Becoming Citizen Lawyers: Courses in Context
by Annabel Steele '25
As you may have heard by now, William & Mary Law embraces the concept of “citizen lawyers.” If you haven’t come across this term yet, you probably will soon. The powerful idea behind the term “citizen lawyers” is that lawyers have a special responsibility to make the world a better place.
The “citizen lawyer” ideal is one of the factors that convinced me to attend William & Mary Law. I went to a Jesuit university for my undergrad degree, and Jesuit education is designed to turn students into “men and women for others.” As I learned about William & Mary’s citizen lawyer concept, it reminded me of the Jesuit training I received to be a woman for others. This resonated strongly with me, and convinced me that William & Mary Law was where I wanted to be — that it would make me a more well-rounded person in addition to providing me with a world-class legal education.
So what does citizen lawyer mean, anyway? Wherever William & Mary Law graduates go, whatever they do — whether they work in public interest or at a private firm, or even if they don’t end up practicing law — they focus on more than just the limited issue in front of them at any given time, thinking as well about the issue in its wider context. They consider that a broad range of viewpoints is needed to fully understand a challenge. The William & Mary Law website puts it best: “We take our values with us no matter where we work or the client we serve. … We approach problems with integrity, judgment, and an awareness of the effects of our work beyond the challenge at hand.”
You might be thinking, Okay, that sounds nice. But how do you learn to become a citizen lawyer?
The ideals of citizen lawyers come across in everyday classroom instruction. But there are also special opportunities to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the subjects we study — like courses in context.
Courses in context are special, one-off class periods during which professors share deep dives into the doctrinal courses. There’s one course in context for each doctrinal class. For example, in the fall semester we had a course in context for torts, a course in context for civil procedure and a course in context for criminal law. The courses in context take place during the lunch hour, so everyone has a free window in their day to attend. (If you attend in person, there’s free lunch! But if you can’t make it to campus, the sessions are also streamed on Zoom.)
When we were told about courses in context during orientation week, they were described as a look under the hood of doctrinal classes. In the classroom every day, we study case law, talk through rulings and discuss hypotheticals. It can be easy to get sucked into the abstract, thinking only about rules and precedent and not about the actual people behind every case we study. Courses in context are designed to jolt us out of that easy rhythm and remind us that the law isn’t always fair and hasn’t always been applied equally to all people.
When we think about the real-world applications and implications of the law, we start considering elements like fairness, justice and equality. It is precisely these ideas that we are supposed to carry with us into our careers as citizen lawyers. So if you’re interested in becoming a citizen lawyer, know that there are great opportunities to broaden your horizons here at William & Mary Law.