Meet Dustin Gallegos, a second year student at San Joaquin College of Law (SJCL) and biology major who graduated from Fresno State. Learn more about Dustin, how he transitioned from medical school to law school and why he comes home from work with a smile every day.
Tell us about yourself and your journey to SJCL.
I graduated from Fresno State with a degree in biology and now I’m halfway through my second year at SJCL. I did a few years in medical school and my dad is a physician, so I was kind of leaning in that direction initially. After awhile, I realized I didn’t want to do that, so I came back and did some surgical assisting in the healthcare profession. Then I discovered and read a book written by an attorney and it really changed my perspective on the types of people who go into law. I’d always had this outlook that the law profession didn’t attract the most honest people but the more attorneys I met and networked with, the more I realized there were a lot of pretty awesome people in the industry. That got the wheels turning in my head, so I decided to come to SJCL to talk to the Admissions Director, Diane Steel, and after that my mind was made up.
How would you describe the culture at SJCL?
SJCL is very different from any other school I’ve been to because there’s a lot of support from the professors and staff. It’s infectious and really spreads to the students because we’ll come together to help each other out. I can tell a 3L that I’m having trouble with a concept and he’ll offer to meet me for coffee. Then he’ll give me as much time as I need for him to explain it to me or offer his class notes or outline. It’s really easy to ask for help and when you do that, you’re almost blown away by how willing people are to put their time aside to help you with whatever you need. It really felt like a strong little community when I started school and it feels like I’m around family now. Having so many people in my corner helping me out really made all the difference during my first year. I couldn’t have done it without them.
What does a typical day in law school look like for you?
Today I woke up and went to my law firm job and then came straight to school to work in the library, so it’s just a double workday. On a typical day, I’m probably up around 6:30 a.m. studying for a few hours before class. Then I’ll go to classes from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with an hour break for lunch. After that, I’ll have a couple of hours to either go running or go to the gym. After dinner, I’ll have about two to three hours of studying before bed.
How do you balance two jobs and going to law school full time?
What’s really helped me is that I frontloaded a lot of the work and studying last semester. In August, September and early October, I had more time and I was usually a couple of weeks ahead with the reading, studying and putting outlines together. I actually started my new job the week before finals, but it was probably the least amount of stress I’ve been under during tests because I did all the studying beforehand and I got my best scores so far during those finals. Doing the work early made it so much easier for me, but it can be tough to do because you have to work on something that you know you’re not going to have to use for another two months.
Are there any extracurricular activities that you participate in while you’re in school?
I work at the library and I founded a club on campus this year with two other students called the Christian Legal Society and that took a lot of my energy, but it’s growing. I wrote the bylaws and registered it as a nonprofit and we’ve had meetings to get it up and running. I’m also a board member for Delta Theta Phi, the law fraternity and I’m in another club called LawSUIT. I also play on an indoor soccer team, I’m a runner and I try to skateboard and snowboard as much as I can.
What are the classes at SJCL like?
My classes probably have between 12 to 25 students and they’re all case study-related. You show up to class everyday and you have to have the reading done beforehand, which can be anywhere from 30 to 60 pages. Within those pages, you probably have five to 15 cases from across the U.S. because we learn law for the entire country, not just California. During class, the professors will cold call on students to give an overview of the case or answer some questions, so if you haven’t read the cases it’s not a great feeling at all.
What are some of your best tips for studying and taking tests?
My grades really started improving when I started studying with fellow students. My first semester I tried to do it all on my own, I was at school just for class and to take the tests and kept to myself. I got my job in the SJCL library during my second semester and started studying and meeting with other people and sharing resources with upperclassmen. The biggest thing I would stress for people coming into law school is to ask for help when you need it because I don’t care how smart you are or how much you study, at some point you’re going to need help. If you ask a professor or fellow student, that’s going to make all the difference in the world because once I stopped being afraid to ask, my grades went from C’s to A’s.
What’s been your favorite part of law school so far?
I’d say the social aspect of it. I was in a fraternity at Fresno State and I went to medical school in Chicago, but I’ve never been to a school that’s as social as SJCL is and the staff and professors feed into that. Everyone is really upbeat and positive and last summer before the semester started, I was actually excited to come back to school even though I knew it meant a lot more work.
What’s the best piece of advice you have for someone who’s interested in law school?
Talk to an admissions counselor. You can talk to attorneys to get an idea of what the industry is like, but if you talk to the wrong one they can turn you off from law school before you even give it a chance. But if you go into the school and talk to someone in the Admissions office or even a professor, you’ll get to see what it’s about. People say the LSAT test is pretty intimidating, but I signed up to take it about four weeks before and I did a diagnostic test before and got a 36%. So I studied every morning for those four weeks, and then took the test and I did fine on it, so I was admitted right away. The LSAT is tough, but it’s not a deal breaker like some people think and it’s really not as scary as it sounds.
What are your plans after you graduate from law school?
I got married this past summer and we just bought a house, so I’m going to stay locally and the plan is to work in patent law and hopefully open up my own patent law firm down the line. Another thing I do outside of law school is a summer trip to Costa Rica every year with my church to help build their community and that’s a big part of my life. I definitely want a career that will support my trip each year.
Why did you decide to go into patent law?
I’ve worked at the firm for a few months now and I really like it. With my background, I knew I wanted to do a type of law that I could use the science in. Right now we have a contract with a couple of the UC’s in California and I’m working with some of the scientists at UCLA to develop pharmaceutical techniques and different electrical engineering type of things and I really like it because it’s science and law together, which are two of my passions. I come home from work with a smile on my face every single day and that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Want to learn more about San Joaquin College of Law, sit in on a class or set up an appointment to discuss your law school future? Contact our Admissions Counselor, Francisco "Javier" Rosas today!