay. While his wife was going through Cancer treatment Shane was completely floored by the support that he and his family received from fellow classmates as they offered meals, child care and more.
Throughout law school Shane Hilyard found that you have to build a strong network of people that you can trust in law school. It is this network that you will ultimately turn to for guidance and mentorship as you work your way through the law school process.
Did you like this interview? Do you have a question for Shane Hilyard? Leave a comment below to let me know!
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