MSU Degree(s):  

B.A. in English, 2011; M.A. in English, 2013 

Any other degrees:  

J.D. 2017, Mississippi College School of Law  

Favorite memories of being an undergraduate English major:  

Dr. Claggett’s dry erase board drawings (for example, to explain the panopticon) 

Current Position:  

Attorney 

Organization:  

Butler Snow LLP 

When you graduated with a degree in English from MSU, what were your plans for your future?  Has your career path mostly realized those early plans, or have you discovered new plans and goals along the way?  

I thought that I would either teach or practice law, and I have done both.  I taught high school immediately after graduating from Mississippi State before starting law school the following year.   

What is your current occupation, and what does your work mostly consist of?  

I am a commercial litigator at Butler Snow where I represent clients in commercial disputes.  I also represent clients in appeals.     

Which skills that you learned as an English major do you use most in your job?   

Practicing law – especially the areas in which I practice – can be very writing intensive.  Along those lines, editing and composition are two skills that I use every day that were honed as an English major.  The skill that has made the largest impact on my career, though, is analysis.  I am not sure I appreciated the analytical skills I was developing as I was writing a paper in Chaucer would transfer into the skills needed to evaluate whether a federal court has jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit filed against my client, but I know that my background as an English major established that foundation.  

What additional skills did you need to learn in order to do your job, and how did you learn them?  

I had to learn an entirely new form of research and new writing styles.    

Are there common misconceptions about your career field, which current English majors might share, that you have learned the truth about?  

Unlike on TV where a lawsuit might get resolved in a single episode (or at least a single season), the reality is that litigation is slow.  Often, cases take years to resolve – and many are resolved outside of the courtroom. 

In what ways does your career enrich your life and help you to achieve your personal as well as your professional goals?   

Litigation can be very demanding, but I find that it is very intellectually satisfying.   

What advice do you have for undergraduate English majors right now who might want to follow the career path you did?   

Learn as much about yourself as you can – your strengths, the environments in which you thrive, and the things that make you tick.  Then, start talking to lawyers to ask them what a day in the life is like, what kinds of clients they represent, what type of schedule they keep, and what they find satisfying about their jobs.  Ask yourself if that seems like a good fit for you.