Jackson Kelly PLLC issued the following announcement on Jan. 28.
When I started law school at the age of 35, I couldn’t help but feel old compared to most of my classmates. I had spent a decade working in oil and gas before law school, and wasn’t sure how I would adapt to the return to school. It turned out that my age and experience were assets which helped me to thrive.
A few years later, I have graduated and started working at Jackson Kelly, a firm which has just begun to celebrate its 200th anniversary. Compared to JK, I don’t feel all that old anymore.
It wasn’t a given that I would come to work here, or somewhere like here, when I started law school. I thought that I might take my JD and return to oil and gas land work, or get the degree and use it as a springboard out into the world beyond the energy industry, or maybe even beyond West Virginia. As I moved through school, and had to finally decide what I was going to do after graduation, it became clear that Jackson Kelly was my best option. Six months after starting work here, I have found that I love it here even more than I expected, and I’d like to tell you why.
Jackson Kelly does pretty much everything, so I can too. As a new Associate, I find myself working with attorneys in a wide variety of practices. I have been able to help with oil and gas transactional matters, as well energy-related litigation, drawing on my pre-law school experience to help our clients. But I have also been able to work on cases involving employment, bankruptcy, healthcare, and more. I have found that Jackson Kelly is a firm which allows both specialists and generalists to thrive. I have been impressed at the knowledge many attorneys here have in specialized areas of the law and have been lucky to work with them. Particularly because I tend to want to be more of a generalist, focusing mainly on litigation but spreading my time among multiple industries and types of cases. I find that facing new issues of fact and law helps give me insight into each matter I handle that I wouldn’t have otherwise, and also, that variety keeps my mind most interested. Because Jackson Kelly has developed relationships with clients across every industry and built an in-depth base of knowledge and experience in wide-ranging areas of law over the past couple of centuries, I am able to do what I love, which is a little bit of everything.
Jackson Kelly has offices around the country, so I am able to work with issues and clients well beyond the boundaries of West Virginia, while still making my home among the hills. I have helped Members from multiple offices across several states with matters in both state and federal courts. The ability to work with attorneys from other places and to research and apply the law of other jurisdictions makes me more well-rounded and has accelerated my growth as a new associate.
Despite Jackson Kelly’s broad scope of practice areas and wide geographic footprint, we do have a strong history of work with the energy industry, which is both important to our communities and particularly interesting to me, personally. Even as I have worked across a range of industries and matters, I have been encouraged to hone my interest in energy issues. I have loved working on cases which allow me to put my experience and passion in this area into practice and am working with my JK mentors in energy practice areas on some exciting opportunities going forward, including developing internal presentations on emerging areas of the law. In that way, I am proud to make my small contribution to the extensive knowledge base of the firm.
Just as I benefited in law school from my own age and experience, I am now benefiting from the 200 years of Jackson Kelly’s experience as I work to make my own contribution to this diverse firm. I am both excited and humbled to be a small part of this team as we continue to serve our clients, both new and old.
Original source can be found here.
