Name: Glenn Bruder

Major: political science

Law shool: University of Minnesota Law School

Description of your job: I am a partner in a small law firm. My practice is exclusively in litigation. Aproximately 25% of my cases involve the defense of persons accussed of crimes. The balance of my cases involve civil litigation.

Do you have any advice for students who are considering going to the same law school you did? I suspect things may have changed quite a bit since I attended law school. My advice, for whatever its worth, is twofold. First, relax. If you worry less about taking tests and recieving good grades and instead think critically about each particular topic you will learn more and your grades will probably improve. Second, try to seek out of core group of classmates who seem to have similar attitudes to yours to act as an informal support group.

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? Political science classes in selected areas such as constitutional law and civil liberties were helpful. Probably a bigger help for me was being a high school debater. Although I never took a drama class in college this may be helpful for anyone wishing to be a litigater.

If you had a chance to go through law school all over again, is there anything you would do differently? No, but I would have taken to foreign service exam after law school.

Is being a lawyer what you expected it would be? Why or why not? I enjoy being an attorney. However, I was not prepared for dealing with emotionally demanding and vulnerable clients. In addition, I did not realize that many people had backgrounds strikingly different than mine and learning to effectively interact with a diverse group of clients also took time.

What is it like transitioning from being a law student to being a lawyer? To be candid being an attorney is much easier and more fulfilling than being a law student (at least for me). However, the level of stress is not markedly reduced.

Is there anything students should know about the legal profession before they decide to commit their life to it? Being an attorney requires a committment to work long hours in comparison to other fields. However, the work can be (but not always) intellectually stimulating and rewarding. It can also be frustrating and discouraging when a client has a bad result.

What does a typical day look like for you as a lawyer? In my practice there is not typical day. A day can involve court appearances, depositions, client meetings and, if I am really lucky, sometimes a golf outing.