Student Outlook

Trevor Thanh Nguyen, 27, started GGU School of Law in 2007. "I wanted to build a practice here in San Francisco," the San Jose native explains. "I was drawn to the emphasis on practice and clinics and the fact that I would be learning in this community, developing networks, and meeting colleagues during my law school years."

Nguyen, who is interested in business and international law and is working concurrently on an MBA, pretty much hit the ground running. After his second year, he traveled to Vietnam and met with a contact in Saigon who had founded TDL International Law Firm, with an office already open in Los Angeles. Then Nguyen was the 2009?10 president of GGU's student bar association. As other 3L students around the country worry about their job prospects after graduation, Nguyen expects to be in charge of setting up a San Francisco office for TDL as soon as his bar results are in.

Maureen Doran is a 3L student who worked as a senior vice president at General Electric before applying to law school. Doran, who demurred when asked her age, had an internship last fall at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague. Now she's set her heart on going back to Europe and working again in some aspect of international law. "I'd love to be in Paris," she says.

Shannon Adams-Ferris, 33, a part-time night student now in her fourth year, worked full time as an administrative assistant for a local hedge fund during most of her time at GGU, until she was laid off in December. Adams-Ferris chose the school because "it's well known for being practical," she says. "As an older, returning student, that's important to me." But, she admits, she's nervous about her prospects after graduation. "Because I worked full time through law school, I couldn't do internships and externships," she says. "But my hope is that between now and when I take the bar, I can work through one of the school's pro bono clinics. Or maybe I'll have to take another job temporarily and volunteer for a while to get experience. I applied to law school before the recession started - I guess now that the recession is here, it just means I'll have to work harder."

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