On March 19, Temple’s Pre-Law Society hosted a special Young Lawyers Panel in Gladfelter Hall. Students heard from three returning College of Liberal Arts alumni who have gone on to successful careers as lawyers on subjects like LSAT prep, networking, mentorship and getting your foot in the door. 

Among the panelists were Wilfred T. Beaye, CLA ‘14, counsel at Dechert LLP in Philadelphia; Jemie Fofanah, CLA ‘17, associate counsel for commerce platform LTK; and Maya C. Jackson, CLA ‘17, associate at Morgan Lewis LLP in Washington, D.C. All three are former students of Temple Professor of Philosophy Paul Crowe.

"It was great to catch up with my former students and see how they have grown and matured as people and professionals,” said Crowe. “I was impressed that they were willing to take time out of their high-flying careers at elite law firms to talk to Temple undergrads, especially Maya and Jemie, who came up from D.C.”

Speaking to a room largely made up of hopeful law school attendees preparing for the LSAT, the three recounted their own approaches to the exam. 

“There’s no substitute for brute force–I probably took every LSAT practice exam available,” recalled Beaye. “I found that the people who were most successful on the LSAT and in law school were the ones who treated it like a job, who carved out certain hours to study and consistently showed up.” 

Still, Fofanah warned, “Don’t make your LSAT score your entire identity.” 

Recognizing the pressure and stress brought on by LSAT exams and law school applications, the panelists emphasized that setbacks and obstacles are inevitable, but they do not signify the end of the road.

“I graduated low in my class,” noted Beaye. “I had all the FOMO–everyone going off to college, doing their own thing–and it’s hard not to think about what could be or what could have been. I had to run my own race.”

After high school, Beaye spent two years at Bucks County Community College. Following his graduation from Temple in 2014, he was accepted to Harvard Law School, where he received his law degree in 2017. (Temple Now covered Beaye’s acceptance to Harvard in 2014)

“When I was in your shoes, a year away from graduation, I had a failed class on my transcript, a cancelled LSAT score, and no job,” said Fofanah, who walked out of her first attempt at the LSAT. “I once had a law school exam that made a professor call me afterwards to ask if I was okay. These hiccups happen; you become who you are by getting through them.”

The three lawyers' careers illustrate just how different careers in law can look. While Beale primarily acts as a trial lawyer, Jackson works in transactional law, dealing with the legalities of complex financial arrangements and deals. 

"Litigation is not the only way to be a lawyer," said Fofaneh, whose work in privacy law has put her at the center of major product releases in the tech world. "I've tested things that are probably on all of your phones right now. 

After all the hardship that went into making their success possible, moderator and Pre-Law Society President Heera Chhetri asked the panel what they found rewarding about their careers. 

For Beaye, satisfaction comes in the form of helping others. “Growing up, I didn’t know any lawyers. I’d never met a lawyer. I thought they had a superpower that lets you solve a problem for someone else by articulating it a certain way,” he said, “I knew I wanted to make a difference, and the law lets me do that.” 

Jackson spoke about the fulfillment she feels from doing pro-bono work, but ultimately concluded, “For me, what’s rewarding is realizing the growth I’ve had as an attorney.”  

All three panelists were eager to impart what wisdom they could with the students in attendance, taking questions and continuing conversations beyond the event’s scheduled end time.

“They really seemed to enjoy the opportunity to revisit their formative years with our current pre-laws and were very generous in offering to stay in touch with them. I very much hope we can have them back in the future,” said Crowe after the event. “They are really outstanding examples of what Temple pre-laws can achieve."