Graduate Profile: Marisol Garcia, L’21

Third-year law student Marisol Garcia

Student aspires to make a difference in hometown

After graduation, Marisol Garcia plans to utilize her legal education in her hometown of Wichita.

Garcia plans to start work at Martin Pringle Law Firm LLP as an associate attorney after taking the Kansas bar exam in July. Garcia was a summer associate at the firm for the past two summers.

“Community has always been important to me, and I want to incorporate that in my future legal career,” Garcia said. “I’m excited to build relationships with my future clients and other attorneys in my area.”

At graduation, Garcia received the Robert F. Bennett Student Award. The award is given to a graduate whose undergraduate degree is from a Kansas university or college and who has demonstrated leadership qualities through public service. 

Garcia refined her writing and practical skills through practical courses at KU Law, such as Appellate Advocacy, LGBTQ Seminar and Criminal Practice in Kansas.

At KU, Garcia was a member of OUTLaws & Allies, Hispanic American Law Students Association and competed in the Wagner National Labor and Employment Law Moot Court Competition.

“I was immediately drawn to OUTLaws & Allies, and it had a positive impact on my experience during my time at KU Law,” Garcia said. “Our group is full of amazing members who want to use their law degrees to help the LGBTQ+ community wherever they are. It felt great to have a group that shared the same values and desire to help our communities and who were always there to lend a helping hand when you needed it.”

Garcia also served as the president of First-Generation Professionals, an organization designed to benefit KU Law students who are either first-generation college students or first-generation law students. This organization helps prepare first-generation professionals for entry into the legal field.

While at KU Law, Garcia formed a special connection with Professor Laura Hines. Garcia considers Hines’ first-year Civil Procedure class to be her favorite law school course.

“She was always engaging in class and was willing to help you in any way she could, especially when it came to exam time,” Garcia said. “I’ll miss the sound of the pop of her Diet Dr. Pepper cans!”

Garcia’s favorite law school tradition is Women in Law’s annual Pub Night event, which is an annual celebration and fundraiser that benefits The Willow Domestic Violence Shelter and Jana’s Campaign.

“It absolutely does not get better than Pub Night 2019. Can’t choose between the skit, the band and the company! All of the 2Ls and 3Ls were talking about how awesome and fun it was,” Garcia said. “I thought they were exaggerating, but they were completely right.”

Before coming to law school, Garcia interned at Joseph, Hollander & Craft in the firm’s Wichita office.

Garcia earned an undergraduate degree in history from Kansas State University in 2018. She earned a minor in leadership studies and was involved with K-State’s Mock Trial Team.

— By Ashley Golledge

This post is the fourth in a series highlighting a few of the exceptional members of KU Law’s Class of 2021. Check out previous stories about Aidan Graybill, Howard Mahan and Zachary Kelsay. Stay tuned for more profiles as we celebrate this year’s graduating class.

Graduate Profile: Zachary Kelsay, L’21

Moot court, mock trial shaped student’s KU Law experience

Zachary Kelsay
Third-year law student Zachary Kelsay

Zachary Kelsay, L’21, has been practicing advocacy skills in mock trial competitions since his undergraduate days. When moot court and mock trial contests moved online this year, Kelsay took on the new challenge.

“It was fun to learn a new way to litigate because none of the books on litigation provided guidance on how to advocate digitally,” he said.

Kelsay and first-year law student Emily Depew won the top prize at the 2021 National Native American Law Students Competition. In 2020, Kelsay and teammate Karen Fritts, L’21, won the first-place award for Best Overall Advocates and placed in the top three teams overall at the NNALSA competition. Professor Shawn Watts coached both teams.

“Karen and Emily are exceptionally skilled advocates, and it was exciting to work with both of them,” Kelsay said. “I learned a lot about the law while writing briefs and preparing for oral arguments. It made me confident that advocacy is the right career path for me.”

Kelsay also competed in the 2020 National All Star Bracket Challenge, a mock trial competition, with coaching from Professor Alice Craig. He was a member of KU Law’s Mock Trial Council and earned the Payne & Jones Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy in spring 2019.

Learning how to advocate during remote competitions using KU Law’s dedicated Zoom room is Kelsay’s favorite law school memory. He thanked Kris Koenig, IT coordinator, and Crystal Mai, associate dean for administration, for helping competition teams get set up in the virtual space.

“After mock trial and moot court transitioned to an online format, they both worked hard behind the scenes to make our transition seamless,” Kelsay said.

Outside the courtroom – and Zoom room – Kelsay was active in several student organizations at KU Law. He served as a staff articles editor for the Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy. He also participated in the Student Bar Association, Dean’s Fellows, Black Law Students Association, and the Shook, Hardy & Bacon Scholars Program.

At graduation, Kelsay received the law school’s Justice Lloyd Kagey Leadership Award. The award is given to the graduate who has most distinguished themselves through leadership in the law school.

Originally from Independence, Missouri, Kelsay came to KU Law through the Legal Education Accelerated Degree Program (LEAD). The program allows students to complete an undergraduate degree and a J.D. in six years, instead of seven. Kelsay earned bachelor’s degrees in global and international studies and history from the University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts & Sciences in 2018.

In the classroom, Kelsay said he appreciated Professor Jean Phillips’ Criminal Procedure course, “because she is such a kind person and makes every class exciting.”

“I have a much deeper appreciation for the Fourth Amendment, the Constitution and criminal justice reform after taking her class,” Kelsay said. Dean Stephen Mazza’s course on Federal Income Taxation also made an impact, preparing Kelsay to interpret IRS regulations and help people understand tax law.

After graduation, Kelsay plans to move to Washington, D.C.

“I am excited about using my legal skills to advocate for policy change and support community-level development,” Kelsay said.

— By Margaret Hair

This post is the third in a series highlighting a few of the exceptional members of KU Law’s Class of 2021. Check out previous stories about Aidan Graybill and Howard Mahan. Stay tuned for more profiles as we celebrate this year’s graduating class.

Graduate Profile: Howard Mahan, L’21

Third-year law student Howard Mahan

Banner carrier is headed to Kansas Supreme Court clerkship after graduation

Third-year law student Howard Mahan is at the top of his class at the University of Kansas School of Law this year. He was ranked first in his class of 99 at the end of the fall 2020 semester.

Mahan, L’21, was chosen as the Class of 2021’s banner carrier for KU Law. Mahan was selected by the law faculty for this honor because of his exemplification of student excellence.

“It’s really an honor I didn’t expect, especially knowing how devoted and hardworking the rest of the 3L class is,” Mahan said.

At KU Law, Mahan was a comments editor for the Kansas Law Review and a research assistant to Professor Stephen Ware and Associate Dean Uma Outka. During his 1L year, he earned the Payne & Jones Lawyering Program Award and CALI Awards for receiving the highest grade in the class for Civil Procedure, Lawyering Skills I & II, Criminal Law and Torts.

Mahan devotes his non-class time to playing guitar in several bands, including Howard Mahan and Friends, Big Red Horse (Wichita), The Blades (Salina), The House Rockers (Kansas City), and as an alternate guitarist for Randy McAllister and the Scrappiest Band in the Motherland (South Dakota). He also plays guitar for the Moody Bluebooks, a rock band made up of KU Law faculty, staff and students.

“That’s honestly been really helpful to me to have an entirely separate outlet from something happening on campus — especially in the wake of the pandemic,” Mahan said.

Mahan values the law faculty who helped him succeed throughout law school.

“I’ve had several classes and professors that I really respected and learned a lot from,” Mahan said. “Whether it’s jamming with the Moody Bluebooks in Professor Thomas Stacy’s basement (pre-coronavirus) or talking to Professor Ware and Professor Shawn Watts about how law school really works — I’ve had a lot of really positive experiences with my professors.”

Mahan is originally from Fredonia, Kansas. He earned a B.A. in business management in 2016 and an MBA in 2018, both from the Kansas Wesleyan University.

He was drawn to KU Law for many reasons, including his desire to stay in his home state and the school’s connections to local law firms.

“I’m a Kansan, so KU was the natural choice,” Mahan said. “There were a lot of factors at play. I wanted to stay in the area, so I really thought it was the best school with the best scholarship package for me and the best connections to firms in the area.”

After graduation, Mahan will be doing a one-year judicial clerkship for Kansas Supreme Court Justice Caleb Stegall, L’00, in Topeka.

“I’m excited to work for Justice Stegall because it’s not really an area of law that I ever expected to be working in; however, I have a really great appreciation for the justice system and judges in particular,” Mahan said. “It’s a great opportunity to work in the court system and serve my home state at the same time.”

Once his clerkship is complete, he plans to practice in Polsinelli’s Kansas City office in the firm’s corporate department. Mahan was a summer associate at Polsinelli in 2019.

“I’m excited to work for Polsinelli because they seem like a really good firm,” Mahan said. “The corporate department aligns closely with my past educational experiences, and I think there is a lot of good that can potentially be done at any level of practice.”

— By Ashley Golledge

This post is the second in a series highlighting just a few of the exceptional members of the Class of 2021. Check out a previous story about Aidan Graybill, and stay tuned for more profiles as we celebrate this year’s graduating class.

Staying the course

Second-year law student Andrew Arbuckle

Life has a lot of moving parts. Sometimes those parts move incredibly fast. Other times moving parts are relatively slow. Every so often, they move in totally unexpected directions. It can be hard work to even keep up at times. This is especially true when the unique challenges that law school presents are added to the mix. There isn’t a uniform best strategy to adopt to succeed. Finding what works best for you is a highly personal determination. However, those who routinely achieve their goals, regardless of their chosen means, share one common element: consistency.

To be consistent means to fully commit yourself to a sustained effort of action over a period of time until the moment your objective is achieved. Law students’ primary objective is twofold – to learn the material and to get good grades. Time is precious – maintaining consistency requires planning ahead to determine the steps you’ll take. Develop a plan at the outset of each semester that details your objective, priorities and a schedule to follow. Sticking to your plan can increase efficiency and accountability while acting as a guidepost directing your efforts. As the semester marches on, the ever-mounting workload can make it hard to see the road ahead, but as you keep going, it gets clearer. Stay the course as the fog of readings and assignments dissipates.

Planning and keeping your eyes on the prize are important, but what makes consistency the key to success is the grit it requires. Fully committing doesn’t mean spending every waking second and every bit of energy grinding in the library. Not that there aren’t times where that’s necessary, but doing so throughout the course of law school would be unsustainable and unnecessary. Don’t try it. Rather, it means always showing up, always giving your best effort and honoring your commitments in the face of all misfortune life throws at you. Some days it’ll be easier to pull the sled than others. Regardless of the bandwidth you’re bringing to the table on any given day, just by showing up, you’re confirming what you really want. Showing up familiarizes you with what you’re working toward. Familiarity breeds confidence. When you’re familiar with something, it’s easier to engage with. The easier something is to engage with, the easier it is to forge ahead even on your worst days. Simply, the more you do something, the better you get at doing it.

Not mentioning the human elements of consistency would be a colossal oversight. Remaining consistent in law school can heartily test your patience and question your self-efficacy. Staying patient over the long haul isn’t easy. Modern technology allows us to forego patience almos entirely in many respects. Law school, however, requires a great amount of patience – as does anything fulfilling, really. Managing your expectations about the time the learning process takes before realizing progress, is paramount. Beginning is always the hardest because it’s easy to feel like you’re just spinning your wheels. But if you stick to it, before you know it, you’ll recognize breakthroughs and be glad you took the time to do it right. Trust the process.

Stumbling is unavoidable in law school and is nothing to dwell on. Easier said than done. Self-efficacy, or in other words, your belief in your abilities to accomplish what you do set out to do, plays an especially major role in nailing down daily responsibilities. Floundering a cold call or receiving scathing feedback on a brief that you were proud of can sting, but you can’t let those little things make you doubt yourself. Everyone comes up short every now and then. Shortcomings merely reveal where you can improve, not that you’re incapable. Putting such a positive spin on what’s more easily viewed as a negative event makes getting up and dusting yourself off all the easier. Though that can be especially challenging depending on the circumstances, it’s never impossible. Consistently reassuring yourself that you’re capable when confronted with setbacks will, over time, build resiliency, the characteristic that empowers people to overcome difficult situations. Speak it into existence.

There are many ways to be a successful law student, but all roads to success are paved on a foundation of consistency. By committing to achieving a goal, always showing up, always giving your best effort, and never doubting your ability to succeed, you are developing character traits that attract a fulfilling life. Above all else, you owe it to yourself.

— By Andrew Arbuckle, a 2L from Mulvane, Kansas and a KU Law Student Ambassador.

Graduate Profile: Aidan Graybill, L’21

Third-year law student Aidan Graybill

Exemplary student to pursue career in tribal law

Aidan Graybill, L’21, decided to become a lawyer to pursue her dream of advocating for Indian tribes. Three years later, Graybill is turning her dream into reality.

Graybill’s legal ambitions brought her to the University of Kansas School of Law, where she studied tribal law and federal Indian law. Graybill is a member of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas, which is based in Kansas City, Kansas.

In May, Graybill will graduate with a J.D. from KU Law and a M.A. in Indigenous studies from KU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. After taking the bar this summer, Graybill will serve as a fellow for a tribal government she designed with the tribe to make a positive impact on the community. Graybill is also currently serving on the executive council and constitution committee for her tribe, and will continue to do so after graduation.

“I’m excited to see where my experiences take me, and I am looking forward to finally using my education to help whatever communities are in need of what I am able to provide to them,” Graybill said.

At graduation, Graybill received the Janean Meigs Memorial Award in Law. The award is given to a student who has demonstrated a caring spirit in service to the students of the law school or to the community at large.

During the 2020-21 academic year, Graybill served on the National Native American Law Students Association Board as the Area 3 representative and co-chair of the organization’s advocacy committee.

“Serving on the NNALSA board was a hugely transformative experience,” Graybill said. “I was able to make connections with other Native law students across the U.S. and network with other Native lawyers on a national level, which I feel will definitely help me transition out of law school and into my professional career.”

Graybill had the opportunity recently to participate in an event hosted by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. She was interviewed alongside Kansas House Rep. Christina Haswood for the event “Youth in Action: Native Women Making Change,” which was held in March.

“We were both interviewed by the National Museum of the American Indian about our participation as young Native women in the law and in state government, and the roles we play in order to serve our communities and society at large,” Graybill said.

While in law school, she was actively involved with the Tribal Law & Government Center. Graybill earned the Tribal Lawyer Certificate, participated in the Tribal Judicial Support Clinic, served as president of KU’s Native American Law Students Association and competed in the National Native American Law Students Association (NNALSA) moot court competition twice.

“Through the Tribal Judicial Support Clinic, I was able to observe the work a general counsel for a tribe does, which was some of the best real-world experience I could have received,” Graybill said. “It really solidified for me that the area of law I was pursuing was right for me.”

Through the school’s Criminal Prosecution Field Placement Program, Graybill interned for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s tribal prosecutor in Mayetta, Kansas.

“I worked for a tribal prosecutor and was able to observe court hearings and interact with the tribal court administrators and judges,” Graybill said. “It was just such an incredible community to be a part of even just briefly. The support I got through clinical programs has really carried me through law school because it reminded me of why I came here.”

Graybill also served as president of the Mindfulness in Law Society, ABA representative for the Student Bar Association, and treasurer for Women in Law. She was also a member of the Dean’s Diversity Leadership Council, Public Interest Law Society and American Constitution Society.

Graybill said the experiential learning opportunities at KU Law have prepared her to enter the workforce.

“I was able to expedite the process of a lot of things I learned in my classes by having to put them into practice. For example, I learned quickly that memos we had weeks to do in lawyering classes were usually due in a day or two,” Graybill said. “Because I’ve written so many memos while earning experiential credit, those things come quicker and easier to me now and I am able to better serve my supervising attorneys.”

Graybill – who is from Scottsdale, Arizona – earned an undergraduate degree in anthropology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2017. She also earned minors in political science and biology.

She is the third person in her family to earn a degree at the University of Kansas. Her grandfather, Harry Owen Ogg, graduated from KU in 1957. Her mother, Jolie Ogg Graybill, graduated in 1987.

— By Ashley Golledge

This post is the first in a series highlighting a few of the exceptional members of KU Law’s Class of 2021. Stay tuned for more profiles as we celebrate this year’s graduating class.

Law professor leads discussions hosted by Council on Foreign Relations

A University of Kansas law professor has led discussions on international trade recently for the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). The discussions, open to CFR members, covered issues including the new U.S. administration’s trade agenda, the future of trade after Brexit, and Islamic law.

Professor Raj Bhala
Raj Bhala, Brenneisen Distinguished Professor

Raj Bhala, the Brenneisen Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas School of Law, teaches international and comparative law courses and is among the world’s foremost authorities in international trade law. He is the only Council on Foreign Relations member at the University of Kansas.

On Feb. 24, Bhala served as moderator and discussion leader for “Anticipating Biden’s Trade Agenda.” Bhala addressed topics including World Trade Organization Appellate Body reform; the Sino-American trade war; and the importance of reaching agreements on subsidies for certain goods.

On Jan. 28, Bhala facilitated “The Path Forward Post-Brexit.” Bhala previously led a CFR discussion on Islamic law in connection with his textbook, Understanding Islamic Law.

The Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher focusing on foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.

Bhala also delivered the keynote address at the International Conference on Emerging Trends in International Trade Law. The event on April 9-10 was hosted by the CMR University School of Legal Studies in Bangalore, India. Bhala served as the chief guest for the conference. His keynote was titled, “International Trade Law Challenges for the Indo-Pacific Region.” A recording of the conference is available on YouTube.

— By Margaret Hair