LMJ Scholars Class: 2008
Originally From: Galesville, MD
Current Location: Washington, D.C.
Current Company: Danaher Corporation
Bryant learned about the LMJ scholarship through scholarship and financial aid announcements at his law school. We recently reconnected with Bryant to talk about how the scholarship impacted his career and what he is up to now.
What did receiving the LMJ Scholarship mean for you and for your legal education?
I don’t think you realize the full burden of law school debt while you are in school. Graduating with a lower debt burden opens up the opportunity to consider career paths in the legal field without being driven solely by financial incentives. I chose to work in a private law firm, but in talking with colleagues who have chosen public interest careers or government service, they often comment about the weight in which law school debt drove their career choices. It’s been helpful for me through this scholarship to allow my legal interests to drive my career decisions apart from law school debt considerations.
What are some ways MCCA and the LMJ Scholars Program have been helpful to you in your career?
My sponsor was the Deputy General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer at Xerox. If I had questions about how to make law school work or how to prepare for an exam, she was always willing to answer my questions. She also offered her guidance on bigger questions, for example, which firms to consider and how to shape my career. She was a real and present on-call resource that I wouldn’t have had without the scholarship. Going into practice, I’ve continued to keep in touch with her and it’s been an important connection for me. The MCCA LMJ scholarship made that possible.
What advice do you have for someone applying to LMJ about the scholarship and about their larger legal career?
The most important thing is to remember where you’ve come from because it’s critical to try to bring your whole self to legal practice. The only way that you’re going to survive and thrive in practice is to remember your core values and the hard work that has gotten you to law school. Don’t forget those values because they’ll be sources of strength for you to rely upon as you navigate your career.
In terms of how to navigate the scholarship process, it’s really important to invest in the program and to be open to saying yes to different experiences and connecting with different people. MCCA is providing a significant platform to create and expand those opportunities for legal professionals.
What are you doing now?
I work at Williams and Connolly in our litigation practice. I started at the firm in 2012 after completing a clerkship. I’ve worked on a variety of cases ranging from white collar matters to significant criminal matters and have also worked on a range of business disputes. As a litigator, I counsel clients on difficult issues that come up and help them to navigate those challenges. Additionally, I research, write, and think critically about how clients’ problems relate to the law and what their best defenses are. It’s a challenging, interesting, and intellectually stimulating practice. I love working with my team. We emphasize teamwork and collaborative problem solving. It’s been an interesting and rewarding career path for me.