Alec Young - Honors and Special Programs

Undergraduate: Jacksonville State University, 2017, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Minor in English
Law School: William & Mary Law School, 2021, J.D.
Dual Program: College of William & Mary, Raymond A. Mason School of Business, 2021, MBA
Current employer: Vernis & Bowling, Atlanta, Georgia. My current position is as a corporate defense attorney. I have one corporate client that I'm generally responsible for, and I handle pretty much anything they need done all over Georgia. The overall focus is on premises liability cases along with car accident litigation for insurance companies.
Courses that Prepared Me for Law School: Thinking back on my time in undergrad the courses that prepared me most for law school were the upper-level English courses such as honors literature I and honors literature II along with upper-level political science courses such as American Foreign Policy and American Political Thought. The reason, I say these courses over others is law school requires a tremendous amount of reading and an almost equal amount of writing. In many ways courses in law school forces, you to think about topics in interesting and creative ways. I found that the courses that served me best in law school were the ones that prepared me most for the sheer volume of material you will cover and helped me most adapt to the types of thinking expected of a law student and ultimately a lawyer. While other courses, such as constitutional law, criminal law, or legal reasoning and theory are all courses undoubtably helpful and not to be discounted, you will go far more in depth into these topics in law school than you would ever be expected to do in a traditional undergraduate course.
Other Things that Helped Prepare Me for Law School: In preparing for law school, the classes you take are just one part of making yourself look like the ideal applicant for law school admission. I was fortunate in my undergraduate studies to have the opportunity to take part in extracurriculars that would serve me well later in law school. Organizations such Model United Nations and Model Arab League gave me the opportunity to play the role of a nation’s delegate in the real-world counterpart and address the very same issues those nations face in the world.
These opportunities not only added to my law school application they gave me the opportunity to developing critical thinking skills and solve a diverse set of issues while simultaneously exposing me to a wide variety of viewpoints. This became quite helpful during my time in law school as most law schools have various forms of advocacy programs from moot court teams, trial teams, transactional law teams, or alternative dispute resolution teams where you take the role of an advocate representing a client and their unique issues.
Advice for Those Preparing for Law School: Much like life, preparing for law school is a bit of a balancing act. Arguably the two most important parts of your law school application are going to be your undergraduate grade point average (GPA) and your law school admission test score (LSAT) or the graduate records examination (GRE) if you are looking into a school that doesn’t require an LSAT score. While extra circulars, internships, and jobs in related fields are all great additions to any law school application, many schools will find it hard to accept an applicant too far below their median requirements GPA and test score requirements. Always be sure to investigate the school where you want to apply to find out their admission standards so you can see where you need to be in terms of your GPA, test scores, and any extracurricular additions you want on your law school application.
Anything Else You Wish to Add: If you find yourself wanting to go to law school and have ignored the advice of every lawyer or law student you have asked about law school who if they are being honest likely told you that it’s a horrible experience, the best piece of advice that can be given is to be sure about your decision. Law school can be an immensely challenging and equally rewarding experience, but it is not for everyone. As with any professional degree, the journey to a juris doctor can feel long and arduous, but at the end of that journey will be the start of well-earned career.