I think community lawyering will go a long way toward changing that perception. Jennie Holman Blake from Salt Lake City, also in her third year of law school, says the class has been a wonderful learning experience. Students should be required to take more classes that teach volunteering, she says. Lawyers could be society's healers if they were trained properly. Another will say she wants to prevent people from injustice and cruelty.
Most students enroll because they want to make some kind of difference in society.
But even the noblest intentions can fade once students are faced with the scholastic rigors of law school and intense competition for top spots, says Dominguez. Sadly, many students lose sight of the very reasons they applied to law school in the first place. This is why on the first days of class the professor asks students to review their admission essays. Most, he says, are surprised to see just how far off they've moved from their original intentions. But the real change comes when they dig in and start helping the community.