Career Paths: Sara Lee ’24L  After graduation, Sara Lee will clerk for a federal district court judge and then join the general litigation group at Kirkland & Ellis in their New York office.

Sara Lee ’24L

Eun Sol Sara Lee ’24L is from Los Angeles County, California. She attended Trinity College in Hartford, CT, where she received a B.A. in Public Policy and Law and a B.A. in Urban Studies with a minor in Japanese. After college, she worked for a year as an English teacher in Seoul, South Korea, then worked as an AmeriCorps Legal Advocate in central Massachusetts at a legal aid organization. At W&L, she is co-Executive Editor of the German Law Journal, President of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association, and SCOTUS Preview co-Chair in the American Constitution Society.

Where will you be working after graduation and in what practice area?

Following graduation, I will be a clerking with a federal district trial court judge. After my clerkship, I will return to Kirkland & Ellis NYC office in their general litigation group.

Did you know coming into law school that you wanted to clerk and work in private practice?

I didn’t know coming into law school that I wanted to clerk but learned very quickly my 1L year that it was something I would be interested in. I did know that I wanted to work in private practice before I came to law school due to my public interest background. While I really enjoyed the work and found it to be very valuable, it was emotionally difficult to handle the client stories. The experience led to my pivot to private commercial practice, which I hoped would be removed enough from personal experiences.

What role did the size and location of the firm play in the search and decision process?

The size and location played a large role in my search and decision process. I wanted to get experience in a large variety of cases, and I also wanted a large enough firm in the beginning of my career that my work would be thoroughly checked and reviewed (and given feedback) before it was actually filed/used. I was interested in New York City because of the number and variety of commercial and regulatory cases that get filed there. (Also, I miss having easy access to Korean food.)

Was there anything in your law school or summer job experience that confirmed this career choice?

Both of my summer jobs confirmed that I would be happy working at a law firm. I remained undecided on if I wanted to be in transactional work or litigation work until my 2L summer. During my 2L summer, I did a couple of transactional projects that taught me my brain worked better with litigation. I made the transition from restructuring (transaction and litigation practice) to litigation at the tail end of the summer.

What classes do you think are helpful to prepare for this job?

In both the clerkship and the litigation group, I imagine any classes having to do with research and writing were helpful to prepare for my jobs. I’ll add a particular shout out to Advanced Legal Writing which taught me (1) to write more efficiently, and more importantly (2) to edit and edit again.

Can you describe the job search process?

A lot of waiting and networking. My job search process was a lot of sending out numerous and unending applications into the ether and waiting on responses. Additionally, I started earlier to give myself enough time to network with associates already at law firms to get an understanding of where I was applying to and give my application a better chance of being seen.

What are you most looking forward to about these jobs?

Learning! At the risk of being nerdy, I really enjoy the research and learning that goes into litigation work. I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of litigation through my clerkship and learning how to be a better litigator, researcher, and writer.