WSU Alumni Network
Western State University College of Law has an outstanding alumni network that benefits our students in many ways. They mentor, hire, and support WSU students throughout law school and after graduation. The WSU law school alumni network provides graduates a lifelong forum for career development, sharing of professional expertise, and opportunities for continuing legal education.
Currently I’m working at the Orange County public defenders office, and even there I run into Western State alum all the time. So even though we are a small school, we reach beyond Orange County and people know our name and our students do a great job when they intern or extern, they not only leave an impression upon their employers, but those employers come back and they want more Western State students to come extern or intern.
It’s pretty incredible! There are lots of judges, I think pretty much more than half of all our judges in the county are Western State grads. Which says an awful lot. So many of our alums have also gone into many different areas. A lot of them continue to work in the courts whether they are public defenders, their chiefs of police, they are doing mediation, you know, and just very high profiled attorneys. It’s just incredible what students, at the time when they work, can do with their law degree and they’ve taken the ball and have really run with it and made this place such a wonderful place to call home.
After they graduate they still have a home and they are now considered alumni so they join the elite group of over 10,000 and as that part of the group we still offering the continuing legal education courses that all attorneys have to take anyways required by state bar. We also offer the mentoring where they can participate in the mentoring and we also offer the career guidance as well. So just because they’ve graduated doesn’t necessarily mean that our relationship has ceased it continues to grow because alumni are an important part just as much as the students are for us.
I was part of the alumni association for awhile and to and I run into alumni all over the county I even run into alumni in San Diego, Riverside, L.A the surrounding counties because we probably outnumber the alumni from any other law school uh so it’s kind of neat to be a part of a large group of people that have a similar experience and I think it probably helps the students in terms of, uh the people that have gone to the school know the kind of quality education that we get here and that translates into people who are willing to hire or give law clerkships to people that went to the school.
We have a very large and wonderful alumni base. Our school is the oldest in Orange County, in our area. We have over ten thousand graduates who are out there practicing in private and public sector. So those are folks that are available, and very involved in the life of the school, to help mentor the next generation of law students, and young graduates. Those are opportunities for internships, externships, and jobs after graduation; that are invaluable for graduates.
I don’t know any certain number, but, you know, a large part of the judiciary – I think a third of the judiciary – is from Western State. A lot of the attorneys that practice here in this area are from Western State. The organizations that I’m a member of and the events that I go to, lawyer events here in this area, it’s not uncommon to meet a large number of people who attend that event who are from Western State.
Yes, It’s a good feeling. ‘Cause I remember when I was a law clerk or doing the internships, you know, we’d shadow a lawyer and follow them to court, and I always thought it would be cool when one day I’d reach the level where I’m going to court and I’m seeing a lot of people that I know, and it’s getting to that point now, you know. I go in there and see people I know, people I go to school with. Just the other day at one of the seminars that we had for Orange County Trial Lawyers Association, saw a number of people went to law school with. So, it’s a good feeling.
We do have a large alumni base, and more importantly I think for us is that many of them are successful, so applicants and students which come here know that if you get a degree from here, you can become a judge, you can become an elected official, you can become a successful attorney because we have several alums that excel in those areas. In addition it’s important because we do have several externship opportunities for students to take in their third year here, where they can work with a lawyer and get a sense of what it is going to be like to practice. Also to get some practical experience which will help them when they look for a job.