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M.B.A in Finance and Law Career by David Motoya, Dean at Texas School of Law

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  6. M.B.A in Finance and Law Career by David Motoya, Dean at Texas School of Law

published September 06, 2004

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( 17 votes, average: 3.9 out of 5)
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<<Montoya graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in accounting and began his professional life at Arthur Andersen & Co. in Dallas. He then moved to Burlington Resources, a Fortune 200 company, where he spent about five years as a C.P.A. He had initially planned to continue his education by pursuing an M.B.A., but his mentors at Burlington steered him in a different direction. "They suggested that, coupled with the business background and C.P.A. experience I'd already accumulated, a law degree might be more versatile and more valued," Montoya recalls.

Montoya ended up at UT Law School, with the intention of returning to corporate America upon receiving his degree. But like so many students, his vision expanded once he began his studies. "Law school opens up so many more opportunities and alternatives you might not have considered before," Montoya explains. "Not uncommonly, students coming into law school have previous careers and a notion that in order to build on what they've already done, they need to go a particular route." In Montoya's own case, he'd done well in the corporate world and began law school as "a sort of accumulation of more credentials to continue along that same corporate path." He eventually realized that branching off into work at a private practice would provide a breadth to his experience that corporate employers value highly.

Montoya's first job after law school was at a mid-sized firm in San Antonio, when "merger mania" was sweeping the legal community. "That firm," Montoya recounts, "experienced what a lot of mid-sized firms were experiencing, an internal split in the direction the firm was taking. Some of the older, more experienced attorneys wanted to stay their independent course, while many of the young up-and-coming members of management felt they'd be best served by joining up with a larger firm." That internal division led Montoya to leave the firm and return to Austin, where he worked at Bracewell & Patterson for a couple of years before joining Jackson Walker, where he spent six years and became a partner in commercial litigation and corporate reorganization.

Because Montoya enjoyed his colleagues at Jackson Walker so much, it was a tough call when the opportunity to lead UT's Career Services department presented itself earlier this year. Ultimately, he couldn't resist coming back to his alma mater to share his remarkable professional experience while assisting eager law students intent on making their own distinct career mark. "The chance to come work for this great school, counseling exceptional students, and being part of an outstanding staff was enough for me to decide to retire early from the practice of law." There were other appealing aspects of the job switch. Montoya appreciates the "kinder and gentler" atmosphere of an academic environment, a contrast to the rigidity required when practicing in a litigation setting. "And of course," Montoya jokingly adds, "the thought of no longer living my life in one-tenth-of-an-hour increments contributed to my decision."

Montoya is fortunate to be part of an excellent, multi-talented staff at UT, which includes individual counselors with specialized knowledge in private practice, international law, judicial clerkship, public service, and alternative non-practicing career paths to serve their students' broad interests. "The one-on-one counseling assists students to develop personalized career-search plans. We direct them to the extensive resources we have, such as our mentor directory and job bulletins. We help them to prepare resumes and cover letters, and we conduct mock interviews."

The on-campus interviewing program gives students access to the kinds of employers "that have the resources and economic model that allow them to know what kind of new-attorney demand they will have several months into the future," though, Montoya adds, these interviews are not the only things students should concentrate on. The staff also organizes a number of programs and workshops "designed to teach students about various practice areas and career paths available to them and to begin putting them in contact with practitioners who can assist them in finding jobs down the road," in addition to sponsoring job fairs in major cities around the country.

Though his time in Career Services has been relatively short so far, Montoya has already had his preconceived notions about the students he deals with proven incorrect. "For whatever reason, I might have assumed that students wouldn't be as realistic as they need to be. But in fact, we have, for the most part, very sophisticated students who seem to clearly understand the job market, even what they need to do in order to get where they want to be; so that's helpful."

That job market, Montoya is happy to report, is beginning to show an uptick in transactional work, though highly sought after positions such as sports agents and entertainment lawyers continue to be scarce. "Both Dallas and Houston are hotbeds nationally, with some encouraging increases in job opportunities for new lawyers," Montoya adds. This is a particularly encouraging trend for UT students, about 75% of whom find post-grad placement within Texas.

The advice Montoya has for students is similar to what he offered the young lawyers he mentored at the firm. "I used to counsel first-year associates to conduct themselves as sole proprietors, viewing partners and senior associates as clients," Montoya recalls. "They'd succeed at the firm if they ran their own office as a stand-alone shop, 'selling' their services to the attorneys, who had more work than they could do on their own. If the new associates made themselves available and did top-quality work on everything they were assigned, they could foster a reputation that would sustain a constant flow of stimulating work for themselves."

For students, the corollary is to view the first day of law school as the start of their legal career. "Students should view themselves as their own advocate," Montoya advises, "representing themselves as professionally as they would a client, which means working hard and always being thoroughly prepared. They must remember they're being considered to represent the clients of the firms they're targeting. An attorney's main asset is his reputation among peers and clients."

For a short time after making the transition, Montoya wondered what his peers in thelegal community would think of his decision to leave practice and come back to UT. But the responses he got quickly proved he'd landed well. "The most common feedback I got was, 'How did you go about the transition?' and 'Please let me know if there are any opportunities at UT.'" He explains this reaction. "I think academia is one of a few alternatives that could tempt attorneys practicing in firms to leave, to join their alma mater, if they have that kind of loyalty and interest, to assist students to go on and do the kinds of things they want to do with their law degree." Montoya, it appears, has happily given in to this temptation - to the benefit of UT's job-seeking students.
  1. Legal Jobs
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  6. M.B.A in Finance and Law Career by David Motoya, Dean at Texas School of Law

published September 06, 2004

( 17 votes, average: 3.9 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.

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