Cincinnati Law Virtual Open House

If your first time:

1. Click on the WebEx Meeting link in the email invite or calendar invite to enter the meeting.
2. You will be asked to download a plug-in the first time you participate in a WebEx Meeting (do during testing so you are ready).
3. Next, you may be prompted to type in your name and email address before joining the meeting.

• Click on Join
• Password: Sent via email and text.

If returning to WebEx:

1. Click either the Start Meeting button in your email or click the link provided
2. You will be prompted - Click Open Cisco Webex Start
3. Click Agree
4. Click Start Meeting – The screen will launch
   1. If you are using the computer for audio, make sure that option is selected in the middle/bottom of the screen (use computer for audio).

Long before I had the concept of what an actual lawyer does, I knew I wanted to be one. And not just any lawyer, I wanted to be Jack McCoy from Law and Order.  Now that I have a few years of experience, I realize that I didn’t actually want to be Jack McCoy but that instead I identified with his strong character, his dedication to what he believed was right and wrong, his dedication to his craft as an attorney, and his ability to be a zealous advocate for the law.  Today, I watch Law and Order and cringe at many of the legal strategies he employs to obtain a verdict but his less cringeworthy traits continue to inspire me.  So, I knew going to undergrad at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY that I wanted to be a lawyer. I completed a major in Anthropology and Spanish hoping the critical skills gained studying cultures, people, and a foreign language would provide me with a strong foundation. As I graduated and looked into law schools, I knew I wanted to attend an institution that wasn’t too big, that was within driving distance of both Nashville, TN and Lexington, KY, and that would provide me with the ability to explore multiple areas of the law while I figured out exactly what types of clients I wanted to zealously represent.

Before my visit to Cincinnati Law in February of 2012, I poured over the website and learned everything I could about the law school before stepping foot on campus. My review showed me a school that supported any of the interests that I might develop as I completed my degree. In addition to the institution being able to foster those interests, it was also located in a city which served for the headquarters of some of the largest companies in the United States. The school’s proximity to Northern Kentucky and the opportunity to take advantage of the Graduate Metro Rate which significantly reduced my tuition as an out of state student, were the icing on the cake. When I left my on campus visit I realized that I would be able to receive an excellent legal education at a cost that would ultimate allow me to pursue my career of choice.

Like many law students, my first year of law school was stressful, hectic, and full of learning basic legal principles that may or may not be relevant to my current practice. My second year of law school, having figured out the “game” of law school was far more enjoyable as I was able to immerse myself in a course load that served the various interest I began to develop. My second year also included being the Program Assistant for the Center for Race Gender and Social Justice, now named the Nathanial R Jones Center for Race Gender and Social Justice. Through the Center, I quickly learned that my law degree and the critical thinking skills law school equips its graduates with could serve a greater purpose than meeting the needs of clients. Rather, a legal education teaches one to look at the world and find the sometimes complex and nuanced and sometimes mundane and straightforward solutions to the problems the world all to often generates.  My first experience with this was in the summer before my 3L year as a Certified Intern with the Brandery, where I and a classmate were paired together and given about seven startup clients who were all participating in an incubator program aimed at launching their respective companies by the fall. The experience, one available onto UC Law students, gave me the opportunity to provide legal and nonlegal guidance to my clients, provided me with invaluable insights into the importance of sound business formation, and allowed me to put the skills learned in law school to practice. The fall of my 3L year also gave me the opportunity to serve in the Domestic Violence Clinic housed within the Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice and held at the Legal Society of Greater Cincinnati. The experience allowed me to understand that a lawyer must always be an advocate for the clients she represents no matter how emotionally difficult the case may be, no matter how insensitive a judge or magistrate may behave to a client, and no matter the outcome of a hearing. If anything, my time at the DV Clinic taught me that law school teaches you the black and white of the law but legal experience will teach that the law is grey and not always kind.

Entering my final semester of law school, I had no idea what I wanted to do following graduation. I knew I would take the Ohio bar exam but beyond that, I flat out did not know. Luckily, through relationships and contacts I developed in and outside of the law school, I was afforded the opportunity to meet with Judge Hopkins of the Southern District of Ohio Bankruptcy Court to discuss a clerkship with his chambers.  I jumped at the opportunity. My clerkship with Judge Hopkins demonstrates that the relationship developed during your time at law school will be invaluable. Those relationships may be with a professor, a fellow law student, or legal practitioners. The College of Law is unique in that it provides many opportunities to foster these relationships throughout a student’s tenure at the physical building which makes it so much easier to join the profession outside of the building upon graduation.

My time at UC has ultimately culminated in joining a midsize firm, Dressman Benzinger and LaVelle, in August 2017 after the completion of my clerkship with Judge Hopkins. The education I gained at the College of Law and the exposure to the community and clinic available to me as a UC Law student have played a significant part in my success since joining the firm. Without UC Law, I might not be as comfortable as I am talking to clients or opposing counsel because I would not have had the Brandery, the DV Clinic, or a short-term course aimed at teaching law students how to communicate with clients under my belt. Likewise, I may not be as experienced with drafting legal documents if Professor Mangan’s Legal Drafting course had not taught me the basics and I may not be as a proficient legal researcher if Advanced Legal research, taught by the Law School’s extraordinary library staff, were not offered. Suffice it to say that I came to the College of Law with a dream to be a zealous advocate, sure of what was wrong and what was right, who was dedicated to the practice of law but UC Law made me into the practitioner I am today.

I know you have big decisions to make in the near future, made so much heavier by the last year of a global pandemic, but I hope the experiences I’ve shared about my time at UC Law aides in your decision-making process. If you decide to become a Bearcat like I did eight years ago, you will have chosen a school that will serve as a launch pad for years of success.

All the best,

Danyel P. Rickman, JD 2015

Associate Attorney at Dressman Benzinger LaVelle psc