“A Delay is Not A Denial: The Road Less-Traveled”

Do you know where you are, where you are going, and how you are going to get there?

Today, we are going back to 5 years ago. February 2016. But, first, let’s go back a little further than that.

I didn’t make the decision to go to law school until my junior year of college. (I talked more about that moment of my life in a previous blog post if you missed it.) I graduated law school May 2015 from the University of Georgia School of Law. I had no job prospects, but I knew I wanted to practice criminal law. When I was in law school, I participated in a few interviews for private law firms, but none of them focused primarily, if at all, on criminal law. I was later offered a position at a public defender office in South Georgia, but literally EVERYONE and their mama advised against it (for many reasons). So, I was back to square one. Not knowing where I was. Not knowing where I was going. And definitely no idea how I was going to get there.

The summer after law school graduation the norm is to buckle down and study for the Bar Exam. The Bar Exam (pre-Covid) is offered every July and February. The last Tuesday and Wednesday of the month. But I was so lost back then that I didn’t buckle down and study. I bought the Barbri Bar Prep materials, signed up for the in-person course, and thought I was ready to crush the Bar Exam. But, yall, I don’t know what came over me that summer, but I did everything BUT buckle down. I held 3 jobs – waitressing, bartending, and researching for a professor. I probably consumed way too much wine during the evening, and I barely opened my books (only went to 1 of the in-person classes). In hindsight, I can say that I was in a really dark place and was rebelling against the Bar Exam; it didn’t make sense to me and I thought it was extremely irrelevant. But in the moment, I had no idea what I was doing.

Later on, that summer, I was blessed to receive a job offer from the Athens public defender office. I interned there 3 semesters of my law school career, and I guess made a good impression because I was asked to come back and this time get paid for it! So, that was some weight off of my shoulders. But, that wasn’t the answer to all of my problems. It is a well-known fact that if you get hired prior to getting your Bar Exam results back, there is a 99% chance that if you fail said Bar Exam, you’ll be out of a job. And if you’re out of a job, you can’t pay rent. And if you can’t pay rent… you know how the laundry list of woes goes. Not only is the Bar Exam irrelevant, but it is also extremely emotionally taxing because of how much law grads’ lives depend on crushing it.

I sat for the July 2015 Bar Exam with all of my peers. I failed the July 2015 Bar Exam. I did not crush it; it crushed me. Did that come as a shock? At first, no. I was upset. I was scared. I was mad at myself. I was sad. I felt like a failure. I felt like I didn’t even deserve to try again and take the February Bar Exam. I just wanted to give up! But, I didn’t and I am so glad I pushed through and tried again. A delay is not a denial, and now, we are here, at the 5 year anniversary of me taking the February 2016 Bar Exam and CRUSHING IT!

5 years ago, that’s where I was. I was getting things set up for me to do my job as a public defender well. So, where was I going? I was on the route to placing my clients and their needs first and doing everything I can to be the best public defender I could be. How did I get here? With the help of God of course! Lol, but today I don’t want to share just my journey. I want to share some of my UGA Law classmates’ journeys as well! These people experienced the same challenges in law school that your favorite Lawyer Lady faced, and I want to highlight them and their awesomeness as I celebrate my 5-year Bar Exam anniversary! Even if law or school are not your things, I thought it important to share how people get to where they are, and their perspectives on their own journeys. You’ll be able to find some of their contact information at the bottom of this post. #PLUG! I sent them a questionnaire, and here are some of their responses…

	Always wanted to be a lawyer?	Take Bar Exam more than once?	Currently practicing law?	Are you still in GA?	Do you enjoy what you do?	Do you know your ultimate career goal?
YES	3	1	9	8	10	9
NO	7	9	1	2	0	1

Describe your law school experience in 10 words or less. “Nothing that I expected.” “Law school challenged me in ways that I never expected.” “Work smarter not harder.” “Hell on earth.” “A challenging and intense experience I wouldn’t trade for anything.” “Mentally, the hardest challenge of my life.” “Challenging but nothing over the top.” “It was tough at times but I made it!” “White privilege.” “I hate it here.”

Haha, no, none of those quotes are mine. I didn’t answer the questionnaire lol. We all survived law school though! And now we are all doing something we generally love (everyone has bad days). We have some of them practicing criminal law both defense and prosecution, personal and general injury either at a firm or owning their own, family law, immigration, and real estate closings. Not everyone has been in the same practice area since graduation either! And one of my classmates actually found love in a different profession and rather than practicing law, they are “working in education policy on exclusionary discipline issues which required a blend of [their] skills, passions, and experiences.”

Are you in a place (literally/physically/financially/professionally) that you thought you’d be 5 years after law school graduation?

• “Yes I am.”
• “No. I did not think I would have returned to Savannah to practice law.”
• “Yes. I had two children in law school and my plan was always to come back to my hometown and start my own practice. It didn’t happen quite like I expected, but it is where I wanted to be.”
• “For the most part, [yes]…location was never really important but the work itself was. I am actually reasonably well-paid for a public defender who is 5 years out…and I have exceeded where I thought I would be.”
• “Yes. I’ve always wanted to practice law in Atlanta and I am financially secure. I did not think I would be an entrepreneur and own my own law firm 5 years after law school. I envisioned myself working for the government or a big law firm at this time.”
• “I am fortunate enough to be able to work from home a lot…I always hoped and ‘planned’ to be around this place financially at this age…I feel very fortunate to be where I am professionally, but also realize I don’t have as much upward mobility as others might.”
• “I cannot say that I set specific five-year goals…I am content with where I am physically, financially, and professionally right now although there is a lot more I’d like to achieve in all of those areas.”
• “I’m really happy with where I am. I think I am on the right path.”
• “I feel great about starting and continuing my career in Houston. I know I have made a difference in young peoples’ lives directly by teaching and systemically through my policy work….”

Last question I’ll share with yall, but, did you know that 85% of lawyers are white, compared to 77% of the U.S. population. Only 5% of lawyers are African American, 5% are Hispanic, and 3% are Asian? (found that stat on the internet, but I don’t even have to fact-check it). None of my classmates were surprised by those statistics, and I think we all agree that those numbers prove how far we still need to go as a society and how much the professional legal field is inaccessible to minorities. But these responses provided a little more insight and food for thought that I think is extremely relevant given the political and racial climate America has been in over the past few years (longer, yes, but people are actually doing something about it now). I asked them what their feelings were on those statistics:

There are not less African American and other minority attorneys because minorities lack the intelligence and grit necessary to prevail in becoming an attorney, but mostly because of lack of exposure and systemic racism. … [Because many minorities do not have the family members and support system to help assist them with the law school process], I always make it a point to respond to aspiring and current law students who reach out to me for advice to fulfill their law dreams. These statistics highlight for me the importance in doing so.

Trisha Starks-Byron

I believe attorneys of color need to pool our resources and do whatever it takes to usher attorneys of color into this profession. Those numbers are staggering but I’m not surprised. When you truly understand the skill set and knowledge acquired as an attorney, it is no surprise that there is a concerted effort to limit people of color opportunities to enter this profession.

Corderell Cuyler

The law desperately needs more people of color and their accompanying experiences…so much of the law is created by the arguments the parties make and by the interpretations of the judges on the bench. If everyone making the arguments or, worst still, everyone making the rulings are white and come from the same background, our law will never fully account for or reflect the needs of our society as a whole. And this is infinitely more true in the context of the criminal justice system where “justice” is really used as a tool to perpetuate racism and classism.

Veronica O’Grady

These statistics highlight the need to intentionally create safe spaces for minority attorneys to feel supported. As a Black female attorney, I can personally attest to the benefits of cultivating environments to discuss successes and difficulties and how these spaces have positively affected my personal life and career. For this purpose, I founded Becoming Black Female Barristers (BBFB)…BBFB not only seeks to increase minority representation in the law but also highlights the importance of the educational pipeline to law school and ways to remove barriers to that pipeline by promoting greater opportunities for minorities interested in attending.

Ashley Wright, if you’re connected to the law in any way click the link to go to the BBFB Facebook page!

See, we all went to the same law school and graduated the same year, but we all traveled a different path to get to where we are today, and we all still have a journey to complete. I like to think I was on the road less-traveled, just because most people only take the Bar Exam once. Another classmate of mine who had to take it twice as well now owns his own law firm and is kicking butt at what he does. I feel like I’m kicking butt at what I do. We will all experience ups and downs in our lives and in our careers, but we have to remember to own our journeys and to not let our journeys own us. If I would have allowed the Bar Exam to define my career as an attorney, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. That July 2015 Bar Exam score is a part of my journey and my testimony, and it is a reminder that a delay is not a denial.

Contact Information:

• Ashley Wright, Organized Crime, FL, IG: @awright_esq, FB: Ashley R. Wright, Esq.
• Veronica O’Grady, Appellate Indigent Criminal Defense, GA, IG: @vogrady7, E: vogrady21@gmail.com
• Corderell Cuyler, Real Estate Closings & Personal Injury, GA, The Cuyler Law Firm, www.thecuylerfirm.com, 404-592-2027
• Trisha Starks-Byron, Personal Injury, GA, Starks Byron, PC, www.starksbyronlaw.com, IG: @starksbyronlaw, FB: Starks Byron, P.C., 404-795-5115
• Sakeena Leben-Yearwood, Public Defender, GA, LinkedIn Profile
• Laron Dunham, Personal Injury, GA, E: ldunham@hostilolaw.com, 912-988-7870
• Cawanna A. M. “Cam” Brown, Criminal Defense & Family Law, GA, IG: @camthebougiemama, FB: Cawanna A. M. Brown, www.cam.law
• Sergio Ardila, Injury Law, GA & Nationwide, IG: @Blackbeltattorney
• Alicia Luncheon, Criminal Defense & Immigration, IG & TikTok: @theluncheonlawyer

“‘For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.'” — Deuteronomy 2:7, NKJV.

Moni Jay, Off the Record