Profile - Megan Williams '09

Undergraduate School: Whitman College  Hometown: Redmond, Washington

Describe your reasons for attending law school, with a particular focus on what drew you to Washington and Lee.

I talked about going to law school ever since I was a child.  In high school and college, I learned that the law was intertwined with everything I was interested in—from politics to environmental conservation.  I knew I had to go to law school when I realized that a legal education would give me the resources to use or change the law in any of these fields and would provide me with interesting employment opportunities.

I was drawn to Washington and Lee because I greatly enjoyed my liberal arts education at Whitman College.  Washington and Lee offered the small class size, student-professor interaction and collegiality that I enjoyed as an undergraduate.

What's your favorite thing about Lexington?

The quality of life here is unbeatable.  It's a beautiful, tight-knit community, and I will be sad to leave it.  I will miss Hull's Drive-In especially.  Hull's Drive-In is one of the only community-run drive-in theaters in the country, and some of my happiest memories of law school are of picnics with friends at Hull's.

Are you currently involved with any of the clinics, externship programs or new third year classes?

I currently am participating in the Judicial Clerkship Program and Professor Todd Pepper's Civil Litigation Practicum.

The Judicial Clerkship Program has prepared me for my post-graduate judicial clerkship by providing me with an opportunity to learn now what I would otherwise have to learn on the job.  I have had the opportunity to see how a courthouse operates, witness courtroom proceedings and prepare the type of memoranda that I will draft next year.  I have also benefited greatly from the mentorship of Judge Apgar, the Roanoke Circuit Court judge to whom I was assigned. 

Professor Pepper's Civil Litigation Practicum is a significant departure from the typical law school class.  We work in groups ("law firms") as we simulate a lawsuit, affording me the opportunity to see how my peers interpret the applicable substantive law, learn from their approaches to problem-solving and appreciate their different writing styles.  Working as a group also has been valuable preparation for firm life, where attorneys often collaborate on the representation of a client.