Meet Logan Tennerelli, a UC Berkeley graduate and San Joaquin College of Law’s new Dean of Students. With a passion for helping students and a love for law, she’s excited to build a community of diverse and successful SJCL grads. Read on to find out how her own law school experience shaped the work she does now and why she tells her students there isn’t just one path to success.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your road to law school.
I grew up in Longmont, Colorado, which is near Boulder, and then went to UC Berkeley where I double majored in English and Political Science. I was a debater in high school, so I always thought law might be a possibility for me. After graduation from college, I moved to Chicago, worked at a consulting firm, and lived with my big sister. Sadly, she kicked me out when she got married! After working for a year and taking the LSAT, I went to the University of Chicago Law School, which is where I met my husband, Vinnie. One of my fondest memories there occurred In 2007 when I got my picture with then U of C Constitutional Law professor and future President of the United States, Barack Obama! I also worked for my law school’s employment discrimination clinic and was a member of Law Review.
Vinnie and I have been married nine years and have two kids - an 8-year-old son named Alessio and a 5-year-old daughter named Lucia. About five years ago, Vinnie got a job here as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, so we moved from Chicago to Fresno sight unseen with a 4-month old and a 2 year old. After working for a large law firm after I graduated from U of C Law, I knew I didn’t want to work for a law firm again and thought I wanted to work in higher education. I decided to get my Master’s Degree in Counseling at Fresno State. After that, I started working at Fresno City College (FCC) as a Counselor for their Law Pathways Initiative, which San Joaquin College of Law is also part of. I also taught pre-law classes at FCC like Law and Democracy, Civic Engagement and Leadership, and a class on preparing for college and law school success.
Tell us how you revived the law program at Fresno City College.
Under the Law Pathways Initiative, Fresno City College is part of an agreement with 28 other community colleges and nine law schools in California. This initiative was created by the State Bar and is designed to diversify the legal field in California with more students of color and community college students. When I started at FCC, I went to various upper division classes in subjects like Political Science, Philosophy, and Paralegal Studies to tell students about the program. Then I started going to high schools to recruit; Bullard and CART were two of our biggest feeder schools. I went to dozens of high schools and introduced hundreds of students to the program. I managed to dedicate more time and energy towards recruiting students and to build a far larger cohort than ever before, and that made a big difference in shaping and developing FCC’s law program.
What was it like working with so many students knowing they were going to be future legal professionals?
I love working with students! The fun thing about FCC is that in one of my classes, I had students ranging from 17 to 66 years old. It was such a diverse mix - I’ve taught former inmates, students who were valedictorians at their high schools, someone who was a prostitute at one time, students who are disabled, etc. That’s one of the joys of community college -- it really shows you all aspects of the community, and I loved seeing so many different groups of people mix and learn from each other.
I’m from a solidly middle class background - my mom was a teacher and my dad was an air traffic controller. Even though I was very lucky, I felt like one of the “scholarship kids” when I went to law school because so many of my classmates had lawyer parents. My husband’s experience was similar in that he was one of a small handful of first-generation college students I met in law school.
Working with my students at FCC, I realized so many of them had complicated lives that presented real obstacles towards their educational success. For instance, they had full-time jobs, they might not have citizenship status, or they were supporting their children or taking care of their parents. Despite these obstacles, they were all still so motivated, worked so hard and were so smart, so it was really inspiring for me to see such a diverse group of people because I realized how privileged I was in a lot of ways.
I still teach at Fresno City College on Wednesday afternoons, and Dean Pearson was incredibly supportive of me continuing to teach over there. It allows me to continue to get students excited about being lawyers and contribute to the Central Valley legal community, whether my students attend SJCL one day, hire our grads or even teach law with us one day.
What are some things you learned working at Fresno City College that you’re going to implement at SJCL?
One thing I loved asking new students at FCC was “If you saw me outside of the classroom, would you think I was a lawyer?” Most of the time they’d say “No” because I don’t like wearing suits and I sound like a “valley girl”. I would tell them that they can sound like me or have an accent and still be a lawyer; I’d emphasize that lawyers didn’t look or talk a certain way. I think that really resonated with students, and it’s something I wish someone would’ve told me when I was in law school.
Another thing I tell students at both schools is the importance of being kind to each other. I implement that now by using my counseling training first when dealing with students. Friendliness and the willingness to negotiate are important. I’ve had a lot of students tell me they liked to argue, and that’s why they wanted to become a lawyer, but that only gets you so far, especially with me. I realized how important it was to teach them soft skills and how to work together as a team. It really helped me with my approach because I chose to relate to them first, understand where they’re coming from and give them the benefit of the doubt. Fresno is definitely a small legal community, so I wanted them to learn how to help each other out sooner rather than learn a hard lesson later.
Based on all of your experiences, how are you going to utilize what you’ve learned to bring more students to SJCL?
I have a counseling and law background, and I think that’s going to help me tremendously because I’m involved with student’s lives and I was in their shoes at one time, so I understand the pressures they’re feeling and their fears.
Helping people seems to be a passion for you. How will you apply your passion in your new role as Dean of Students?
I really see myself as an advocate for students and someone who can listen and empathize with what they’re going through, even if I can’t always change it. I, at least, want to be able to point them in the right direction and give them the best resources to set them up for success in law school and beyond. When I was in college, my dad passed away from cancer. I took a semester off and needed certain academic accommodations, so I truly understand that life happens and working through personal things with students can be an important component of their academic success. Not everyone has that smooth educational path where they go straight from college to law school in three years and then pass the bar; it’s definitely more complicated and there’s many paths that can lead to success.
Over the years, has there been one student that’s impacted you?
I have a lot of students that I’ve seen thrive over the years. I had one student who is a 1L here at SJCL who was also my student at Fresno City College, so I love seeing him in the hall and helping him with law school questions now.
I also have a girl who dropped out of high school, got her GED and dealt with a lot of bullying. I love seeing her speak out in class now and she’s really found her voice and found this confidence in herself and in her ideas. One of her parents is an immigrant and she’s dealt with alcoholism in her family, so she’s really blossomed into this beautiful young woman and she’s now transferring to UC Berkeley.
I also have another student who’s a veteran and a single dad who went back to school after 10 years. He took tons of units at Fresno City College and Fresno State simultaneously in order to succeed. He’s now getting ready to apply for law school, so I’ve helped him with studying for the LSAT and his application essays. I’m so excited to see how well he does. I hope he goes to SJCL!
How does it make you feel knowing your work has such a big impact on these students?
When students tell me they couldn’t have done it without me, I tell them that they’re the ones who did the work - they took the classes, they wrote the essays and they took the LSAT. I didn’t do any of it for them and sometimes I feel like I get too much credit, but it’s so rewarding to be in a role like this where I can connect with these kids, make a difference in their lives and help them. I’m doing things that matter to me and I’m so lucky that I get to do such important work.
What are some of your responsibilities as the Dean of Students?
I meet with students about lots of things ranging from making academic plans, petitions to take a leave of absence, to addressing club conflicts and more. I also do some of SJCL’s assessment and accreditation work like reviewing our current programs and writing reports for our accreditors to show how we are incorporating different strategies and processes to improve our school. I also teach Legal Methods and next year I’ll teach Civil Procedure. I help students with writing and I think that’s the most important skill you can learn in law school regardless of what area of law students decide to go into.
Based on your own experiences, how true is it that a law degree can open many doors for career opportunities?
I used to tell people not to go to law school unless they were sure they wanted to be a lawyer, but I’ve been very fortunate and worked hard to find this niche that’s perfect for me now. That’s not to knock the more traditional “lawyer” jobs; my husband loves his job and I have friends from law school who are now partners at law firms. I know so many people who have either started working in-house or found ways to work from home or found their own niche with their law degrees. The teaching aspect is a great possibility; I never thought I wanted to teach and now I love it, so I definitely tell students that.
What are some important things students should know if they want a career in law?
Before going to law school, it’s important to understand that it’s a big commitment. I know everyone says that, but I feel like people think college is going to be hard and some sail right through it. Law school will be hard for everyone and it’s very time consuming. When you get to law school, especially right out of college, you can go from being the smartest kid in class to a classroom full of all the smartest kids in class. So it’s challenging and you need to prepare for that in advance and really think about whether a legal career is what you want.
For graduates, it’s important to remember that there are so many paths and where you start doesn’t have to be where you end up. You can be flexible, and in some ways you need to be; you’ll always continue to learn new things. If a client comes to you with a question and you give an answer without looking it up or doing any research, you’re doing a bad job because we can’t know every single law in every jurisdiction with every single set of facts. What we know is where to find answers, how to do legal research and how to apply a client’s unique facts to a set of laws.
What advice do you have for maintaining a healthy work/school/life balance?
It’s like the rules they explain to you on an airplane - you have to put on your own oxygen mask before you can help others. If you’re not sleeping, eating right or taking time for self care, then it will affect your school work. You need to take breaks, sleep, exercise and spend time with friends and family because it’s all connected. You can’t really be your best self when you’re not doing those things, so I tell students it’s important to have a space outside of law school where they can be with people from their “before law school” lives and disconnect from studying, exam prep, etc. I also frequently talk about mental health with students to reduce the stigma and think those open conversations are very important.
What is something you learned about going to law school that no one told you about?
No one told me that while your education is very important because it’s years of your life and costs a lot of money, it’s not your entire worth. There will inevitably be a test or class or teacher that doesn’t click with you and that’s okay. I see a lot of kids with more of a student mentality instead of a real world lawyer mentality - they’re striving to get 100% on all the tests and projects and that just doesn’t happen in law school. You learn to work with different people while you’re in law school, and it’s similar to how you’ll work with different partners in the law field, so learning those people skills is just as important.
If you had to do law school all over again, what would you do differently?
I would’ve stayed in touch more with people that I met throughout law school. Well - some of them anyway! You never know when someone might refer a client to you or become an expert in an area of law you have questions about. I would’ve spent some more time getting to know people, but I would have focused less on extracurriculars like the student clubs and more on school work and self care. Most everyone in law school works as hard as possible during their first year and towards the end, there’s some slacking off. Looking back, I would’ve tried to maintain a more consistent momentum throughout my time in law school.
Advice or tips for students who are interested in going to law school?
Talk to a law student or lawyer or someone in the industry who has your dream job. Ask how they got there and what it’s like. A lot of students think being a lawyer is like what they see on TV, but if you don’t like to read and write, then you shouldn’t be a lawyer. It’s not all about standing up and arguing in court; it’s a lot of academic rigor and that’s why it’s important to talk to people who are in those roles. Usually people are happy to talk to someone who views them as a mentor or just wants to learn more about what they do or the legal profession in general.
When you’re not helping students, what are some hobbies or things you like to do in your spare time?
I spend a lot of time with my kids! We like to have dance parties, color, write stories, and play with our three kitties. We also like trying new foods and restaurants. I’m lucky that my husband is Italian and an amazing cook -- we love to eat! I’m also in a feminist book club.I was an English major, so I really love reading and creative writing. I like to travel and I love that California has so many great places to go for weekend trips. Oh, and I watch way too much reality TV!
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!