BYU lecture series was eager to have David Barlow as its speaker on March 7th, 2019. Barlow received his bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University. He received his J.D. degree from Yale Law School, where he was a Truman Scholar. Barlow worked for the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin for a time. He then was chief counsel to Mike Lee in connection with Lee's position as a member of the Senate judiciary committee. David B. Barlow has served as United States Attorney for the district of Utah since October 2011.
David Barlow gave students insight into the many options that accompany a law degree. He shared his wealth of experience and gave ideas for possible career paths for anyone considering law. The career paths that he spoke on included working as an attorney at a law firm, in-house counsel, and US attorney’s office. For those interested in working at a law firm, their career path can be as easy as passing the bar exam and then applying to law firms. Connections is key when starting out. To work for a company at an In-House position, he recommended that they first start at a law firm to gain experience. Then, as they make connections with clients and send their resume out, the opportunity to be at an in-house position will come. Finally, there are 94 federal districts in the US. The US attorney’s office in Utah has 90 personal and half of them are attorneys. To get one of these positions an individual interested might look into doing an unpaid internship while in law school for the US attorney’s office. Later, after gaining experience from a law firm, one can send in their resume and application to get started.
After David Barlow shared insight in these career paths, he shared with students advise on how they can start preparing now for their futures.
- Invest a lot of time now to try to figure out what it is you really want professionally. Find what suites you and spend time with people in various stages of that profession so that you can learn from them. Ask them question and see what their life is like. It can help you make a better decision. The best time to do that is now!
- Be thinking about your network; the people you go to school with and the teachers you are around. This is way more important than you might be thinking. At the end of the day our lives boil down to relationships. Those rich associations and friendships will be so important for your future. Stay in touch. Make space for others in your lives.
- Ask yourself what it is you want your life to be about. If you ask yourself that questions periodically, you can break through what is right and what you really want. It helps you know what is critically important.
- As daunting as BYU can be, as daunting as graduate school, or work experience is, it is all going to be great!! The ultimate experience will be wonderful. So, when it is hard and heavy, don’t get down and worry that you are failing. Because that is life, you'll get over that difficult time and you will do great things!
We are so appreciative of the time and insight that David Barlow shared with us. He built confidence in all the student that the future is bright and helped law students better understand their future career path. Thank you!