University of Texas School of Law J.D. · Sample interviewer (fictional)
Fictional interviewer written for this sample; the employers are invented.
Russell Okonjo (he/him)
Associate Director of Admissions, University of Texas School of Law · Austin, Texas
About
I review J.D. applications for Texas Law, including the recorded video interviews applicants submit, and I sit with the Admissions Committee when files are discussed. Before admissions I practiced employment law on the defense side and then spent three years in legal aid, so I have seen how workplace disputes look from both tables. I watch for applicants who can explain plainly why they want to be lawyers and what they have actually done, not what they think we want to hear. I am especially interested in people who have worked before law school and in candidates from South and West Texas.
Experience
University of Texas School of Law (Austin, TX) - Associate Director of Admissions, Aug 2021 - present - Evaluate J.D. applications and recorded video interview responses; present files to the Admissions Committee. - Lead recruiting across Texas, including the Rio Grande Valley, El Paso and community-college transfer pipelines. - Help coordinate the small number of live interviews with a dean.
Brazos Valley Legal Aid (nonprofit legal services, Bryan, TX) - Staff Attorney, Employment and Benefits Unit, Jun 2018 - Jul 2021 - Represented low-wage workers in unpaid-wage claims and unemployment-benefit appeals; supervised law student volunteers.
Hollister Gant LLP (Houston, TX) - Associate, Labor and Employment Group, Sep 2013 - May 2018 - Defended employers in wage-and-hour and discrimination cases; took and defended depositions; drafted summary judgment motions.
Education
- University of Texas School of Law - J.D., 2013. Student attorney in an employment clinic.
- University of Houston - B.A., Political Science, 2009.
Volunteering
- Judge, Austin-area high-school mock trial tournaments (2022 - present).
- Mentor, a pre-law mentoring program for first-generation college students in Central Texas (2019 - present).
Interests
Smoking brisket badly and asking strangers for advice; Longhorn baseball; long walks on the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail with a stubborn beagle; reading Texas history, especially anything about the border.