Andy Gaona
Class of 2010
 


When I started law school at ASU, I knew that a clinical experience was in my future.  The idea of getting real legal experience while still in school seemed like an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.  Summer jobs and externships provide great opportunities for students to develop, but all-too-often, those opportunities involve simply doing what you are told.  The Civil Justice Clinic has allowed me to start thinking like a lawyer; that is, to use the training that law school and experience have given me to come up with creative ways to help our clients achieve their goals.  From Day 1 in the Civil Justice Clinic, you realize that it is a whole new ball game from your typical law school class, as you are able to interact directly with clients who genuinely value and trust your opinion.  The diversity of cases that the CJC handles allowed me to improve my written and oral advocacy skills, increase my comfort level in counseling clients, and above all, to help clients who otherwise might have nowhere to turn.  Though I have always known that I want to be a litigator, my time in the CJC cemented that desire.  I highly recommend a clinical experience to all law students, and to those that are willing to work hard in exchange for an invaluable legal experience, I strongly suggest a semester in the Civil Justice Clinic.  Doctrinal law school classes certainly have their advantages and can be interesting, but working on real cases and helping real people is what law school should really be about.