From externships through the GW Law Field Placement Program to founding GW Law’s a cappella group, GW Law Cappella, Avery LeVan, Class of 2027, has spent his law school career taking advantage of a wide range of opportunities.
Over his 2L summer, he was a Judicial Intern at the Municipal Attorney’s Office in Anchorage, Alaska, and this semester he is studying abroad at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, both of which will advance his goal of becoming an environmental lawyer.
The key to a successful law school experience, LeVan says, is to “run your own race.”
LeVan details these experiences and more in the conversation below.
What made you want to go to law school?
Before law school, I studied history, economics, and international politics at Penn State and then worked as a Spanish teacher at a public high school. Much of my academic research in college focused on the history of climate change and the fossil fuel industry.
I have always enjoyed reading, writing, and argumentation, and I came to GW Law to develop those skills in a way that would allow me to contribute meaningfully to environmental protection and public service. I wanted to understand the institutions where consequential decisions are made and learn how to use the law as a practical tool for positive change. Law school offered a natural way to combine my interests in environmental policy, public service, and advocacy.
Why did you choose GW Law?
GW Law offered me a meaningful financial-aid package, which was certainly an important consideration. Just as importantly, I wanted to study in Washington, D.C., because it is the center of federal law and policymaking.
At GW Law, federal agencies, courts, nonprofit organizations, and public-interest groups are not distant institutions that we only read about in class. They are part of the surrounding legal community, and students have fantastic opportunities to learn from and work within them. I saw GW Law as a place where I could receive a strong legal education while beginning to build a career in public interest law.
What opportunities or programs have been most beneficial to you during your experience at GW Law?
GW’s Field Placement Program has been one of the most valuable parts of my legal education. Through the program, students spend part of their week in the classroom and another part completing an externship.
During my 2L year, I externed for Justice Peter Killough on the Supreme Court of Maryland and later worked with Public Citizen’s Climate Program. Those experiences allowed me to explore different fields, gain practical experience, make valuable connections, and learn from various mentors, all during the academic semester. GW’s location in Washington, D.C., makes opportunities to work alongside judges, government attorneys, and nonprofit advocates especially accessible.
I also have to recognize GW Law’s outstanding Public Interest and Public Service Law Center. I have met so many thoughtful and motivated people who genuinely want to use their careers to improve the world around them. Thanks to this program, my professional network is rooted first in real friendships with people I trust and admire. Not everyone gets to build a “friends-first” network, and I consider myself very fortunate to have found that at GW Law.
Tell us about your internship in Alaska. How did you find it, and what was the experience like?
The idea began with a conversation in class. During my search for a 2L summer internship, a friend mentioned that he had spent the previous summer interning in Anchorage, and that inspired me to research legal opportunities in Alaska. I found an opening with the Municipality of Anchorage’s legal department, applied, and was ultimately offered the position.
The attorneys in that office were some of the best I’ve had the privilege to work with, and they entrusted me with significant responsibility. Under Alaska’s temporary practice rules, I had the rare opportunity to try a case in small claims court on behalf of the Municipality of Anchorage, serving as first chair under attorney supervision. I conducted discovery, developed trial strategy, examined and cross-examined witnesses, introduced exhibits, and advocated for the Municipality in court. I also negotiated two settlements on the Municipality’s behalf and worked on municipal code revisions, nuisance abatement issues, and other matters affecting local government.
Alaska has a relatively small and close-knit legal community, but its attorneys regularly work on issues of statewide, and sometimes national, implications. During my internship, I built meaningful relationships, gained substantive legal experience, and learned from attorneys whose example expanded my understanding of what it means to be a public servant. Outside the office, I was able to explore an extraordinary part of the country. Professionally and personally, the experience was life-changing.
Tell us about your study abroad. What will you be doing, and how did you find the program?
I am spending the fall semester at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands through GW Law’s exchange program. I found the program while exploring GW Law’s study-abroad opportunities. At Groningen, I am studying international and European law, with a particular focus on environmental, climate, and energy regulation. I am also taking courses on international human rights.
Studying these subjects abroad allows me to examine them from a perspective that would be difficult to replicate in the United States. Climate change and energy markets cross national borders, so understanding how the European Union and international institutions approach these issues will be valuable to the work I hope to pursue. In many respects, European regulatory frameworks governing climate and energy are more developed or ambitious than their U.S. counterparts, and studying them provides valuable comparative lessons for facilitating the clean-energy transition in the United States.
Studying abroad also gives me the chance to step outside the legal system I already know and broaden my perspective. During my first week, I met students from 38 countries, giving me the opportunity to learn from peers whose perspectives differ significantly from those I might have otherwise encountered in a U.S. law school classroom. I hope to return to the United States with a more nuanced understanding of how different [international?] institutions approach common problems, as well as personal and professional relationships that extend beyond U.S. borders.
How will experiences like these help you in your future legal career?
Experiential programs teach forms of judgment that are difficult to develop solely in a classroom. Through my internships and externships, I have learned how to write for different audiences, work with clients and witnesses, navigate unfamiliar areas of law, and exercise professional judgment when there is no perfect answer.
These experiences have also given me a broader understanding of how different parts of the legal system operate and interact. I have worked in federal litigation, a state appellate court, nonprofit advocacy, and municipal government. Studying in Europe will add a comparative and international perspective. Moving among these varied institutional contexts has helped me understand not only what kind of lawyer I want to become, but also the many settings in which lawyers can make a meaningful difference.
What other experiences have made your time at GW Law meaningful?
One of the best parts of GW Law is that students have room to build community around interests that are not strictly academic. Music has always been a major part of my life, so I joined GW Law Bands and founded GW Law Cappella, the law school’s a cappella group. Through those organizations, I have had the opportunity to make music with classmates, build friendships across different class years, and create a space where students can step away from the pressures of law school and connect with one another in a different way.
Law school is not only about classes, internships, and career preparation. Some of the most meaningful parts of law school do not appear on a transcript or résume; they come from the people you meet, the communities you invest in, and the opportunities you create for others as well as yourself.
What advice do you have for incoming or aspiring law students?
Run your own race. Law students receive an enormous amount of advice, and much of it is useful, but there is no universal formula for navigating law school or building a fulfilling legal career. It is easy to start measuring yourself against someone else’s goals or following a path simply because it appears to be the conventional one. Remember why you came to law school, and never sell yourself short.
Be intentional about what you want from law school, but remain curious enough to pursue opportunities you did not originally anticipate. Some of my most meaningful experiences began with a conversation, an unexpected application, or a willingness to go somewhere unfamiliar. Seek advice from people you trust, but remember that you are the person who must build and live your career.
