It’s easy to be discouraged if you’re a newly minted lawyer these days. Landing a spot at a well-respected school, securing an associate job, shouldering hefty academic debt: The gauntlet can seem endless. But when I read over the profiles of our eight 2012 Lifetime Achievers, I couldn’t help but hope that law students read these stories. The achievers’ professional accomplishments are tremendous. To name a few: Michele Coleman Mayes helmed the legal departments at preeminent corporations. Morrison & Foerster’s James Brosnahan has gone to trial more than 140 times and won more than 90 percent of those cases. And DLA Piper’s George Mitchell is a household name for his work in the Senate and abroad.
What heartens me is the achievers’ enthusiasm for their profession: both for the practice of law itself and for the ways that the field has allowed them to further their many causes. It’s inspiring to see all that they’ve accomplished with their law degrees, and it’s a reminder to the law school class of 2012 of how much patience and persistence can, ultimately, pay off.
Robin Sparkman, editor-in-chief
