Law School Insider - Conversations with students, lawyers and employers

Think Outside The Box And Create Your Own Path

Written by Christopher A. Lewis | Nov 10, 2016 4:00:00 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week in the Law School Insider we are bringing you Bryant Dunivan, attorney with the Law Offices of Michael J. Owen, PLLC. Bryant Dunivan focusses his career on real estate law, and today we talk about this niche area as well as his own journey through law school and beyond.

For Bryant Dunivan, going into the law was not something that he thought of doing at first as his first passion was music and he chose to study philosophy. He found that in studying philosophy that people usually either taught or they went to law school and he decided to do the latter.

Philosophy was a powerful major to have in his opinion as it allowed him to create critical contructs with the content that he was creating. The downside to a philosophy major is that it tems to be airy and loose in interpretations and the law is not like this. The law is much more black and white and there is not as much room for flexibility as there was with Philosophy.

Because of this difference he had to relearn a lot to be able to find success in his early years in law school. He had to work to gain a better understanding of what was expected and be more targeted in his writing. 

As he transitioned into his career he learned that criminal work, where he first thought he would work maynot be where he wanted to end up, and he found that he wanted to do something that was a bit more civil-minded. He found that being in the area of real estate law was an area that he excelled at and truly loved. He stated that if you were interested in this area that you should make sure to take courses that will prepare you well for this, including sales and other transactional classes. Also, you want to do whatever you can to get practical experiences too. 

Bryant Dunivan stated that in law school make sure to network as much as you can. He stated that if you have the chance to join a Toastmasters group, do it!

Did you like this interview? Do you have a question for Bryant Dunivan 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 or do you have a topic you would like to hear about? Send me an email at lawschoolinsider@cooley.edu