Professors Help Drive Students’ Law Interests
Classes on labor and employment law and labor relations intrigued Hannah Young ’23, Law ’25, when she was a first-year ILRie, but she wouldn’t be completely sold on pursuing a law career until a year later.
“I’ve always had an interest in law, but did not have any friends or family in the legal field, so I put it on the back burner for a while. It was not until I took ‘Introduction to Labor Law’ as a sophomore that I decided to seriously think about pursuing law school,” she said.
During her sophomore and junior years, Young worked as a research fellow at the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution, focusing mainly on employment law. Her mentor, Susan Brecher, “was a huge inspiration” for the path Young hopes to take in practicing employment law.
Numerous faculty members at ILR are lawyers. Their specialties cover diverse areas of the law, from the intellectual and moral origins of the American Constitution to public sector employment law to technological change and anti-discrimination law.
Their teaching inspires many students to pursue law school.
Law-focused courses are foundational to the ILR curriculum, along with classes in management, history, organizational psychology, economics and statistics. Additionally, many ILR students are eligible to take courses at Cornell Law School. The Cornell Speech and Debate Society, based at the ILR School, and the Cornell Mock Trial Association also offer opportunities to practice skills that are useful to many professionals, including lawyers.
ILR professors have a long tradition of influencing students who go on to influence the world. In a letter to legendary ILR and Cornell Law Professor Milton Konvitz, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote from her chambers in 2001 a telling note: “You opened my mind to the possibility of realizing human rights at a time that was not the best for our Nation and World.”
In a Cornell Law School story, Lisa Vigilante ’22, Law ’25, said a phrase – “law touches on every aspect of life” – shared in class by Professor Kate Griffith, senior associate dean for academic affairs, diversity, and faculty development, helped set her on a path to law school.
Vigilante also credits ILR with helping equip her for law school. “I feel like I have such a well-rounded education because of that school, and I truly felt more prepared than some of my peers because of the education and training that the ILR School gave me.”
ILR Assistant Professor Gali Racabi said he enjoys working with students navigating the internal question of whether law school is the right path for them. “ILR students come from a wide range of backgrounds and levels of exposure to the legal field, often carrying misconceptions about what lawyers and judges do and who they are. For those outside the profession, it can be challenging to gain an understanding of legal practice and the pathways into it.”
“That’s where an undergraduate curriculum that exposes students to law and policy questions, multiple internship opportunities, a cohort of peers with shared interests, and the many pre-law organizations at Cornell plays a vital role in helping students from all backgrounds explore and refine their goals.”
