Lincoln Law School Dean Laura Palazzolo On Diversifying The Legal Industry And Discovering ‘Diamonds In The Rough’

“We’re like diamonds in the sky / You’re a shooting star / I see a vision of ecstasy / When you hold me, I’m alive / We’re like diamonds in the sky.” — Rihanna

Next year, California-accredited Lincoln Law School of San Jose turns 100-years old. It recently announced Laura Palazzolo as its new full-time Dean.

In her Dean’s Message, Palazzolo writes:

For many people, ‘Option A’ is not an option. Perhaps you’re one of them. That doesn’t mean you must set aside your dream to be a lawyer. It doesn’t mean that the legal community doesn’t need you, and others like you.

Lincoln Law School is dedicated to becoming the path to your goals. We’re here to make sure you have the chance to crush your own personal ‘Option B.’

This week, I had the opportunity to catch up with Dean Palazzolo. She was gracious enough to share with ATL’s audience her personal experiences, advice for law school candidates, and plans for Lincoln Law’s future. The following is a (lightly edited and condensed) write-up of our conversation:

Renwei Chung (RC): Congratulations on your recent full-time appointment as the Dean of Lincoln Law School of San Jose. After seventeen successful years of practice in the private sector, what prompted this move?

Laura Palazzolo (LP): Thank you. The education I received at Lincoln Law School provided me with opportunities I could never have imagined. So, when presented with the chance to help others find those open doors, I could not refuse.

Despite significant and very gratifying victories for my clients over the years, I still get the most joy out of watching Lincoln students on graduation day. They bring their beaming immigrant parents, their screaming babies and toddlers – and I know that we’ve changed the trajectory of a family for generations. I am truly blessed to have a part in that.

RC: Lincoln Law celebrates its 100th Anniversary next year. What are you most proud of thus far and what major projects do you have planned for the future?

LP: Lincoln graduates boast some amazing accomplishments. The first Chinese lawyer in California, San Jose’s former Police Chief, the current President of our County Board of Supervisors, judges, business leaders and firm partners too numerous to count. But my pride is not in what Lincoln Lawyers do, I’m proud of who they are.

Our corporate leaders fill their legal departments with Lincoln graduates because they know that anyone who can go manage a job, a family, and law school at night for four years straight can handle anything the work world has to throw at them. Other Lincoln lawyers run small firms that specialize in serving the unique needs of our state’s multicultural communities.

So as we celebrate 100 years of Lincoln alumni and the communities they’ve built and continue to build, my dream is to see this brilliant idea of a practical, affordable legal education be embraced in other parts of the country. There’s plenty of passion in America. We need a better pipeline.

RC: As a single mom with three young children, you decided to enroll in law school. You mentioned that you were initially offended when the former dean introduced you to others as a diamond in the rough, but then came to embrace the term. What does this term mean to you and how can more law schools discover diamonds in the rough?

LP: I was raised by a mechanic and a stay-at-home mom, so the “social graces” were never part of my upbringing. At Lincoln, the dean knew I had the intellectual capacity and drive to make a great attorney (I was valedictorian of my law school class). But I had a lot to learn about how to walk and talk and dress and act if I wanted to make it at a firm. Being a lawyer requires skill and confidence.

The standard law school admissions process weeds out students with low confidence levels (their standardized test scores and letters of recommendation won’t be on the same level — mostly because they don’t have knowledgeable people advising them). Today we’re actively recruiting students with a passion for social justice, but who can’t imagine being a lawyer. It’s too big a leap. Among other things, they’d be the first in their families to even graduate from college.

We’re trying to convince them they can do it, and that they won’t feel like a fish out of water the whole time. If law schools want to diversify, we have to be less intimidating.

RC: What advice do you have for others currently contemplating applying to law school?

LP: Law school is a process, not a destination. Don’t be afraid to apply just because you cannot see the end of the road. You only have to imagine yourself at the beginning, and trust that the process will lead you to become the person you need to be to succeed.

I was many years out of college when I started law school, and I had no real idea what kind of law I wanted to practice. I just knew I wanted to be a lawyer and I would never be one if I did not take the first step.

The funds will come. The jobs will come. The people you need to mentor you to the next level will come. You just need to show up and do what is asked of you — one hour, one day, one class at a time.

RC: You recently wrote, “Lincoln is not the place where fresh-out-of-college 23-year-olds go to learn the law. Rather, Lincoln is filled with students of all ages, at all stages in life. People who have lots of life experience to share.” What do you mean by this?

LP: So many people never pursue their dreams because they think it’s too late. They imagine law school to be a place where young college graduates go to step all over each other in a quest to be in the top ten percent so they can get the top jobs. Lincoln’s evening program is designed for people who are already working.

Our students are seeking to advance existing careers or to shift focus. The law is something they can use now, in their everyday lives, not just after they graduate. They’ve owned houses, and bought cars, and raised troubled teens, so the conversations in our real property, contracts, and criminal law classes are much richer because they are based on a level of understanding that can only come from life experience. A focus on application rather than competition provides for a more inclusive learning environment.

RC: What specific advice do you have for law firms to become more diverse and inclusive?

LP: There aren’t enough people of color getting through the “pedigree” pipeline. There are so many barriers — the cost of an education, the confidence to go to law school, and then the social barriers (learning to look and act like a professional if that isn’t in one’s background). Firms cannot wait to identify strong law school candidates and give one or two students a third-year scholarship.

That same $50,000 could fund a Law Academy program at the high school level and get a dozen students started on the path.

Double that and we give half a dozen students a bachelor’s degree (two years at community college and the rest at a state school). The path from high school to a JD at Lincoln is about $80,000 in total. If we can identify bright, passionate students early, we can open that pipeline so much wider with the same monetary investment. The focus must be their ability to do the work, not their pedigree.

RC: It was great chatting with you. Is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?

LP: I believe there must be an integrated process by which people interested in knowing their rights can access a quality legal education without taking on the kind of debt that only a big firm associate can afford to repay.

I have often told my own kids they should go to law school because it will make a tremendous difference in the way they move through the world. They’ll read that small print and understand it; they’ll understand how to take title to a house, and how to protect separate interests if they get married; they’ll understand basic Constitutional rights like free speech and the right to privacy. Important everyday things.

Why should someone have to be a lawyer to know that? There’s so much outcry about the ignorance of the electorate. Why? Partly because we’ve priced people out of legal literacy. I aim to fix that.

On behalf of everyone here at Above the Law, I would like to thank Laura Palazzolo for taking the time to share her story with our audience. We wish her continued success in her career.

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Renwei Chung is the Diversity Columnist at Above the Law. You can contact Renwei by email at [email protected], follow him on Twitter (@renweichung), or connect with him on LinkedIn.