1. Career Paths: Tyler Schieda ’26L

Tyler Schieda is from Monroe Township, New Jersey. He attended Villanova University, where he received a B.A. in economics. After college, he worked as a paralegal for two years in Washington, D.C. At W&L, he is a Burks Scholar, Hearing Advisor, Co-chair of the John W. Davis Moot Court Competition, Law Ambassador, Sports Czar, and member of the W&L Law Review. After graduation, he will work with the litigation group at Sidley Austin in the firm's Washington, D.C. office.

Did you know coming into law school that you wanted to work in this field?

Yes. Before law school, I did litigation work as a paralegal, and I enjoyed it. I liked the team-oriented environment and the process of advocacy. After seeing the work that litigators did, I was confident that I wanted to take my career in that direction.

What role did the size and location of the firm play in the search and decision process?

The size and location of the firm played a large role in my search and decision process. I knew I wanted to work in New York or Washington, D.C., so I focused my search on those markets. I also wanted to work at a big firm, but one with a positive work environment where I would get along with my colleagues. Sidley struck a perfect balance between these priorities. It is a big firm that will give me opportunities to work on complex litigation and is a firm where colleagues treat each other with respect.

Was there anything in your law school or summer job experience that confirmed this career choice?

This past summer, I formed friendships with members of my summer associate class, and I am excited to begin my legal career with them. It was easy to interact with lawyers of all tenure at the firm. I had many candid conversations with partners and associates-people were happy to share their experiences and offer advice. I was also able to work on interesting cases that involved novel legal issues. The work I did this summer is work that I hope to do as an associate, so it was reassuring to get experience with it right off the bat.

What classes do you think are helpful to prepare for this job?

Legal writing was extremely helpful for this job. Almost all of my work product was a form of writing, be it an email, memo, or informal collection of notes. My writing was reviewed by attorneys and sometimes was the first impression I made on a lawyer. As I worked with difficult legal issues, it was helpful to feel that I had a solid foundation in legal writing. That is not to say my writing did not improve over the summer-it did and I still have a lot to learn. But the experience I had in legal writing with Professor Skeeles-Shiner as a 1L set me up to succeed in this role. One skill I had to draw on this summer was deciphering not only what a court decided but why the court decided that way. I then applied that reasoning to a different set of facts. To do this, I had to draw on the critical thinking abilities I developed during my first two years of law school. I relied heavily on classes that spent a lot of time exploring what motivated a court's decision. Federal Courts with Professor Trammell was especially helpful for this type of thinking. Finally, Professor Eggert's antitrust class proved invaluable when I did antitrust work over the summer.

Can you describe the job search process?

Law firm recruitment started at the beginning of my 1L summer, which was earlier than previous years. It was challenging to balance my 1L summer job with the 2L summer job search, but I was lucky to have great colleagues my 1L summer and we supported each other along the way. I found job searching to be exciting, stressful, and tiring. Mostly stressful, but the prospect of figuring out my future was exciting. Much of the job search was sending out applications and hoping to hear back. Sometimes you don't hear back-and that's okay! Another big component was networking, which can be exhausting, but is a place where W&L shines. In my experience, W&L alumni are eager to connect with W&L students and help them out in any way they can.

What are you most looking forward to about this job?

I think Sidley will be a great place for me to "grow up" as a lawyer, and I am excited for that. I will hone my skills doing challenging work with great mentors and colleagues.

Outside Law School

Hobby

Running and cooking

Favorite Location in Lexington/W&L Campus

The Chessie Trail

Advice for Prospective Law Student

Pick one or two hobbies you enjoy and commit to maintaining them during law school.

Something/Someone you will miss at W&L Law

Living with/near my law school friends in Lexington, all of us on a law school schedule. These will definitely be "the good old days."

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