Name: Thomas C. Gallagher

Major: Psychology

Law School: University of Minnesota Law School

Description of your job: Criminal Defense Lawyer. FFI:

www.lawyers.com/libertydefender

Do you have any advice for students who are considering going to the same law school you did? I highly recommend the University of Minnesota Law School. It has excellent professors, administration, and law library and other facilities. You will need a high grade-point-average and a high LSAT score in order to get admitted. Communications skills are important. Coursework which helps develop writing skills and public speaking skills would be helpful.

Is there anything in particular that you did during your undergrad that benefited you more than anything else in getting through law school and/or transitioning into the legal profession? Follow your passions as an undergraduate. A wide ranging, as well a deep, education is good preparation for a law career. Every type of undergraduate education is good preparation for law school, just as there are many types of lawyers. I did take a few law-related courses, which gave me an idea of what I was getting into in law school. But, I do not view that as essential.

If you had a chance to go through law school all over again, is there anything you would do differently? Do not listen to advice from law professors about how to do well your first year. Though perhaps well-meaning, they are too far removed from it to recall it, or understand it. Instead, listen to second and third year law students. Get into a study group and share outlines. Look at each professors old exams in the law library before taking their exams.

Is being a lawyer what you expected it would be? Why or why not? Yes, it is. I worked as a paralegal before becoming a lawyer. The work was much the same.

What is it like transitioning from being a law student to being a lawyer? For me, it was easy because I was a paralegal before law school, and a summer law clerk during law school.

Is there anything students should know about the legal profession before they decide to commit their life to it? This is not the best profession if your goal is to get rich. If you want to make money, go into a business, or other career. It is more of a calling, and more about using your unique skills to help people.

What does a typical day look like for you as a lawyer? Each day is different, depending upon my schedule. It may include work at a courthouse, or work in the office. It may include legal research, office administration, client conferences, or hearings before a judge, trials before a jury. Sometimes it includes preparing or presenting Continuing Legal Education ("CLE") courses, or writing or editing legal articles for publication.

Do you have any final advice? Life is short. Know yourself, and your skills. Do what you can to improve yourself as a person, and to relieve suffering in others. If law is the best path for you to do that, take that path. For me, criminal defense work -- defending the liberty and human rights of my clients, and by proxy, of every individual -- is the best path for those purposes.