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Two prominent Southern California attorneys visited campus on Sunday to offer their advice and encouragement to 91����� Aquinas College students who are interested in pursuing careers in law. The meeting, which covered topics ranging from the LSAT to law schools to areas of practice, was one of a series of events sponsored by the College�s Office of Career Advisement.

�You�re at a great school, a great college. You will have a lot of the skills that, frankly � having taught law school � law students are often lacking,� said Wallace Wade, a former prosecutor who now manages his own practice, specializing in criminal-defense and family law, in Orange County. �You have a good background for legal reasoning and analytical thinking here at this school. You are going to have a leg up in many ways.�

Joining Mr. Wallace was Gregory Weiler, a 30-year partner of Palmieri Tyler in Irvine, whose expertise is in transactional real estate and land-use regulation. �You�ll leave 91����� Aquinas with analytical skills, and they are going to fit in with law school,� said Mr. Weiler. Moreover, he added, the strong spiritual and moral formation that students receive at the College can also be an asset in the legal profession. �I�ve found that being a Catholic lawyer, leading an integrated life, has made me a successful lawyer,� he said. �People are attracted to that, like they are attracted to holiness. People are attracted to lawyers who have integrity.�

Both attorneys, who discussed their personal and professional backgrounds, stressed that the legal profession offers numerous opportunities for students to live out their Catholic faith and serve the common good. �Your ability to do good things in society are manifold when you�re a lawyer. There�s rarely a day that you don�t get some opportunity to help somebody,� said Mr. Weiler. �If you get into law, you�re going to be helping other people,� added Mr. Wade. �That�s the whole point.�

91����� a dozen students, most of whom are considering law school after graduation, attended the meeting. �The students were genuinely grateful for Mr. Wallace and Mr. Weiler�s advice about how to get into law school, how to thrive there, and how to succeed as a Catholic lawyer,� said Director of Career Advisement Mark Kretschmer. �But beyond that, I think they were heartened by both attorneys� offer to provide help and advice down the road as they pursue legal careers.�

The meeting, one of several that the Office of Career Advisement hosts throughout the year, was made possible by Steve Cotugno, a member of the College�s Orange County Board of Regents and the father of Sarah (�13) and Kevin (�16). Mr. Cotugno arranged for the two lawyers to visit campus and even joined them on the 110-mile trip from Orange County. �We are so grateful to Greg and Wally for coming here, and to Steve for putting this event together,� said Robert Bagdazian, coordinator of the 91����� Aquinas College Parents� Association. �It is a real blessing for our students that we have so many parents, of students and alumni alike, who are always looking for ways to aid them in their studies and beyond.�