Advisement Along The Path


Professor Steve Baldridge serves as the primary advisor for students considering law school and legal careers. He is freely available for sound advice and direction. Others on campus are also available for counsel, such as faculty advisors and President Smith.

It is recommended that all pre-law students take Introduction to the Study of Law to investigate what law is really about, preferably in the fall of their junior year, or in their senior year. This course brings together the full range of pre-law advising information and experiences to help students understand the law school application process, choose a school that is a good fit for them, and perform well on the LSAT and in law school studies.

Students considering law are advised to take logic classes to help them excel on the “games” section of the LSAT. They are also advised to take the financial accounting class, since misallocation of client trust accounts is by far the most common reason attorneys are disciplined by their bar associations.

A note from Jana Huggins ('04) about Devin Huggins ('04), her husband:

I just want to take a moment to brag about how Devin is doing in law school. If there are any Southern Virginia students wanting to pursue a career in law, I think that Devin is a great example. At Southern Virginia he majored in Theatre and Music with a minor in Philosophy. All three of those disciplines have proven very helpful in law school. Devin attends Baylor Law School in Waco, Texas. It's ranked 6th in the nation for trial law programs and is known for its difficult classes. Despite all of that, Devin is in the top five percent of his class. He is a senior executive editor of the Baylor Law Review and is on both the moot court and the mock trial teams, which are very competitive to get onto. Last quarter his moot court team competed in a competition against all the other law schools in Texas.  Devin and his teammate went into the final round undefeated and won the entire competition in front of the real judges that sit on the Austin court of appeals. Not only did they win, but Devin was awarded top speaker over the entire competition. I know that the creative and rigorous education of Southern Virginia has played a part in Devin doing so well with his legal education. I don't know if this helps at all, but as a Southern Virginia alumna myself I do enjoy a good Southern Virginia graduate success story and I really think Devin is a great one.