My 2020 reflection: towards the end of law school and during my clerkship, I became increasingly bummed about the dissonance between my professional goals (raw ambition, be as fancy and powerful an appellate lawyer as possible) and my values 1/6

So this year, I changed my goals. Now, I want to do great work for clients I care about. I want to feel proud of the quality and substance of my legal arguments. And now that I’m here, I can’t imagine being a lawyer in any other way 2/6

World-class appellate litigation isn’t only the realm of DOJ and BigLaw. Read briefs from @CampaignLegal, @CREWcrew, @Public_Citizen, @Public_Justice, @NAACP_LDF, @GuptaWessler, and so many more extraordinary public interest groups 3/6

The law school prestige hierarchy isn’t only morally bankrupt. It was wrong on the merits! There’s NO tradeoff between doing extraordinary work with brilliant people and living progressive values 4/6

I’m embarrassed to admit how badly hoodwinked I was by the conventional wisdom. Hook, line, and sinker. Please tease me for this, I will take it in good cheer, and I deserve it! But I hope others can learn from my belated realization. 5/6

Anyway, 2020 was a dumpster fire in many ways, but it was also a year of immense personal growth. I’m full-body happy and fulfilled in a way I’ve never been before. Living your values feels good folks!!!! Fin.