Daren Stemwedel is an SJCL alumnus and the Vice President and General Counsel at California Organic Fertilizers. After representing clients in business and environmental litigation, he returned to his family’s business to oversee manufacturing operations and provide legal advice. Learn more about Daren, why he says having an open mind is important in law school and why going to law school was the best choice for his second career.
Tell us about your yourself and your journey to law school.
Before I went to law school, I was working in the IT field and finishing my undergraduate degree in business management at Fresno Pacific University. My plan had always been to follow that up with an MBA, having grown up in an entrepreneurial family. At FPU, I took a business law class that I really enjoyed, and the professor encouraged me to look into law school. So I started looking at a juris doctor as an alternative to an MBA, which at that point sounded like more of the same that I had already learned in school, and from working in business for quite a few years. It seemed like law school would be a little more interesting and fun, and would still allow me to get back into business in the future. Also, having a juris doctor and a license to practice law would give me a permanent fallback career option - not all graduate degrees can deliver something like that.
I found out about San Joaquin College of Law and it all fit for me because it was local, and there were night classes available so I could keep working while going to law school. SJCL also made a lot of sense financially, since I intended a law degree as an alternative to an MBA, spending upwards of $150,000 at a larger ABA law school did not really make sense. This idea came up within a few days of the deadline to register for the last upcoming LSAT, so I took the test, and before I knew it I was registered to attend SJCL. As it happened, I was graduating from Fresno Pacific in December, and did not want to sit around for eight months waiting to start law school, so I was actually able to do my first semester at SJCL concurrently with the last few months of my undergrad. That flexibility saved me a lot of time.
Once I got to law school, I loved it so much, I decided that practicing law was really the career path I wanted to pursue. During my last year of law school, federal Judge Oliver Wanger was teaching a civil rights class, heavy on constitutional law, one of my favorite areas. It sounded really interesting to me and I thought it would be great experience to take a class from such an experienced federal judge. Halfway through the semester, he surprised us all by announcing he was retiring and going into private practice. I saw a great opportunity, and asked if I could do an internship for him and started working at his new firm, Wanger Jones Helsley. It went really well and actually turned into a job when I graduated. I spent about two years there doing business and environmental litigation, including a bit of water law, which I really enjoyed. Then my parents asked if I was interested in getting back into the family business, which is organic fertilizer manufacturing. That was a very difficult decision because I really enjoyed working at the firm, I loved practicing law and my future prospects seemed pretty bright.
My family situation ultimately helped me make that decision. My daughter had been born while I was in law school and my son was born after I graduated, so I had two young children and wanted to have as much flexibility as possible to be around a lot while they were growing up. If I practiced law, it would’ve been great financially, and I really enjoyed it, but it’s a very demanding field. Going back into the family business, I could help my parents and it would give a lot more flexibility to do things like coach my kids’ sports teams, and not have to worry about working the long weekend or evening hours that practicing law sometimes entails. So I decided to go that route and I’m now the Vice President and General Counsel for the business. Ninety percent or more of my job is managing a fertilizer plant, so I deal with staffing, logistics, raw materials acquisition, production scheduling and more. Then from time to time, I’ll put on my lawyer hat and deal with setting up contracts, HR issues, and supervising outside counsel for things like intellectual property issues and litigation.
Was it difficult to start law school as a second career choice for you?
The difficult part was the time. I was still working when I started going to law school and I worked all the way through it. I would get up really early and spend an hour most mornings at Panera reviewing the material, and I’d have class in the evenings and study on weekends, so it was a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice. I was on the four-year plan and my daughter was born during the summer after my second year, so my wife definitely worked just as hard taking care of the baby and everything, and also working full time, while I was studying. It’s not for the faint of heart and you have to work hard to do well. The fact that I enjoyed it certainly made it easier to do.
What lead to your passion for environmental litigation?
It’s something I fell into when I got my first job after graduation. I thought that I always wanted to do some kind of litigation and that business litigation was a good fit. John Kinsey, one of the attorneys I worked with at Wanger Jones Helsley, specialized in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) work and I had the opportunity to get involved in some CEQA appellate cases. It was just a really fun area of law for me because I really enjoy cases that have a wider societal impact. One case I remember was against the California Air Resources Board and dealt with the low carbon fuel standard, which was part of the state’s new greenhouse gas laws. I also had the opportunity to work on a high speed rail case, which was particularly interesting. Water law is one of my favorite areas because a water law case is in many ways a history case, since they always deal with law that goes back years and years to the development of the state of California and the history of California water.
What are some important things for students to know if they want to get into Environmental or Agricultural Law?
If you are thinking about being a lawyer then you should keep an open mind as to the kind of law you want to practice. A lot of people go into law school thinking they want to be a criminal defense lawyer, business lawyer, immigration lawyer, etc. and for most people, it changes. An opportunity might present itself in an area of law they had never considered before and they discover it’s something they really like. Unless you’ve had the opportunity to work in a firm or you know a lot of lawyers, most people going into law school have some misimpressions about what being a lawyer in a particular field is really like. If you want to get into environmental law or agricultural law, look for lawyers who practice in that area, or maybe volunteer with an environmental organization. Look for attorneys who work with things like CEQA, water law, etc. With environmental law, for example, I think some people may envision going out there and saving the environment, and pursuing social justice. That may happen, but day-to-day it comes down to a lot of paperwork, government agencies, administrative records, etc. For someone eager to jump in and change the world, the actual work involved might be pretty boring and unsatisfactory at the end of the day. Meanwhile, other areas such as criminal or family law involve a lot more courtroom time and personal interaction with clients and the public. So you have to go into this experience with an open mind and if you want to try certain areas of law, look for internships and opportunities in those areas during law school.
How important is it to make connections with members of the legal community?
It’s extremely important to make those connections while you’re still in law school and you have to take every opportunity that presents itself. In Fresno, we’re fortunate to have a strong job market in the legal community; I think everybody I went to school with who passed the bar exam got a job. That being said, in any given legal field, there will be some firms or agencies that are more attractive, perhaps because the get more interesting cases and clients, or possibly pay better and provide better potential for advancement. To get into one of those firms, you really have to look for opportunities, and sometimes you just have to be at the right place at the right time. One advantage in Fresno is that we have a busy federal courthouse, and a lot of SJCL students get opportunities to work there as externs juring law school. I had the opportunity to extern for Judge Lawrence O’Neill, primarily working on prisoner habeas corpus cases, which was very interesting, and of course great for my resume. SJCL also has a lot of adjunct professors who are local judges, lawyers and other kinds of practitioners in the field. It’s really beneficial to get into those classes, and building relationships with those types of faculty can provide a great resource. Also, never be afraid to ask for an opportunity when one presents itself because you never know where it will lead.
How true is it that a law degree can open up many doors in your career?
From the beginning, I took law school as a substitute for an MBA. Though there are some areas an MBA will cover that you won’t get in law school (finance, for example), many of those you can pick up as an undergrad if you plan well, and there ultimately is a lot of overlap. The critical thinking and legal skills learned in law school and very marketable and desirable in other career fields. For me personally, I was in my thirties by the time I went to law school, so it was a second career, and I was fairly certain I could do well in business without having an MBA specifically as my graduate degree. I also knew a law degree and bar membership would open up an entirely different career path for me -- one which is virtually closed off to anyone without a law degree. It also sounded interesting and fun, and for me and turned out to be something that was a great fit. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I’m good at it. I always tell people to go take the LSAT and if you absolutely hate it or you don’t do well on it or it’s the worst experience ever, then you should not be a lawyer. But if it’s interesting and the questions are fun and you like doing it, then becoming a lawyer might be right up your alley.
What advice do you have for maintaining a healthy work/school/life balance?
While you’re in law school, and even after you graduate (because lawyers are generally pretty busy people), family always comes first. There’s nothing more important. If you end up in a job or at firm that doesn’t support that viewpoint, then you should leave and find somewhere with the right priorities. I was fortunate that at Wanger Jones Helsley, they were flexible with family needs and most of the lawyers there were also parents, so it was a great environment. It’s something you really have to be cautious and intentional about because there are unfortunately many lawyers who end up with family and marital problems, because it’s a demanding field, both physically and emotionally, and you have to make sure you keep your priorities in order.
What is something you learned about going to law school that no one told you about?
I learned that you don’t actually learn how to be a lawyer in law school, ironically. You can’t easily just go to law school and then jump right into practicing law once you graduate. There are a lot of mechanics and procedures of how everything actually works in practice, and those things aren’t taught in law school. What is taught is how to think, write, and research like a lawyer, how to be analytical, and how to problem solve. You learn the day-to-day stuff on the job, so you really have to do internships and take as many opportunities as you can to work in firms. If you’re an undergrad, try to get a job in a file room or somewhere you can be around lawyers, because the more exposure you have to see how the paper moves around and how the courts work, the quicker you’ll be up to speed in actual practice.
What was the culture like while you were a student?
It’s very laid back, and I’ve heard that at other law schools students are very competitive and cutthroat, but SJCL is the opposite of that. Everyone gets along really well and they’re very helpful. There’s some friendly competition, especially among those students who are vying for the top grades, but everyone is pretty supportive of each other. There are a number of student organizations which are a lot of fun to be a part of, as well as extracurricular activities like law review and moot court, both of which can be great additions to your resume. The professors are all very approachable, friendly, and always willing to help you out. Even years after law school, I feel I can still reach out to them for advice or help and that’s a great feeling.
What advice or tips do you have for people who are interested in going to law school?
First of all, you need to make sure that law school is right for you. There are unfortunately a lot of lawyers out there who put in all the time and money for law school, and then don’t like their jobs. There are some people that enjoy practicing law and take to it naturally and there are others who don’t like it very much. One thing you do as a lawyer is a lot of writing and research, so if you don’t enjoy those areas, then don’t go into law. If you hate the LSAT and don’t do very well on it, that’s another indicator to look for something else. No one should become a lawyer just because it looks great on TV or they have family members convincing them to become one. Take as many law classes as you can as an undergrad so you can get as much exposure to it as you can. Seek advice from practicing lawyers to find out what it’s like, don’t just go into it without knowing much about it.
If you had to do law school all over again, what would you do differently?
I wouldn’t do anything differently. I picked the right school, did well in my courses, and ended up graduating with high honors. I also took advantage of opportunities like law review and moot court, and was president of the local law fraternity. Ultimately, I got a great job from connections I made at SJCL. Most importantly, I was very well prepared for the bar exam, and passed it on my first attempt. So I am very fortunate and feel like I got the most anyone could out of law school, and am very happy with that experience.
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!