In the Context of Energy, Law is Anything But Boring

Law school didn’t occur to me until halfway through undergrad. My personality is one of a peacemaker and problem solver, not a fighter, which is the general impression I previously had of lawyers. When I realized that the nuts and bolts of the energy and environmental policies I was studying and hearing about on the news were executed through law, I knew that my personality, my interests and goals, and a law degree were actually not mutually exclusive.

By far the Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC) was USD Law’s major selling point for me. I already knew I wanted to be an energy attorney, and USD Law has one of the best energy law programs in the state. I also wanted to stay close to home in Southern California, and with San Diego’s rising clean tech and sustainable business economy, picking USD was an easy choice.

I was already interested in the legal perspective of energy before I went to law school. What cemented my interest were the people I met, the topics I learned, and the skills I built through clerkships at state regulatory agencies. Those experiences made clear that energy law is the intersection of a multitude of disciplines: business, government, politics, innovative technology, physics, transportation, and environment, to name a few. It’s the application of tested arguments creatively re-crafted to resolve the latest issues. How could I ever get bored?

After graduation, I worked as an associate at a boutique firm in Sacramento that serves clients in the energy and water industries. Now I’m at San Diego Gas & Electric, the utility serving San Diego and southern Orange County.

USD Law gave me a strong foundation in the basic legal subjects, a necessity since energy law requires capable versatility. Crucially, USD Law provided a wealth of industry-specific resources. USD Law had an unrivaled offering of energy-related, practical classes taught by faculty with real-world expertise and who are well known in the regulatory arena.

Seek as much industry-specific experience as possible and find out what an energy attorney actually does on a day-to-day basis to develop your skill set and knowledge-base accordingly. In addition, try to learn the bigger picture of the industry, a feat in itself: the most inspiring senior attorneys are assets, rather than cost-centers, for business. If I had to do anything differently, I would have undertaken more informational interviews and met more professionals in this field earlier, including those not in law.

EPIC, the Energy Law and Policy Clinic, Environmental Law Society, and the Center for Public Interest Law.

Meeting smart and talented friends who geek out on energy as much as I do!