The Pre-Law Society is a NEIU club comprising of students who would like to pursue a future in law. They recently hosted an event in which they had a guest speaker, David Schroeder, a litigator and candidate for the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the fifth district.
Schroeder, who has been practicing law for 25 years, relayed his experience in civil litigation, owning one’s own practice, and the difficulties of law school to the aspiring lawyers, as well as expressing his desire to become a politician.
Schroeder talked about important aspects of being a lawyer, the most important of which is writing, due to the large amount of documentation that must be written up for discovery during pre-trial. “If you’re a bad writer and you’re thinking of a legal career,” says Schroeder, “you might want to have some second thoughts.”
When asked about the importance of what school you go to, he said “The better the school, the more likely you are to get a job,” further explaining that someone at the bottom of their class at a school such as the University of Chicago is likely to find a job, while someone at the bottom of their class at a school such as John Marshall is “going to have a very difficult time finding employment.” He also commented that the first year of law school is exceedingly difficult, and compared it to the film, “The Paper Chase.”
Schroeder is hoping to help reform Illinois politics. He believes Illinois needs “new people in Springfield” in order to get away from the “pay for play” politics, such as former Governor Blagojevich’s attempt to sell President Obama’s vacant senate seat, that has been running the Illinois Government.
Schroeder is running against fellow democrat and incumbent Kenneth Dunkin who has gone unchallenged since 2003. Schroeder believes that Dunkin’s “Blagojevich enabling” behavior, which includes being the only member not present for Blagojevich’s impeachment trial, isn’t what Illinois or the members of the fifth district, deserve, and he is capable of better representation.
Should Schroeder beat the democratic incumbent for his district at the primary in February, he will become the third openly gay legislator in Illinois’ history.