In the Beginning: Interviewing a Corporate Lobbyist

There is no single path that will prepare me for a legal education. Students who are successful in law school, and who become accomplished professionals, come from many walks of life and educational backgrounds. Some law students enter law school directly following their undergraduate graduation without having had any post-baccalaureate work experience. Others begin their legal education significantly later in life, and they bring to their law school education the insights and perspectives gained from those life experiences. Legal education welcomes and values diversity and praises the pursuit of knowledge. Accordingly, I will benefit from the exchange of ideas and different points of view acquired from my interview with a lobbyist just as I have benefited from both, the exchange of ideas and different view points of my peers at Clemson.

There are important skills and values, and significant bodies of knowledge that I want to acquire prior to law school that will provide me with a sound foundation for a legal education and later a career in corporate lobbying. These include analytical and problem-solving skills, critical reading abilities, writing skills, and oral communication and listening abilities. If I am to prepare adequately for a legal education, and for a career in lobbying I have to seek educational, extracurricular and life experiences that will assist me in developing the abovementioned attributes. These are all things that I hope to discuss and take away from my interview.

Needless to say, it’s not so easy finding a corporate lobbyist at a DC firm that, even if willing, has the time to sit down for an interview. However, I have e-mailed a former Clemson University pre-law studies professor that is now working as a lobbyist in the DC area and I am eagerly awaiting her response. As for how I will incorporate my interest in corporate lobbying into the documents required for this course, I am not positive. I do know, however, that I hope to create something worth more than just a grade in a course. I want a taste of corporate lobbying no matter how minuscule that taste may be.