New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes, JD ‘10, has remained close with his professors and classmates from his time at GW Law.
He regularly checks in with professors and connections from the GW Law Alumni Association were key to helping him when he ran for office. He even has a group chat with his original cohort from his 1L year, in which he and other GW Law alumni keep in touch and talk on a weekly basis.
Read on to learn about how State Sen. Gounardes’ GW Law experience has helped shaped his career.
Why did you originally want to go to law school?
I wanted to go to law school because I wanted to work in government and politics. I thought that a law degree was more versatile than a policy degree, an MPA or an MPP. I thought it would give me more options. So I didn’t go with this desire to want to be a prosecutor or a litigator because I really was on the fast track to wanting to work in government.
I originally came to GW because I was living in DC already. I was working on Capitol Hill and I wasn’t ready to leave. And GW had a part-time program, which is how I started. It seemed like a good fit and it was the only one I applied to. I met with someone in the office and the pieces just seemed to fall into place. GW was the best option for me to pursue what I wanted, which was being in politics.
How would you describe your experience at GW Law?
It was very DC-infused. My first year, I was still working, so I had the real experience of being a professional in the city. Many of my section mates were working too, some also on the Hill. We were getting that DC experience during the day while having law school at night.
Afterwards, I transferred to the full-time program. What excited me most was the connectivity on campus, through activities and events, to other parts of the DC establishment. We had different types of people coming into our community and were able to access that wealth of legal knowledge. Being able to walk to the White House from the campus or to the State Department, it just puts you in the mix. That was really intriguing.
How do you think your experience and education at GW Law prepared you for your current position as state senator?
My professors described law to me as a problem-solving degree. You become a lawyer because you want to try to solve problems using the legal system. That could be litigating or drafting legislation. I view my role as a State Senator very much in that way, at the legislative level but also the constituent level. We’re trying to help untangle knots for people who are getting caught up in bureaucracy. They can’t get their benefits restored. They can’t get their permits approved. They’re having this issue or that issue. It’s all a problem-solving exercise. Or drafting legislation to regulate AI models or protect kids on social media—these are all problems you can use your legal background to help solve.
Professor (Christopher) Bracey described constitutional law as playing jazz. A lot of it is feel. I always took that to heart, because I find so much of what I do in my day-to-day is riff and go with the flow based on how it feels. If there’s an issue that I’m really passionate about legislating, ideas might come to me from a variety of ways, but the thought process behind it or the strategy for getting it passed feels very much like the way he was describing constitutional rights and civil rights. It’s this element of jazz—you rhyme with it, you respond to the moment, it ends up being a little different every time.
I always chuckle to myself when I think about that, because that’s not what you typically think of when you think about the legislative process, right? That's not a line in the “Just a BIll” Schoolhouse Rock song, but it’s definitely relevant to how I approach my day-to-day work. I still find myself using the resources GW offers to help me even to this day, and I graduated 15 years ago.
You are a New York state senator and one of our top programs, GW in New York, brings GW Law students to work in firms in New York. How does that program both benefit GW Law students and the New York City community?
I think it's great because, obviously, the New York legal market is a prime target for GW Law grads. As the legal market becomes more competitive and more specialized, I think it's great to have the opportunity to get your foot in the door in some places and apply for roles where you already have some relevant experience. That aspect is really great.
Folks go to GW because they either want to do legal work in DC or they want to work in Big Law in New York. I would love to see some similar program for GW alumni who want to work in government in New York. There are tons of legal positions in New York City and New York State government that GW grads would be strong candidates for.
I would be personally interested in seeing the development of that kind of pipeline so you could recruit talent here, you can give GW law students access to legislative externships that are not Hill-based, so you're more in the weeds on stuff and gaining more direct relevant experience. I think things like GWNY are great.
In general, do you have any advice for current GW law students who, you know, maybe are interested in going into politics?
For current students, I would recommend internships or externships as much as possible. If you do it while you're a student, you can test it out and see if it's for you. Because once you graduate the economic pressures to start your career are going to be significant. So unless you are going into law school knowing you want to be a government lawyer or you have a government position, it could be very hard to turn down a private opportunity. Even if you're not sure about an internship or externship, there's no harm in trying it out and seeing if it sparks anything to you.
What advice do you have for alumni looking to be more connected with GW Law?
We have a really robust Alumni Association and there are a lot of opportunities for dialogue and events. Seek out other people in those spaces and talk to them. When I was running for office, I leaned heavily on my alumni connections, and I asked alumni I knew both from my class and other classes to introduce me to other alumni. In that exercise, I met a lot of people who were service-minded, who were politically minded, who were interested in what I was trying to accomplish, who shared a lot of the same political values. That was really helpful to me as I embarked on my political career. Constant engagement is key. And the more the Alumni Association can facilitate those types of opportunities, I think the better off everyone would be.