Muhammad Ali said, “the person who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” I believe the same should be said about the three years of law school. Half way through my third year, this experience has been much more than purely educational; it’s been life changing. I’d say my growth as a person has exceeded my growth as a legal scholar, and the growing pains have probably been worse too. While only on the verge of graduating, I know I am not even close to being done growing.
To give that growth some context, the
law school experience is made up of the same few obvious stresses in various
forms; grades, readings, jobs, internships, research, publications and
competitions, student organizations, papers, the ever-looming bar exam, and
more readings. This is all in addition to what you have going on at home. Conveniently,
those stresses only grow from year to year and often stack on top of one another.
So, while you’re underneath trying to carry all that weight, more and more is
heaped on top each year. Only now does it make sense why they call it “3L year,”
because you have taken an “L” or loss each year.
After 3“Ls,” it feels like you’ve had the weight of the world on your shoulders – pressing you down – for so long. It can be difficult to cope with this pressure, but I’ve learned to expand my perspective from focusing on just the losses to also appreciating the wins. We are so outcome driven that it is often easy for us forget that we are still standing when we have been carrying a heavy weight after all this time. Feeling the burden of the weight, it is easy to overlook how much strength you truly have. As it usually turns out, you are stronger than you think you are.
I have realized that maybe, it is because
of this pressure that I have been forced to focus on my path and purpose the
way I have. That maybe, this is the point of the law school process. That maybe
I haven’t taken 3 losses, rather, I’ve gone up 3 levels. After all, diamonds
(even very rough ones) only form under immense pressure.
Everyone has their own unique path. I know I have much to learn, and more growing to do on my path. I believe that through this experience, I have developed the mindset and the skills to keep progressing on my path and fulfilling my purpose.
Grow through your losses. Don’t belittle your successes. And NEVER, EVER get complacent. The marathon continues, and the real work is just beginning.
Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss listens to oral arguments in a special session held at the University of Kansas on April 1, 2019. This was the court’s first visit to Lawrence in its 158-year history. Photo by Andy White/KU Marketing Communications.
Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, L’82, has
dedicated his career to providing justice for Kansans. After serving on the Kansas
Supreme Court for 17 years, he is retiring on Dec. 17.
Nuss was sworn in as a Kansas Supreme Court Justice on Oct. 17, 2002. He began performing chief justice duties on Jan. 29, 2010, when former Chief Justice Robert Davis entered long-term medical leave. Upon Davis’ retirement, Nuss officially assumed the title on Aug. 1 of that year.
“The greatest honor of my life has been to serve as chief
justice these last 10 years,” Nuss said.
Nuss presides over the Kansas Supreme Court, which exercises
authority over all courts in the state. He operates as chairman of the board of
the seven justices, establishes and shapes policies, makes important administrative
decisions, upholds the federal and state constitutions, and serves as the official
spokesperson for the judicial branch. He also hears, discusses and makes
decisions regarding cases.
As the leader of Kansas’ judicial branch, he manages 1,600
employees, 280 judges and an annual budget of more than $140 million.
“I’ve been blessed with excellent colleagues and staff within my chambers.” Nuss said. “Our nearly 2,000 dedicated judges and employees are not highly appreciated by people outside the judicial branch, and they’re all underpaid. They do a great job for the people of Kansas.”
Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss is pictured during his time in the United States Marine Corps. Photo courtesy of Chief Justice Lawton Nuss.
A brief history
A fourth-generation Kansan, Nuss graduated from the
University of Kansas in 1975 with degrees in English and history.
After his undergraduate studies, he was commissioned as a
second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. Nuss served as a combat engineering
officer with the Fleet Marine Force Pacific for four years. During his time in
the Marine Corps, he had the opportunity to do some legal work while he was
overseas. His experience with legal work cemented his decision to attend law
school.
“I decided when I got out of the Marine Corps, I would go to
law school,” Nuss said. “I started in the fall of 1979.”
Nuss elected to pursue his legal education at KU Law in
order to remain close to his hometown of Salina.
“I thought I got an excellent education at KU,” Nuss said.
After law school, Nuss practiced law for 20 years at the
Salina-based firm of Clark Mize & Linville, Chartered. He was involved in a
wide range of legal issues and proceedings. He represented corporations and
individuals in civil cases and the government in criminal cases.
While he was a lawyer, Nuss had a variety of professional responsibilities
outside of his practice including: chairman of the Board of Editors for the
Journal of the Kansas Bar Association; president of the Kansas Association of
Defense Counsel; president of the Saline-Ottawa County Bar Association; and
mediator for the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.
In 2002, Nuss applied and was appointed to the Kansas Supreme
Court by Gov. Bill Graves. Nuss was the first justice in over 20 years to move
directly from practice to the Kansas Supreme Court.
Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss speaks to first-year law students this past August. Nuss delivered an oath of professionalism to the law students. Photo by Ashley Golledge.
“I think it’s
important to remain involved in the law school, so I can perhaps be an example
to others who are still in law school or recently graduated,” Nuss said. “I’m
not as active as I would have liked to have been because I have commitments
here as chief justice. I owe a lot to the law school, and I want to demonstrate
that to people.”
(From left) Cody Wright, L’19; Jamie Winningham, L’19; Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, L’82; 3L Diana Stanley; 3L Kyle Christie; and 3L Andi Leuszler participate in the KU Court of Parking Appeals awards ceremony in April 2018.
“I was very flattered to learn that some of the students
involved in the Traffic Court got together and they named an award after me,”
Nuss said. “I’ve gone to the awards ceremony and presented the plaque for the
last couple of years. This last time, I gave the winner a $100 bill so he could
take some friends out to dinner.”
Third-year law student Diana Stanley received Nuss’ namesake
award in 2018, and second-year law student Robert Curtis received the award in
2019.
Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, L’82, and Kelci Weber, L’19, are pictured at the Kansas Judicial Center in Topeka in September 2019. Photo by Stacey Blakeman, L’09.
Plans for the future
When asked to summarize his attitude about retirement, Nuss recalled
a quote by Thomas Jefferson: “The most sacred of the duties of a government is
to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens.”
“I would emphasize, all
its citizens. The law is not here just to help the wealthy or the advantaged
people. It’s for everybody,” Nuss said. “Regardless of what you look like, or
where you come from, or how much money you have, you’re entitled to the
protection of the law.”
Upon his retirement, Nuss aims to spend his time
philanthropically. Nuss and his wife, Barbara, plan to work in the sphere of
veteran’s affairs together. Nuss has been involved nationally on veteran’s
treatment courts.
“My wife and I want to do something together. She hasn’t
seen much of me in the last 10 years,” Nuss joked.
A few of the Nuss’ initial outreach plans include: going to local
VA hospitals to visit with patients who haven’t had visitors in a long time and
inviting veterans over to their house for dinner.
“It’s important to let them know that people care about them,” Nuss said.
3L Courtney Hurtig did a summer internship in the Office of Legal Services at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Photo by Ashley Golledge.
This past summer, third-year law
student Courtney Hurtig did a summer internship in the Office of Legal Services
at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
in Memphis, Tennessee. St. Jude is a children’s hospital that treats childhood
cancers and pediatric diseases.
“I really loved everything about my
internship. The people were absolutely amazing,” Hurtig said. “I can’t
emphasize enough how amazing of a culture St. Jude has. People there live and
breathe the mission of helping kids and it really does show.”
At her internship, Hurtig worked on both long-term and short-term projects for attorneys in the office. She helped rewrite institutional policies that needed to be updated; did a nationwide policy survey; shadowed attorneys and watched them interact with the rest of the hospital; did rotations through St. Jude’s Office of Technology Licensing and Compliance Office; and attended lectures, events and meetings.
3L Courtney Hurtig and Blake Stokes, L’19, pose in front of a sign in Memphis, Tennessee.Photo courtesy of Courtney Hurtig.
“I loved being able to work on projects that felt like they were really making a difference,” Hurtig said.
Hurtig said that the most challenging
part of her internship was trying to not let her emotions get the best of her
when working around sick children.
“St. Jude treats the very, very
sick kids that conventional approaches aren’t working for,” she said. “Sitting
in a meeting where they are discussing a patient that is at end of life or has
recently passed can be really hard. There were definitely times I had to choke
back tears and pull it together.”
3L Courtney Hurtig enjoys lunch with coworkers from the Office of Legal Services at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Photo courtesy of Courtney Hurtig.
Hurtig – who is from Alma, Kansas
originally – is concurrently pursuing her third and fourth degrees from the
University of Kansas. She earned a B.A. in human biology in 2014 and a B.S. in
behavioral neuroscience in 2016. In December, she will graduate a semester
early from a four-year joint degree program with a J.D. from KU Law and a Master of Health Services Administration from the School of Medicine.
During her time in Green Hall,
Hurtig has been involved in a variety of extracurricular activities. She was
the alumni and outreach coordinator for the KU Health Law Society; treasurer
for the Student Intellectual Property Law Association; staff editor for Kansas
Journal of Law and Public Policy; and a graduate research assistant for Professor Andrew Torrance.
In addition to her busy academic
life, Hurtig is passionate about volunteer work. She has volunteered for the American Cancer Society (ACS) for the past 14
years. She is the ACS’ advocacy lead for the state of Kansas and the Kansas
City area.
3L Courtney Hurtig and Blake Stokes, L’19, wear t-shirts in support of St. Jude’s concert series at a baseball game. Photo courtesy of Courtney Hurtig.
“I started my freshman year of high
school and have been volunteering ever since,” Hurtig said. “My involvement
with American Cancer Society definitely helped me get the internship at St.
Jude.”
After coming to law school, she also became interested in Cancer Action Network – the lobbying branch of the ACS. Last summer, Hurtig went to Washington, D.C. to lobby in the annual One Voice Against Cancer Lobby Day. While in the nation’s capital, she met with legislators to discuss funding for the cancer research through the National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI). Locally, she has discussed important health law issues, such as KanCare Expansion, palliative care and tobacco bills with Kansas legislators.
Hurtig’s internship at St. Jude and volunteer work with the ACS have solidified her intention to pursue a career in transactional health law. Through a legal career, she aspires to help shape the health field in the U.S. She would love to work at a children’s hospital after law school, but plans to keep her mind open to opportunities in the health law field that might come her way.
Bryanna Hanschu, L’15, has joined KU Law’s Office of Admissions as the director of recruiting. Photo by Ashley Golledge.
A 2015 KU Law graduate and former criminal prosecutor has joined KU Law’s Office of Admissions as the director of recruiting. Bryanna Hanschu started her new role in August and hit the road right away to meet future Jayhawk lawyers.
After graduating from KU Law in
2015, Hanschu practiced family law and did municipal prosecution at Payne and
Jones law firm in Overland Park. She then did felony criminal prosecution at
both the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office and the Leavenworth County
Attorney’s Office. In Leavenworth, she handled the domestic violence cases for
the county.
Hanschu recently carved out time between trips across the country to various law school recruiting events to chat about why she’s excited to join the Office of Admissions at KU Law.
Q: Do you go by Bri or Bryanna?
A: My parents blessed me with a really difficult to say and spell first and last name. When I was 14, I was a piano teacher. “Bryanna” was kind of hard for a child to say, so I started going by both Bri with an “I” and Bryanna with a “Y.”
Bryanna Hanschu, L’15, attends a KU basketball game with Alison McCourt, L’15, and Dylan Long, L’15. Photo courtesy of Bryanna Hanschu.
Q: Why did you decide to go to law school at KU Law?
A: I really loved the community here. I was one of those students that actually had a lot of contact with the Admissions Office because I was really interested. I did multiple visits, every open house and every event that they had available. I loved the area, and I loved the people. Lawrence also is a gorgeous place to live, so I was sold pretty quickly.
Q: Which class at KU Law was your favorite?
A: Looking back on law school, I think one of the classes that really changed who I was as a lawyer and really helped me was jurisdiction with Lumen Mulligan. The way that he taught the course is really what solidified more confidence in me and gave me the ability to apply for the bigger county prosecution jobs. That was probably the first class where I got actual constructive criticism that I could draw upon later in life when it came to writing and arguing. It helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer.
Bryanna Hanschu is pictured with her sister, Amber, at KU Law’s graduation ceremony in 2015. Photo courtesy of Bryanna Hanschu.
Q: What is your role at KU Law, and what do you do in that role?
A: I am the director of recruiting at KU Law. During the fall season, I travel and am rarely home. I go to various different universities and talk to students about going to law school. Going to these different schools alleviates the need for the students to have to travel to each school they’re interested in before they’re admitted. In the winter and spring, I will be reviewing applications and doing the admissions process with the students.
Q:Why do you enjoy recruiting future Jayhawks?
A: Every time I talk to somebody, I always think, “This could be the next great lawyer who changes the world.” That’s what I enjoy. KU Law offers an amazing education to its students. It’s what got me to where I was when I was prosecuting.
Q: How many U.S. states have you been to for leisure? For work?
A: In total, I’ve been to 21 states. Four of those states have been added in the past few months through my work travel. Since I started in my new role in August, I’ve recruited students in the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, New York, Minnesota, Utah, Arizona and Washington, D.C. I enjoy the traveling. It’s really fun to get out and experience new places while I’m there.
This job goes hand-in-hand with climate adjusting. I think the most interesting periods were when I was going from a cold climate to a hot climate with only one suitcase.
Bryanna Hanschu recruits future Jayhawk lawyers at a law school forum in New York City. Photo courtesy of Bryanna Hanschu.
Q: What is the last movie that you saw?
A: I watch a lot of movies on planes. The last movie that I saw was “Avengers: Infinity War.” I watched it while I was on my way home from Washington, D.C.
Q:Do you have any interesting hobbies?
A: I really enjoy splatter-painting. It’s cathartic. I love throwing paint on a canvas. There is one in my office that I’ve painted over if anyone ever wants to see it.
I have also decided that I’ve been
sedentary for too long. I am going to sign up for a half marathon next year.
Other than that, I just try to explore when and where I can. I love trying to find new places with gorgeous scenery, so I try to do that as much as possible. I also am trying to learn more about plants, I love spending time at a garden nursery with a coffee on a Sunday. And bookstores always hold a soft spot in my heart. I buy too many books. I need a bigger bookshelf in my apartment.
Clinical Associate Professor Shawn Watts, second from right, is pictured at an international peace summit in Japan.
For the past three years, Clinical Associate Professor Shawn Watts has led interactive workshops that train diplomats in mediation and peace dialogue at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). Watts is a recognized expert in mediation and conflict resolution.
“Mediation is fun. People have interesting stories, and their conflicts are always interesting,” Watts said. “It’s almost never the same thing twice. You get to learn a whole lot about a wide range of subject matters that you wouldn’t expect.”
Shawn Watts
To date, Watts has led more than 20 workshops at the New York Office of UNITAR. He has also designed new training methods based on interactive practice of theory and application of skills.
Each workshop explores the topic of peace dialogue principles or conflict resolution, and integrates with one of the 17 goals of the UN’s Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
Last spring, his workshop topics were: Leadership and Self-Awareness for the Diplomatic Community; Guiding Diplomatic Conversations Through Asking the Right Questions; Gender Equality in Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution; and Conflict Resolution for Environmental Protection.
In addition to his work with the UN, Watts stays busy in the sphere of international law. His activities this summer included: training Japan’s resident diplomatic core in conflict resolution and peace dialogue; launching a program with India’s resident diplomatic core; working with the Delhi High Court to upskill mediators; and launching mediation clinical programs for universities in India.
Watts joined KU Law’s lawyering faculty in 2018, and serves as director of the law school’s Tribal Law & Government Center,Tribal Judicial Support Clinic and Mediation Clinic. He teaches courses in Native American peacemaking and lawyering skills. Prior to KU Law, he was associate director of the Edson Queiroz Foundation Mediation Program at Columbia Law School. Watts is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
Everyone benefits from pro bono service. The intention is to help those in need, those without the means to help themselves. But those groups and individuals are not the only ones who benefit – you do too. Pro bono work is a symbiotic experience. The more law students and lawyers who participate in pro bono service, the more people who can be helped. There is good reason why pro bono work is a staple in the legal community.
Many people need pro bono work for daily life. There are
countless situations in ordinary lives that we may take for granted because we
have something to fall back on – experience, family, friends, resources. We can
share that frame of reference. We can expand it. When helping someone, we ensure
that they become that reference for another. Pro bono service is not simply
about one person in one situation. The work spreads and affects more people
than we may ever know or anticipate. That is the true value in the work –
making a difference beyond what is presented. We see how the work matters in
those day-to-day situations, the ones where we cannot possibly know who will be
affected and to what degree. But we know that we are doing what we can do to better
people’s lives.
Pro bono is encouraged and rewarded at KU. The best
opportunities may not be paid nor provide class credit. The experience is far
more valuable than any sort of tangible gain. I spent my 2L summer and 3L fall
in the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office in Kansas City. I saw people at the
worst times in their lives, but I also saw the humanity in the law. I saw every
day how everyone helped address exceptionally trying situations and emotions.
It was invaluable for me to learn how I can best serve the community and
confront life-changing issues.
My experience is not the only example of pro bono
service. There are countless ways to make a difference. Legal training helps
you see more sides of an issue, and thus more ways to help. We are in a
position to do more for those around us. The work may seem small or trivial to
us, but the person or group almost certainly does not see the issue that way. The
breadth of the law means that there are pro bono opportunities in each area of
law. Every one of us can do something.
If a student is unsure what to do, KU provides numerous pro bono opportunities. These range from the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program to the Expungement Clinic. Even minimal legal experience can provide insight for how to help others. You learn about diversity, culture, vulnerability, resources, methods and so much more. But you should never underestimate how much it means to someone else that you are available and willing to share your knowledge. Pro bono service allows all of us to become strong advocates and strong members of our communities. Even more importantly, it allows the community to trust lawyers and feel comfort in knowing that they are not alone.
