Engagement Opportunities
Contact: lawschool@stthomas.edu
Alumni can help recruit new students in a variety of ways, including:
- Traveling to recruitment events regionally and nationally
- Participating in letter-writing, email, social media, and phone campaigns to reach out to admitted applicants
- Speaking, mingling and participating on panels at formal admissions events such as the Admitted Applicant Programs each spring
- Contributing to marketing pieces using profiles, photos and testimonials
- Responding to ad-hoc questions from applicants about specific areas of practice or other individual informational requests
One of the most important things you can do for admissions is to provide timely and accurate information to the School of Law. Prospective students want to know where our alumni are working and what practice areas are represented. We want our marketing materials to contain up-to-date and accurate information. Please help admissions by completing surveys from the law school and continuing to support on-campus programming. To become involved, contact: Cari Haaland, Associate Dean for Admissions, at lawschool@stthomas.edu or 651-962-4872.
Contact: lawcareers@stthomas.edu
The Office of Career and Professional Development can always use your help to assist our current students in their career planning and job searches.
Networking and Informational Interviews
One of the most significant ways you can help our current students is being willing to meet with them for informational interviews or just networking with them in the Twin Cities legal community. When students want to learn more about an area of law, a type of practice, or an employer, we would love to introduce them to alumni who can answer their questions. Whether you just graduated, have practiced for several years or have used your law degree in a non-traditional way, your perspective is valuable to a law student.
Panel Presentations and Speaking Engagements
CPD hosts many career-related events throughout the academic year. For many of these events we rely on professionals with practical experience like you, who can give students current, first-hand information about their area of expertise and your own personal career formation.
Mock Interviews
To prepare students as they search for jobs, experienced attorneys conduct mock interviews with students and provide them with advice on their job search. If you have experience interviewing law students or law graduates, this is a perfect volunteer opportunity for you.
Job opportunities
To provide opportunities for students, if you know of a job opportunity, please send the information to lawcareers@stthomas.edu.
Feeling more comfortable in your work as a lawyer? Wanting to share your wisdom, knowledge and insight with a St. Thomas Law student? Then partner with our Mentor Externship Program.
Contact: lawboa@stthomas.edu
The Board of Advocates (BOA) is a student organization that oversees all St. Thomas Law advocacy competitions. In addition to promoting student participation in existing competitions, the BOA evaluates the many advocacy competition invitations it receives. The board intends to continue expanding the number and variety of advocacy skills-building opportunities available to St. Thomas Law students.
Integral to the success of these unique educational opportunities is the participation of volunteer judges, attorneys, law professors and other legal professionals to coach and judge our students.
Attendance may vary from year to year, but St. Thomas Law students participate in these advocacy competitions:
- University of St. Thomas Intramural Moot Court Competition
- William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition
- Evan E. Evans Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition
- Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
- Giles Sutherland Rich Intellectual Property Moot Court Competition
- New York City Bar Association National Moot Court Competition
- American Bar Association National Appellate Advocacy Competition
- University of St. Thomas' Minnesota Moot Court Competition
- American Association for Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition
- Texas Young Lawyers Association National Trial Competition
- American Bar Association Law Student Division Negotiation Competition
For further information about specific competitions and how you can help as a coach and/or judge, please contact Professor Julie Jonas, faculty advisor, at jajonas@stthomas.edu.
Alumni also volunteer to present CLEs and speak in the classroom. Both new and veteran lawyers often seek the assistance and counsel of lawyers who excel in a specific legal niche. Each School of Law faculty member is committed to sharing knowledge related to his or her specialty with law school graduates.
For more information, please email lawalumni@stthomas.edu.
Lawyer Search is an online directory that connects St. Thomas Law alumni with potential clients and colleagues. It allows current and prospective students to find and network with St. Thomas Law alumni. The directory is a valuable source of business development for our alumni. Sign up for Lawyer Search as part of your business development strategy and make yourself available to the next generation of St. Thomas lawyers. Please email lawalumni@stthomas.edu for assistance.
St. Thomas Law Alumni Practice Groups are communities of alumni united by shared areas of legal or professional focus. These groups offer meaningful opportunities to network, exchange ideas, mentor students, and grow alongside fellow Tommies.
Get involved:
- Join a current practice group and connect with alumni who share your interests.
- Start a new group and help shape its purpose, offerings, and future.
Participation is free and flexible—designed to work around your schedule.
Current Practice Groups:
Business and Real Estate
Contact: Alex Frescoln
Civil Litigation
Contacts: Matt Donovan and Pat O’Neill
Criminal
Contact: Ronnie Santana
Estate Planning
Contact: Charles Austinson
Family
Contact: Peter Wollan
In-House Counsel
Contacts: Jeff Maleska, Paige Andruss and Ashley Frescoln
Non-Traditional Practice
Contact: Rylie Niebuhr
Personal Injury
Contacts: Eric Palmer and Nate Dahl
Privacy
Contact: Luis Alberto Serrano Molinos