Ellie Park, Multimedia Managing Editor

This past Saturday, nearly 400 undergraduate students gathered in the Levinson Auditorium at the Yale Law School for the inaugural “Pre-Professional Development Conference in Law, Policy, Government, and Non-Profits,” a collaboration between the Yale College Council and the Yale Law School.  

The 11 speakers came from New Haven, London, Los Angeles, Boston and New York. The conference began with a brief introduction from conference coordinators, Brian Zhang ’25 and Sabrina Guo ’27, and, via video, guest of honor Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken. 

Gerken’s message focused on the progress the law school has undergone over the past few years and what the future holds for it. She boasted of the impressive 10 percent veteran population in this year’s first-year class, the creation of the Hurst-Horizon Scholarship Program that sought to eliminate tuition cost for many students and the creation of two pipeline programs for students around the country to gain skills in applying to their preferred law school program.

“I tell you all of this to point out what is possible, not just for Yale Law School, but for all law schools,” Gerken said. “It is possible for law schools to eliminate barriers for talented students who dream of careers in the law. It is possible for law schools to continue innovating in how they reach students. I know this is possible because I’ve seen it. And of course, I say this all to point out what is possible for you.”

Gerken introduced the conference’s keynote speaker Jef McAllister ’77 LAW ’86, managing partner at McAllister Olivarius, an international law firm headquartered in the U.S. and U.K., and the former TIME magazine London bureau chief.

He detailed how the last 50 years of his life led him to his current role. At Yale, McAllister was a history major fascinated by American foreign policy. With the help of what he described as the “Yale Old Boys Network,” McAllister received a series of journalism opportunities that gave him experience in the often mysterious world of politics.

“I think a lot of my classmates at the Yale Daily News were jealous, but my first point of advice is, luck is like that,” McAllister said. “When you get a break, take it. You don’t get all the breaks that you deserve, but when you do get one, take it.”

He encouraged his audience to recognize the value of a Yale degree and a liberal arts education in teaching logical thinking, clear writing and being skeptical rather than cynical.

The first round of panelists included Ann Olivarius ’77 LAW ’86 SOM ’86, lecturer Genevieve Scott, Anita Wu ’03 LAW ’06, Anant Raut ’96 and Keli Huang. The panel primarily delved into the paths the panelists took to getting to their current legal positions.

Raut, in particular, hoped that students took away the perspective of finding “resilience on the face of failure” when pursuing jobs pertaining to the law, be it in the private or public sector.

Sandwiched between the first and second panels was a networking event, intended to provide time and space for attendees to speak with the panelists and one another. 

Johnathan McGee ’28, who attended the event, said that he came because he was curious about the careers of lawyers affiliated with Yale and hoped to gain insight into the lawyer lifestyle.

“I feel like I learned a lot about what it takes to be a lawyer and how people are interacting with the law in various ways,” McGee said. “It’s good to know how to do things inside of college to prepare us for the future.”

The second round of panelists included incoming law student Carissa Chen, Maggie Wang LAW ’25, Deja Morehead LAW ’25, Cris Guevara-Plunkett LAW ’26 and Director of Recruiting and Community Engagement Jon Perdue.

Much of the second panel was spent discussing how to navigate law school admissions and academics in a post-Trump landscape.

“When I was admitted, I thought it was a prank,” Guevara-Plunkett said. “And I thought that for a very long time, and I don’t think that anymore, but imposter syndrome is real. I think that reflects what a privilege it is to be here.”

Perdue echoed these sentiments that Yale is a prestigious and competitive institution, but he encouraged audience members to apply with authenticity to stand out amongst their peers.

“What we value are the strongest students we can possibly find,” Perdue said. “And strong students rarely have perfect numbers because they take risks. And strong students have a very strong sense of self. They know what they’re about. They may not know what they want to do with their law degree, but they will find their purpose, and they will land on their feet.”

He offered advice to students unsure about where their passions lie within the legal field or how to incorporate intersectionality in their profession.

“I think if I was to make a suggestion, it would be to resist the pull of being the common denominator,” Perdue said. “Try to take bigger risks and think creatively about what might bring you to law school. You’re figuring out who you are and what you care about.”

Perdue said that the biggest mistake he sees applicants making in their law school applications is following a “script” and focusing on school statistics or a specific test score range.

“Follow the instructions, proofread your materials, to the best of your ability, know your margins and flaws and really think deeply about the promises and essays that you have to submit and make sure you have something that you want to say,” Perdue said.

Guo says that the conference’s inception was grounded in her personal belief that law lacks a defined path, unlike fields pertaining to medicine or business. Guo hopes that the conference inspired students and gave them further insight into the process.

“As a team, we couldn’t have asked for a better outcome,” Guo said. “Over 400 students registered, and we received very positive feedback. I hope YCC can build on this model for future pre-law conferences as the high demand will persist.” 

The median Yale Law School LSAT score, out of 180, is 174.