A NEW JUDGE’S JOURNEY
Career Path with Judge Stephanie Jamieson As early as she can remember, Stephanie Jamieson’s favorite thing to do was to solve puzzles. Jigsaw puzzles, logic puzzles, crossword puzzles, any new puzzle she could get her hands on, she loved. “That would be the aspect of my personality that I think has been most defining as far as who I am as a lawyer and then becoming a judge. My curiosity and love of solving. My parents said that I was destined to be a lawyer—my mom especially—but it wasn’t on my radar.” It wasn’t until Jamieson was ready to graduate pre-med that she decided to make a shift into law.
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Jamieson was actually on track to be a doctor when one of her UC Berkeley professors brought up the idea of law school after watching Jamieson play the role of an attorney in a mock trial. “My professor saw my cross-examination and pulled me aside after class and suggested that I should consider law school. She explained that I came alive as a mock attorney in a way that she hadn’t seen before.” After some initial hesitations, Jamieson began to consider changing course and decided to take the LSAT. “I found the LSAT was just a lot more fun than the MCAT. It’s full of logic puzzles and argumentation, so I felt very at home taking the LSAT. I got my scores back, and I scored 100% on the logic puzzle sections. I hadn’t missed a single question and realized that maybe law school was the right path for me.”
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After the LSAT, Jamieson completed her Juris Doctorate at Santa Clara University in 2010. When it was time to start a master’s program, she decided on Cal Western’s LL.M. Trial Advocacy program. “It was by far the most defining element of my law school career. If it weren’t for that master’s program, I don’t think my career would have gone the direction that it did. I don’t imagine I would have had the successes that I’ve had.” Jamieson found inspiration and expertise at Cal Western with professors such as Mario Conte and Justin Brooks of the Innocence Project. She also found tremendous value in learning directly from the many federal defenders or former federal defenders who had experience in court. “The key was the faculty. They cared passionately about why they did their work in federal defense. They cared passionately about their clients and the causes that they were fighting for and ensuring that the next generation of criminal defense attorneys was up to snuff.”
“ Remember every single interaction you have is an interaction that could impact your career down the road. Be professional, be polite, be kind, be generous—to your clients, to your colleagues, to your staff, to every single person that you engage with as an attorney. Because those relationships—they matter.” - Judge Stephanie Jamieson ‘11
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CALIFORNIA WESTERN SCHOOL OF LAW
