Steve Novak TW

Planning for the Future

Steve Novak’s Enduring Commitment to KU Law

Steve Novak doesn’t spend his time considering his legacy, but he does think everyone should plan ahead.

“I don’t want to be too cliché, but the old saying is true,” he explains with a laugh. “If you don’t create an estate plan, the state where you live will be happy to provide one for you. Chances are your family won’t be thrilled with what they have in mind.”

Novak recently updated his own estate plan to feature a planned gift to the KU law school. The decision to support the school with an unrestricted gift was easy.

“There is no way I could repay what I owe to the KU Law school,” Novak said. “I’m a huge fan of what the school did for me. The return on my relatively small investment has been unmeasurable. I am indebted to the school and this plan is an effort to, hopefully, help future students benefit from the school as much as I have.”

Novak, a Lawrence native and 2001 KU law school grad, is a partner and wealth advisor with the Dallas office of Corient, one of the largest integrated fee-only Registered Investment Advisors in the country. He spends a good bit of his time advising clients as they establish their estate plans. Novak had been a practicing attorney for nearly 20 years before turning his attention to financial services.

“I use my law degree every day,” he said. “Estate planning law, financial planning and investment planning have a lot of complications and overlap, so my experience as a lawyer has helped me navigate the financial world well.”

Novak is so passionate about the work of estate planning that he teaches a class at KU on estate planning. He travels from Dallas weekly in the fall to teach the class, which is offered jointly by the law school and the School of Business.

“The class is a lot of fun,” Novak said. “I get to be back on campus, in my hometown no less, and interacting with the students is inspiring. To be honest, it feels like I’m working to help the school even more, which is extremely gratifying.”

If you’re considering making a planned gift to the school of law, or have any questions about the process, please contact Kristin Shore at KU Endowment (785-832-7341).

-By Derek Helms, KU Endowment

The top 5 best (and free) ways to escape Green Hall

Gabby Fischer, 1L

Most law students spend nearly 40 hours a week inside Green Hall, and you can only sit in your study carrel for so long before becoming restless. So, I have done the hard work of exploring Lawrence and finding the best ways to get the heck out of Green Hall without hurting your pocket. 

1. Lawrence Public Library

    Nestled downtown, the Lawrence Public Library is a great place to relax with a good book or hang out with some friends while doing some light studying. The kids’ area is also great if you have little ones in your life who need to let out some energy.

    Make sure to get a free library card and enjoy the tons of free events for all ages. My favorite events are their book and music sales, where everything is usually $2 or less. 

    2. Spencer Museum of Art

    At the Spencer Museum of Art, you’ll never know what new exhibits or pieces will be on display. Since the museum is on campus, it is only a short bus ride or walk from Green Hall, so it is the perfect place to relax between classes.

    Admission is free to everyone, and they have free postcards with artwork from the museum printed on them. They also have an event called Open Friday where they will pull artwork upon request, so you can look at it up close and personal.

    3. Baker University Wetlands

    Even though it’s a little farther away from campus, the Baker Wetlands are great for those who love to experience the outdoors and all Kansas has to offer. It’s full of interesting animals and vegetation. I love to walk my dog through the wetlands when the plants start to bloom in early spring.  

    During September, they host a monarch butterfly migration and tagging event where people can attend for free to watch butterflies travel through the wetlands. It is really magical! 

    4. Clinton Lake

    Much like the wetlands, Clinton Lake is for those who love the outdoors but enjoy a little more solitude. It is a great place to camp for the weekend in the summer or go fishing if you are so inclined. 

    I love to take my car and open the hatchback to have a little picnic with friends while we watch the water roll in. 

    5. Mass Street Shopping

    Last, but certainly not least, is to just go window shopping on Mass Street. For those unfamiliar, Mass St. is the epicenter of Lawrence and has an amazing day and nightlife. There are a bunch of local places to eat and shop, so you can always find something you haven’t seen or tried yet. 

    You have to stop by Wonderfair as they have the coolest stickers to decorate your laptop with so it really sparkles when you inevitably have to head back to Green Hall!

    – Gabby Fischer is a 1L KU Law Student Ambassador from Salina, Kansas

    Life and Law: Unsolicited Advice from a Not-Quite-Burned-Out 3L

    Karen Campbell, 3L

    Do all your readings (yes, all of them!) even if you don’t understand them or only have time for a quick skim.

    This is the #1 tip I give to all incoming 1Ls, and it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. Making sure that you do all your readings — even if just as a half-effort skim — ensures that you’re as prepared for class as you can be. It means that even on the most boring day of class, you’ll be able to pick out details from your reading and make connections with the material. It also ensures that you’ll get an A for effort if you’re cold-called.

    Book brief — don’t take notes on paper.

    Taking notes in a notebook as you read for class is a waste of time. Book brief instead! Book briefing entails underlining, highlighting, circling, and writing important terms and guideposts in the margin of your textbook. It saves time and effort, and if you’re trying to do all your readings for class (see tip #1 above), that time and effort is precious. Book briefing also allows you to point out the important points in each case and reading so that you can remember them during cold calls and during outlining. It’s a win-win-win!

    Do things that make you uncomfortable.

    Sign up for Moot Court, write on for Law Review, argue in traffic court, sign up for VITA — do anything you can to experience new and scary things in law school. Each provides a new and unique opportunity to explore a new area of law. By experimenting with new experiences, you’ll learn the most important lesson of all: what you like.

    Take on a leadership role in at least one organization.

    KU law has all kinds of interest groups, clubs, and co-curricular organizations. Volunteer as a leader in at least one. Leadership roles allow you to practice different kinds of soft skills that employers love. They also allow you to engage with your law school community while taking a break from your studies.

    Apply for supplemental scholarships and on-campus opportunities that provide stipends.

    It’s no secret that law school is expensive. But KU and the surrounding community have lots of ways to get some extra cash. Opportunities like Law Review, Journal, Moot Court, Ambassadors, Dean’s Fellows and Research Assistants all include scholarships, stipends, or paychecks to help you afford your legal education. And KU’s Admissions Office will do a great job of connecting you to outside scholarships if you let them; Kansas Bar Association (KBA) scholarships and Federal Bar Association (FBA) scholarships are two great options, but other more local scholarships come about pretty often, too.

    Lean into the busy.

    The reality of law school is that everyone is busy. Everyone’s planner is booked. And no one likes a whiner. If you can find it in yourself to lean into your busy-ness, you’ll be all the better for it. Law school is only three years long — you can do it!

    Attend law school events.

    With the Diversity in Law Banquet, Women in Law Pub Night, and Law Prom all occurring in March, I have banquets on the brain. Each of these events is a great opportunity to engage with your classmates and professors, and you should attend all of them. Remember that the connections you make in law school are the referrals you get in practice — and, more importantly, the friendships you make here will last a lifetime.

    Spend time outside of class with your classmates.

    Every class has a few instigators — people who organize social events, invite everyone out for those events, and forge connections between classmates. Either become one of those people yourself or find those people and get close to them. Those are the people you’ll get close to in law school, and they’ll be the ones you lean on in the future.

    – Karen Campbell is a 3L KU Law Student Ambassador from Lawrence, Kansas

    What I like and love about being a 1L at KU Law

    Brandon Rossman, 1L

    First and foremost, I love learning about how the law touches people’s lives. Every case you read revolves around a person’s legal problem. Through these problems, you get to travel in space and time and see what matters to them. You get to see the problems they faced and the rights they fought to enforce. It is a window to another world that, because of the pervasiveness of the law, we get to learn about. The law is a collection of stories made by people resolving their problems. I really enjoy learning about others through my study of law.

    The law is vast. In the first year of law school, all KU Law 1Ls will take the same foundational courses such as property, criminal law and torts. Before taking this class, I had no idea what a tort was, and now I do. I love that! It has been a wonderful experience to see and think about things I never would have before. I would compare it to the deepest depths of the ocean. We all know it exists, but to someone not involved with the law, or ocean for that matter, it is a complete mystery. It feels as if my world is growing as I learn more about our legal system.

    Law school is hard. Doable but challenging. I like that. If climbing mountains or being vegan were easy, I suspect people wouldn’t really talk about those things all that much. I like being challenged. I enjoy the massive amounts of reading, complex application of common law and memorizing a lot of rules. I firmly believe that in the absence of growth, we waste away. Law school forces me to use my brain. To learn and apply. I am growing as a person as I work towards my law degree.

    Lastly, it’s all about location! Lawrence is fantastic. It’s a thriving college town with a wonderful downtown. Mass Street is a ton of fun, with enough restaurants and bars to last about eight months. That is about how long it took my wife and I to try them all. There are a lot of great food options and zero traffic. You can get to anywhere in town in 15 minutes. Not to mention, it’s a crisp 45-minute drive from the bustling metropolis of Kansas City. To put it simply, life is good!

    — Brandon Rossman is a 1L KU Law Student Ambassador from Yorba Linda, California

    Redefining student involvement as a law student

    Bella Price
    Bella Price, 1L

    As an undergrad, I loved being involved. Coming from a small undergraduate institution, I had the opportunity to be involved in nearly every aspect of campus life including student organizations, leadership roles, community outreach and academic clubs. I found a lot of fulfillment in working with student organizations, planning events for students who developed professional and academic skills, and getting to know and giving back to my community through service.

    These things made up a large portion of my identity as a student and even played a role in why I wanted to go to law school. I was used to a fast-paced and highly involved lifestyle. My days were packed with meetings, volunteering and events, while managing to balance it all with my coursework. I thrived in that environment, where I felt deeply connected to my school and community.

    Stepping into law school at a much larger university was not only a culture shock but also a sharp academic contrast to what I have been used to. The reading assignments are rigorous, concepts and content are dense and take much more time to grasp and understand, and suddenly, all the plans I had to connect with the community, campus and student organizations were no longer sustainable in the ways I had previously managed.

    I struggled for a while to find a fit where I could keep the best of both worlds, but ultimately, I felt lost in this much larger university. I came to understand that this all-or-nothing mentality was unrealistic. After years of that kind of involvement, adjusting my expectations was challenging, and I felt a lot of shame for my lack of involvement. It took a great deal of reflection to begin transitioning to my new normal, where I could still be engaged but in a way that was both sustainable and fulfilling.

    One of the hardest parts of this transition has been redefining what involvement means to me. In undergrad, I enjoyed the quantity aspect of involvement, I loved being a part of as many projects, groups and organizations as I could. In law school, I’ve learned that involvement can be more about refined quality—how deeply I can engage in a few meaningful activities while still maintaining academic success. It’s about finding balance, something that I am continuously working toward.

    Law school requires an incredible amount of discipline and time management, but it is not impossible to work meaningful involvement into your schedule. For anyone transitioning from a highly involved undergraduate experience to law school, my advice is to give yourself grace. It is okay to step back and reevaluate how you engage with your community. It is important to find a system that works for you, one that allows you to prioritize your studies while still staying connected to activities that fulfill you. One of the things that you will hear in your first week of law school is that it is a marathon, not a sprint, and learning your new pace is part of the journey.

    — Bella Price is a 1L KU Law Student Ambassador from Spring Hill, Kansas

    Looking back and moving forward

    Matt Koegel, 3L

    My 2.5 years at KU Law have been a journey of learning and growth. As I sit down to write my final blog post, I’ve found myself discarding numerous ideas, unsure of how to capture the significance of this moment. Instead of trying to find the perfect conclusion, I’ll focus on the things I’m most grateful for from my time in law school.

    I’m thankful that law school showed me the power of persistence. It taught me that difficult tasks are not only achievable but that overcoming challenges is a crucial part of the journey. One skill I didn’t anticipate developing was learning how to read for law school classes. It’s a unique skill, one that I quickly realized is essential for success in the legal world. I’m grateful that KU Law gave me the tools to master it.

    The people I’ve met along the way are another reason I’m so thankful for my time at KU Law. Professors, administrators, mentors and friends; these individuals have shaped my experience and pushed me to be a better version of myself. I’ve formed friendships with people I know I’ll keep for life. These are friends I can call at any hour, knowing they would drop everything to help. The people at KU Law challenge me in ways that go beyond academics, inspiring me to strive for personal and professional growth. I’m deeply grateful for the relationships I’ve built in Green Hall.

    KU Law has also provided me with invaluable opportunities to grow. From being a student ambassador to working in the Legal Aid Clinic and competing in the  In-House Moot Court Competition, these experiences have exposed me to both success and failure, teaching me essential lessons along the way. Perhaps the most important lesson I’ve learned is the ability to bounce back from failure. Law school taught me that setbacks are not the end; they’re just the beginning of a process of recovery and growth. I’m thankful KU Law gave me the chance to develop resilience before entering the legal profession.

    As I approach graduation, I feel incredibly grateful for my time at KU Law. After one more set of finals, I will be a law school graduate. While I’ll miss student life, I’m eager for the new chapter that lies ahead.

    — Matthew Koegel is a 3L KU Law Student Ambassador from Long Island, NY