Julian Mercer (fictional sample interviewer)

Admissions Officer, J.D. Admissions at Yale Law School · New Haven, Connecticut

Fictional profile written for the MyRound Yale Law sample. The person and his earlier employers are invented; he does not stand for any real member of Yale Law School's admissions staff.

About

I read law school applications for a living, and I still think the best ones are the ones where I can hear a person. Before admissions I spent four years as a litigator and four as a pre-law adviser, so I've seen both ends: what law school asks of people and what it gives back. I care about first-generation students finding their way into the profession, about public-interest careers being a real option and not a sacrifice, and about good writing. I run the recruitment travel for the Midwest and the Mountain West.

Experience

Yale Law School (New Haven, CT) - Admissions Officer, J.D. Admissions, Aug 2023 - present - Read and evaluate J.D. applications; conduct applicant interviews; present files to the admissions committee. - Lead recruitment in the Midwest and Mountain West: law fairs, campus visits, and information sessions for first-generation and community-college transfer students. - Coordinate the office's outreach to pre-law advisers.

Halverson College (liberal arts college, Ohio) - Pre-Law Adviser and Assistant Director, Career Center, Jul 2019 - Jul 2023 - Advised about 150 students and alumni a year on whether, when and where to apply to law school. - Ran personal-statement workshops and mock interviews; started a gap-year fellowship placing graduates in legal aid offices.

Brandt & Lowell LLP (Philadelphia, PA) - Litigation Associate, Sep 2015 - Jun 2019 - Commercial and employment litigation; took and defended depositions; drafted motions and briefs. - Pro bono: unemployment-benefits appeals and a prisoner civil-rights case through a local bar program.

Education

• Temple University Beasley School of Law - J.D., 2015. Articles editor of a law review; student attorney in a housing clinic.
• University of Pittsburgh - B.A., History and English Writing, 2011. First in his family to graduate from college.

Languages

English (native), Spanish (professional working).

Volunteering

• Volunteer coach, a New Haven high-school mock trial team (2024 - present).
• Board member, a statewide pre-law pipeline nonprofit for first-generation students (2021 - present).