Lisa Johnson: Northwestern Law '26

Lisa Johnson is a rising 2L at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Government from Texas Christian University. Lisa is currently a law clerk for DuPage County State's Attorney Office. Next summer Lisa is looking forward to working as a summer associate for Jones Day in Chicago. After graduation Lisa hopes to practice  global disputes or financial markets litigation at a large law firm.

I love that degree, it really was a passion of mine. I came into university as an undecided major, but was leaning towards biology or chemistry. I loved science classes in high school. I always had this intrinsic drive to help others, and at the time this goal translated into a degree in healthcare. However, as I began taking the first university classes towards this degree I didn't feel that this would help me make a change and help others. I had a political science elective on International Politics that focused on an empirical analysis of different concepts with the intention of discovering how we can make things better for people. This really helped me become more creative and think about solutions. This sense of advocacy increased for me more as I took this course and then continued to explore a political science degree.

I was never on a pre professional track. Part of this was due to me being an athlete as an undergrad so it took a bit longer for me to decide to go to law school, and my first time meeting attorneys was while working at my school's athletic department. I liked the way they thought, and this helped me get into a pre-law mindset later on in my undergrad career.

Were there any student organizations that inspired you to go to law school?

Definitely, I was the president of our Student Athletic Advisory Committee. This is essentially a counsel of 2 athletes from every sport who talk about things important to the student athlete experience. Being in this role I had to balance very different perspectives, and my experience as a female swimmer was vastly different from other athletes. My team was also mostly international students so being in that role on the advisory committee helped bring me into the mindset of being a delegate and a leader that comes up with solutions that provide the best outcome for everybody. This really helped me get into a "lawyer" mindset through the fact that I had to consciously be aware of so many different perspectives and experiences that I then had to analyze to find the best outcome for all parties involved.

Looking back from the perspective of a law student, are there any activities you wish you did as an undergraduate student?

I think it would have been beneficial to be on the pre-law track. I took the LSAT late and only once, to coincide with my athletic schedule. Being pre-law would have helped me receive mentorship from others, especially on the LSAT. There are also moot court classes which I think are great to figure out what kind of lawyer you want to be. Any programs that stress a lot of writing and reading would have been great too, such as the school newspaper.

Other than the LSAT, what other parts of your application did you really focus on to make you stand out as an applicant?

As a transfer applicant, I've gone through this process twice. It took me until the second time to realize how generic my personal statement was in my initial application process. I think it's hard for applicants to understand what to talk about, so going through the application process again I learned that I needed to spend more time on my personal statement. Your personal statement doesn't need to be a sob story, or a story about how you have always wanted to be a lawyer. It can be about anything interesting or unique to you, and can be on content that seems to be off-topic as long as you wrap up with the relevance of your story at the end.

When it comes to organizations you are considering joining, it's important not just to join everything your school provides. Instead, really commit yourself to a few activities that you are passionate about, and try and get leadership roles within these organizations. This lets you talk about substantive experiences rather than just about attending meetings. Getting to talk about my job, The Student Athletic Advisory Committee, and being an athlete are things I knew really well and having those deeper experiences was very important. 

Applying early is super important as well, law schools use rolling admissions and this makes you feel more prepared in applications. Schools can also take some time to come back with offer letters so applying earlier is better.

You said you showed a lot of growth between your first personal statement, and your second one. Were there any experiences from your 1L year that you credit this growth to?

The main thing that helped me switch my perspective was the fact that I realized I did belong in law school, and deserved to be there because I could work hard and succeed. Throughout the first year of law school I had imposter syndrome, and a fear that I would not be able to handle the pressure. The growth for me in the second personal statement came with me moving on from the idea that I had to convince others I belonged in law school, to writing more about how I can be a really good attorney in the future. That focus on what you use law school to do later on in your career is something I didn't realize I needed in my personal statement. In my second personal statement I wrote about why I had the right mentality for law school, and why I care about the law and my career.

With the perspective you have now after completing your first year of law school, if you could go back and redo something in your academic career, what would you change?

The biggest change I would make is prioritizing what works for me over what I am expected to be doing. A lot of my classes in law school prioritized outlining, which is where you compile a shortened version of your case briefs and notes from the semester into one document. I spent a significant amount of time doing this first semester, and then didn't do it at all in the second semester. I found this worked a lot better for me personally. If I could go back, I would have prioritized study methods that worked for me, over how people told me I should be studying. Active recall and practice questions were a much more useful studying experience for me.

You have to do what works for you, and listen to yourself to understand what the best use of your time is.

In terms of involvement during my first year, I ran for the Student Bar Association Delegate for the 1L cohort, which aligned with what I want in my legal career and helped me become more approachable to my classmates. I wasn't over committing myself and it was something I could still get deeply involved with and talk about meaningfully.

You recently transferred from UIC Law to Northwestern Law. What were your primary reasons for transferring, and what were your priorities when choosing a law school?

My experience at UIC Law was very beneficial, and all my professors were incredible. I made so many good friends and colleagues that I look forward to meeting in my future career. However, the motivation to make a transfer came from being in a bigger city. Having the presence of large and prestigious law schools such as UChicago and Northwestern made me feel disadvantaged compared to other students in the legal market. For me, I wanted to have a "brand" to back up everything I was doing. With the grades and involvement I have, I wanted there to be no question of my place wherever I end up working. Having the strong alumni connections that Northwestern provides also motivated me to transfer. I wanted to put myself in the best position to do what I wanted to do, which is Biglaw and Government law. UIC is known for public interest law, so the decision came down to me understanding what type of law I wanted to do. That being said, there isn't really a bad law school in Chicago, you can always network your way to any room and any conversation you want to be a part of.

great scholarship. I didn't know what I wanted to do in the legal field yet so I prioritized choosing a school that was the most economically efficient for me. Since coming to Chicago I realized how much I love it here, and wouldn't want to go to law school or practice anywhere else.

Chicago is the third biggest legal market in the United States. You can do any type of law you want here, and there is such a huge variety in law firms. It's great especially if you are unsure of what type of law you want to do yet, since you are able to observe so many different types of law right here in Chicago. I do want to practice here, however since I am interested in larger firms that tend to have an office in most major cities, I'm keeping an open mind towards any future opportunities.

In Chicago you can go to the federal courthouse and watch a court case in the morning and then go to class in the afternoon. It's a unique experience that I would not have had if I had gone to a more residential/suburban campus.

Do you think students interested in Big Law should prioritize ranking and alumni connections when picking a law school?

If you know you want to do Big Law, you need to be aware of the prestige bias in legal hiring. Firms are working against this now with various initiatives, but before these changes are fully made students need to be aware of these challenges when looking for a job. Some firms prioritize certain schools, and when researching firms you can often find that they tend to hire from some schools more than others. This does not necessarily mean that the favored schools are higher ranked, oftentimes a partner had gone to the school and is familiar with the students, syllabus, work ethic, etc.

In my opinion, alumni connections and networking is far more important. For me personally, I would search up firms and add keywords such as "former athlete," "TCU," "Northwestern,", or "UIC" to find associates that I would have something in common with when I reached out. I have only had 1 or 2 people not get back to me, so emphasizing networking is the best thing you can do. When you go into interviews, these people can vouch for you, or recommend you to others in the firm. Networking is the most important thing. I would encourage every law student to be proactive and put themselves out there. It seems scary at first but everyone is really nice and happy to help others.

Do you think you have gotten better at networking because of certain experiences in your academic career, or do you think the more you network the better you get?

The more you do network the better you get. I felt less anxious the more I reached out, and also had that assurance that most people want to help and will respond. Law schools also have a lot of mixers with different bar associations and firms. I recommend going to these since you meet people face to face, and get a feel for the type of questions you should ask. It's also easier to make a personal connection in person. Pushing yourself to be in those uncomfortable situations is the best way to become better at networking,

In the future you want to work in global disputes and finance markets litigation. Why do you want to practice in these fields?

It comes down to me being super excited about my summer associateship next summer with Jones Day. This firm has both of these practice groups and I have been able to speak to people in these groups, understand what they do day to day, and learn about the different aspects of their career. I have been fortunate to have been able to travel abroad, and it has tied back into my initial academic passions for helping to make things better for people around the world, and be more globally conscious.

What is one piece of advice you would give to undergraduates/high schoolers interested in going to law school?

My biggest piece of advice is to network. Find an attorney who doesn't know you, and sit with them and find out what a lawyer does. Law is a relatively inaccessible field for people who are first generation law students, so finding somebody who will tell you what a lawyer actually does is important. Figuring out what the day to day tasks are and the big picture idea will help you have a clearer idea of what you will be doing. It will help you maintain your passion and energy through law school, so having a goal you work towards is my biggest piece of advice for those who are considering law school. Law school isn't for everybody, find out why it could be for you.