As a second-year law student, David Lamb ’24 joined the inaugural class of Minnesota Law’s Gun Violence Prevention Clinic. Of all his Law School experiences, this one stood out the most, he says. Lamb worked alongside other students and clinic director Professor Megan Walsh to research domestic violence-related gun surrender laws. They found that many offenders were slipping through the cracks and were still in possession of guns illegally.
A year later, Lamb testified before the Minnesota Senate’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, advocating for improvements to the laws. Within a few months, the legislature passed a resolution to create a task force to investigate the problem, and the clinic appointed Lamb to serve on it.
Now an attorney at Taft in Minneapolis, Lamb continues his pro bono work on gun violence prevention and hopes to convince the legislature to adopt and fund the task force’s recommendations. Though he works in private practice as a civil litigator, defending companies against antitrust claims and handling contract disputes, Lamb makes plenty of time for advocacy and human rights work — values instilled in him during his time at Minnesota Law.
“To be a lawyer is not just a career,” Lamb says. “It also comes with an obligation to help others. My first years of practice have shown me that there’s not a binary choice between corporate law work and public service. A lot of good can be done by attorneys in private practice.”
Many recent Minnesota Law graduates who are now working at top firms across the United States say that the experiential learning opportunities and collegial, valuesdriven environment at the Law School helped them get where they are today. These graduates came of age during a time of great social and political change, and many have committed to pro bono causes they began at Minnesota Law, including filing habeas corpus petitions for detained immigrants in Minneapolis and beyond.
Jessica Egertson ’24, a tax associate at Baker McKenzie based in Chicago, recently worked on a pro bono immigration case. Having participated in the Rural Immigrant Access Clinic at Minnesota Law, Egertson says she helped her colleagues get up to speed on immigration law.
Before law school, Egertson worked as an accountant for nine years. Making the leap to tax law was a natural fit. However, she is hopeful that the foundation she gained at Minnesota Law, including an externship at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will help open doors in legal aid or government work as she contemplates her future.
“Part of why I made the career switch is I would like to have an opportunity, later in my career, to do work that’s more meaningful to me, closer to the problems that people have as opposed to businesses,” Egertson says.
Minnesota Law offers more than 25 clinics in various areas of the law, and many students credit these experiences as foundational to their education. Isaac Foote ’22, a double Gopher from Minnesota, set his sights on New York City after graduation for a change of scenery. Now an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell, he maintains a broad practice, including bankruptcy and commercial litigation.
During law school, Foote participated in the Consumer Protection Clinic with Professor Prentiss Cox ’90, where he learned practical litigation skills. He says the clinic introduced him to the day-today reality of litigating complex civil matters, a key part of his job now.
“Learning from the clinic how to litigate against difficult-to-pin-down adversaries is something I’ve absolutely used in this job,” says Foote, who has also done extensive pro bono work, including representing a nonprofit organization in a landlord-tenant dispute. “The lessons I learned in the Consumer Protection Clinic continue to impact how I approach solving the practical and strategic challenges that pop up on a daily basis in litigation.”
Maysa Alqaisi ’23 also knew she wanted to work outside Minnesota after graduation, returning home to Dallas, Texas. She is now an associate at Kirkland & Ellis, her first-choice job. Alqaisi says the two years she spent in Minnesota Law’s Ronald M. Mankoff Tax Clinic with Professor Caleb Smith prepared her to hit the ground running with client work.
“As a law student, a lot of the time you work behind the scenes, or you’re not on the scene at all, because you’re not a lawyer yet,” Alqaisi says. “The tax clinic was an exception to that rule. We got to interact directly with clients, and I’m really grateful I was exposed to that in law school before facing the pressures of a real job.”
The clinic work also prepared Alqaisi for the pro bono work she does on expungement cases. It’s a different kind of client work, she says, and the distinction is important in getting the best outcomes for clients. Part of what drew Alqaisi to the firm is its support of pro bono work, which is not capped.
For young lawyers, it’s not just the training in law school that prepares them for the job — it’s also the network. Alqaisi found the inclusive and collegial environment at Minnesota Law crucial to her success, especially since she began law school amid the isolation of the COVID pandemic. As president of the Muslim Law Student Association, Alqaisi started annual iftars at the Law School, where students, faculty, and staff all broke their fasts together.
“Ultimately, it felt like the school itself was rooting for me, and that was something that really positively impacted me,” she says.
As the first in her family to attend college and become a lawyer, Christhy Le ’25 had a similar experience. Le is now an IP litigation associate at White & Case in Palo Alto, Calif. Her career counselor encouraged her to apply for jobs she didn’t think she was a competitive candidate for, including her current position, and helped her connect with a network of Minnesota Law alumni in California who mentored her throughout the application process.
Like many of her peers, Le is doing pro bono immigration work this year. She wants to give back to the diverse communities that made Minnesota feel like home and have helped her succeed.
“There are people who could very much use my help right now,” Le says. “While I work in intellectual property litigation, that doesn’t mean I can’t and shouldn’t engage in other important areas of law. My Minnesota Law experience was a big driver of having a community-oriented and multidisciplinary mindset. I learned from some great role models.”