by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
Someone with extra time on his hands did the research, tallied the figures and reported that more students are enrolled in law schools around the country than there are lawyers in actual practice.
That may seem like a stretch. In Jacksonville alone, there are 78 pages of attorney listings in the Yellow Pages.
But that begs the question.
Where will all those students go when they graduate?
The answer, said Laura Giuffrida, is to firms that are looking for brand-new lawyers who will be ready to work their first day through the door.
“Dean (Peter) Goplerud has made it known he wants to continue to strive to have students hit the ground running,” said Giuffrida, recently named the Career Services director at Florida Coastal School of Law. “That is unique.
“I can tell you, when I came out of law school, I had no idea what to expect. You learn theory in a lot of classes, but you don’t actually put it into practice. Here, we try and do that.”
The Orlando native earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her law degree at the University of Florida.
“I loved it; I am a Gator,” she said. “But I can also say Florida Coastal is trying to make it a little easier for students to transition into the real world of being an attorney.”
With enrollment at an all-time high of 900 students, the school felt an additional person was needed to help students make career plans. The two people primarily responsible for that in the past have been Kathy Payne, assistant director for Career Services, and Jarrod Turner, director of Institutional Support.
“We’re expanding,” said Giuffrida. “We’re getting more people on board to help all the students we have now.”
Giuffrida tries to meet with as many students as possible. She looks over their resumes and cover letters, and helps them with interviewing skills. She organizes workshops that prepare students to enter the legal world; lecturers and panelists are lined up to provide insight into specific areas of the law.
“We try to educate them on the possibilities of different jobs — legal and nonlegal jobs — whatever they’re interested in,” she said.
The school also organizes an annual Career Day luncheon, which gives students an opportunity to meet members of the judiciary, the Jacksonville Bar Association and local law firms.
One student who attended this year’s Career Day, held Sept. 15 at The University Club, has already been offered a job.
“She called me, very excited about it,” said Giuffrida. “Some other people handed out resumes. I would not be surprised if more jobs came out of it.
“I spoke to an attorney who said he was really impressed by a lot of our students, and he was looking to hire more.”
Giuffrida had thought seriously about going to medical school, quite likely due to the influence of her father, a physician, and her mother, a counselor. She had finished her medical school prerequisites and was ready to take the MCAT.
“Basically, I had an epiphany that that’s not what I wanted to do,” she said. “I went around with different attorneys to see what they did. I took a year off, and that’s when I took the LSAT.”
Her deep, technical background in the sciences, coupled with a lot of reading, helped immeasurably in law school.
“To me, law school was almost easier than my undergraduate because I had learned to read so much,” she said. “I also had more of an interest in the law than in organic chemistry or physics. I can’t imagine why.”
The psychology courses themselves have also proved valuable in her career.
“You learn how to analyze people,” said Giuffrida. “You try and figure out what their goals are and where they’re going with something.
“It’s been extremely helpful in counseling students. Even in the law, you always want to anticipate your opponent’s strategy, and psychology helps a little bit with that.”
After graduation, she worked for a firm in Miami before joining Bullock, Childs, Pendley & Reed in Jacksonville, where she did medical malpractice defense work. She came to FCSL from Holland & Knight, where she primarily worked in commercial litigation.
She applied for the job in Career Services because she loved school and was eager to get back.
“I remember being in law school, thinking what a great job my Career Services director had. She really helped me figure out where to go and how to get there,” said Giuffrida. “When I heard about the opening here, I thought it was the perfect opportunity.
“To be back in a college setting is really exciting, especially a law school like Florida Coastal that is really growing, really developing. It’s a great time to be here.”