A Full-Circle Commitment: Chris Gottfried '09 Takes the Helm of the Law School’s Alumni Association Board
When Chris Gottfried talks about his relationship with William & Mary Law School, he laughs before he even finishes the thought. "They can't get rid of me," he says.
It's a joke, but it's close to the truth. Gottfried has come through the Law School's doors as a J.D. student, an MBA candidate, a faculty member and now as the newly installed president of the Law School’s Alumni Association Board (AAB). Each role has come with its own purpose, he says, but all of them trace back to the same feeling he had walking onto campus for the first time — the sense of being part of something worth constantly learning from.
"That feeling of continual learning, and being able to perpetuate that for other people, is the biggest driver and the biggest reward," Gottfried said.
A Path Built on Saying Yes
Gottfried arrived at William & Mary Law in 2005 without a clear sense of the kind of lawyer he wanted to be. He found himself in some of his most formative experiences, including three years at the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, simply by saying yes to an opportunity a professor mentioned in passing. At his father’s urging, he pursued an MBA at the Raymond A. Mason School of Business, a decision he now credits with shaping how he thinks about both law and business. Years later, that same instinct — say yes, even when it's outside your comfort zone — launched Gottfried's second career as a member of the faculty after a former professor asked if he would like to teach.
Today, as faculty director of the Law School's Corporate Compliance Program, Gottfried works alongside Associate Dean for Online and Executive Education Amy King to bring together students from across the legal and business worlds, along with paralegals, entrepreneurs, military veterans and legal professionals.
"Everyone's in the same room trying to solve the same problems," he said. "Different skill sets offer different solutions. You're problem solvers, and that's exactly what's needed across so many industries right now."
It's advice he carries into his newest role, too: for a Board built on service to a community that open its doors to him in 2005.
Finding His Way to the Board
Gottfried wasn't a student deeply involved in Law Review or the traditional organizations that keep students connected after graduation; his time was split between the Law School and the School of Business. As a young professional, watching the William & Mary Law School community grow around him, he felt the pull to reconnect.
"It was a great way to get to know people and work with them through the Board," he said. Serving on the Executive Committee later, first as secretary and then as vice president, gave him a stronger sense of duty.
Priorities for the Year Ahead
As he steps into the presidency, Gottfried is focused on the Board's two core constituencies: current students who will become the Law School's next generation of alumni and the Law School’s Office of Advancement, with whom the AAB partners closely.
- Deepening the Advancement partnership. Gottfried wants to build on the foundation the Board has laid over the past several years. He sees an opportunity to sharpen where the Board focuses its efforts and how it supports Advancement priorities and campaigns.
- Strengthening ties with student groups. Gottfried wants to enhance the relationship between the AAB and the Law School's student organizations, ensuring students know alumni are a resource they can call on, whether as guest speakers, informal mentors or through more structured involvement. "Our alumni are really amazing at giving back," he said. "It's just a matter of coordinating that and spreading awareness."
- Growing the MLS community. With the Master of Legal Studies (MLS) program now graduating its own alumni — nine as of this past May — Gottfried wants the Law School to cast a wider net in how it welcomes and communicates with that growing population, ensuring MLS graduates feel as much a part of the alumni community as their J.D. counterparts.
- Re-energizing Co-Counsel. Gottfried is championing the relaunch of Co-Counsel, the Law School's alumni-student mentorship program, by mobilizing strong Board participation across career types, experience levels and geography as it kicks off again this fall.
What It Means to Be a Citizen Lawyer
Ask Gottfried what the citizen lawyer tradition means to him at this stage of his career, and he pushes past the easy answer.
"It's a bit of a cliché to say it's about giving back, that almost does the concept a disservice," he said. "It's about considering other people's needs, perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. It's about playing your role within your community, not just at work, but with colleagues and beyond. You can be a corporate attorney and still strive to be a citizen lawyer — to be a good corporate citizen, and to serve your profession and your community well."
It's a philosophy that has carried Gottfried through a J.D., an MBA, a faculty appointment, Board participation and now a Board presidency. Each one, in his telling, is less a departure from the last than a continuation of it.
"No matter what your motivation is," he said, "everything is an opportunity — even the things that feel outside of what you think is your path."