Clint Pierce
By Jacob Sabolo, DePaul Magazine: Fall 2018
When Clint Pierce (JD ’17) was looking at law schools, he discovered that 3YP would launch at the start of his third year, making him eligible to enroll in the program. Pierce wanted to learn more, so he called Rodriguez out of the blue and asked him for more information. When Pierce got off the phone, he had no hesitations about 3YP.
“I wanted to get as much practical experience as possible,” Pierce says. “In 3YP, I could devote my focus to a semester of working. If I had almost a year of real law experience under my belt, not just interning for a couple of hours a week, I knew that would be a differentiator in the really competitive job market in Chicago.”
Like Cundi , Pierce was placed with the United States Attorney’s Office, where he worked five days a week. Through his externship, Pierce provided legal research to attorneys and was able to observe interviews with witnesses. The most rewarding aspect of his externship, however, was trying federal misdemeanor cases, an experience that directly prepared him for prosecuting cases in his current role at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Associate at Hurley McKenna & Mertz, P.C.
JD Law 2017
“In my current assignment as a state’s attorney, I’m dealing with people in the courtroom every single day. 3YP gave me the ability to interact with witnesses, defendants and law enforcement officials on a regular basis,” Pierce explains. “I was proud to feel like an actual lawyer. I got through my first two years of law school, and then I threw the textbooks aside, put on a suit and got into the courtroom.”
“I was proud to feel like an actual lawyer. I got through my first two years of law school, and then I threw the textbooks aside, put on a suit and got into the courtroom.”
Pierce admits that he would not have attended DePaul had it not been for 3YP and Rodriguez’s directorship. “Without 3YP, I would have been terrified to talk to a judge for the first time in open court. I would have been terrified to walk into a courtroom and see all those people staring at me.
“3YP just allows you to fully focus on your field placement to gain the most complete and accurate understanding of your potential career,” Pierce adds. “You could either solidify your interest in that area or set that path aside and search for what you really love. Without that immersive experience, you might go down the wrong path without even knowing it.”
