With no post-law school job offers, no qualms about his obsession with the Supreme Court and — most serendipitously — no morning classes, Georgetown law student Mike Sacks had the perfect formula for his blog.
The third-year writes First One @ One First, chronicling his attempt to be the first one in line to hear all major arguments before the Supreme Court this term.
That has meant rising at ungodly hours of the night and early morning to wait in line for the coveted #1 placeholder card. As detailed in today’s New York Times story, Tailgating at the Supreme Court, Without the Cars, even getting there 26 hours in advance isn’t always enough — Mike was beaten to the first spot for the high profile McDonald v. City of Chicago hearing.
Bigger than winning the prime spot in line, of course, is Mike’s desire to leverage “stunt journalism” into broader recognition for his writing portfolio on the blog. Alongside the photos snapped on his phone while waiting, he provides analysis of the cases and why they matter, interviews with the other attendees, and links to other relevant articles and blog posts on these cases.
“It’s interesting — that’s what first sparked it,” Mike says. “Any perk I get on top of that would be wonderful.”
Some of those perks have come already in the form of news coverage from major media outlets like the New York Times, above, and having his blog syndicated on the ABA Journal’s website.
Long-term, he hopes the attention could pay off in a career opportunity. Mike has a background in journalism, with internships at NPR and ABC, and would consider pursuing a career in either the legal or journalistic fields or a combination.
After seeing his Georgetown classmates struggle for employment, he’s adopted an admittedly “crazy” strategy to get himself out there.
“The current economic climate forces those — who would otherwise have comfortably found a job they would have been lukewarm about — to really soul search and find, by inspiration or simply stumbling upon, what they really are about and why they even came to the law in the first place,” Mike says.
He believes that to become successful in a crowded job market, law students will have no choice but to break out of the box, such as by starting a blog, to make themselves known.
“I do hope that what I’m doing may serve in some way as an inspiration for those feeling listless or hopeless, even in the current law school and economic climate,” he says.