Lawyers tend to get a bad rap, but the Pre-Law Society on campus plans to show a different side of law.
The club gathers students who are interested in a career in law to meet with various politicians and law professionals and also helps with resume building and planning for the LSAT and law school.
Accounting senior Grezia Ordonez, the society’s president, likes to say that the club was created by students for students.
Ordonez was once in ASU's chapter of Phi Alpha Delta, an international law fraternity on campus, but branched out to start a new organization that she felt could address more students.
“It came more from a place of wanting to make sure that students, whether they’re freshmen, sophomores, juniors, whatever year they’re in, have enough resources, enough information to make a knowledgeable decision as to whether they wanted to pursue law,” Ordonez said.
Political science and U.S. history junior Joey Cassavechia, the society’s vice president, helped form this new organization because the fraternity was using their resources at the international level. He said some members weren’t benefiting.
“We went ahead and decided to change it and make it the Pre-Law Society at ASU, so that all of our member’s dues went straight to things that benefited them, like having guest speakers and different events specifically tailored for them,” Cassavechia said.
They both hope to make the club more accessible to students of all ages, including freshmen and sophomores.
“I never had a club like this when I was a freshman (or) a sophomore (that I could join to help me) seriously experience every level of (law), from taking classes that will help you in law school to talking to lawyers and politicians,” Cassavechia said.
Ordonez said the cost of membership was something that came into play because some organizations charge their members high dues and she didn’t want that for this society.
“It can be really costly to join a certain type of (organization)," she said. "It can get like $100 plus and as college students I didn’t feel that that was necessary. We wanted to keep our overhead low, so we branched out and did our own thing so that we could keep our costs low and have more control.”
This semester, Cassavechia said he hopes to bring in more politicians to talk to the students because last semester, the only politician they had visit was the assistant attorney general from Arizona.
“It gives students another option for their career path,” he said. “It’s nice because a lot of them, they want to go to law school; a lot of politicians start out in law school.”
Justice studies junior Berenice Sanchez, also the society’s marketing and public relations officer, said there are lot of careers in law other than being a lawyer that someone can pursue and still be successful.
Sanchez said she hopes to help people figure out their path through her involvement in the society.
“Marketing is a great way to get the word out," Sanchez said. "We want to make sure that people are coming to our event, not just because they want to put it on their resume but because they really want to see the idea of going to (law) school."
Ordonez said she’s striving for the club to showcase different types of law and lawyers this semester.
“We’re really striving to get a 360 view of law, we have a California Law School panel coming out in two weeks,” she said. “Also, we’re having some lawyers from around the valley that have criminal and corporate backgrounds, so the students can be able to talk to them and ask them questions.”
Reach the reporter at avcabral@asu.edu or follow @angeligagaa on Twitter.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
