Wilson Advises Students Interested in Law

Before Duke students can become lawyers, they often need an advocate themselves to help get into law school. For the past 34 years, that advocate for many Duke students has been Gerald Wilson.

Wilson wears a number of hats at Duke. As a member of the history faculty, he teaches two classes on American history. As senior associate dean of Trinity College, he works in the college administration. And as the pre-law adviser and academic dean in political science and history, he advises students in those departments and others who are interested in attending law school.

What he says he doesn't do is help create lawyers.

"One of the reasons why law school has remained popular with Duke students for the past three decades is that it is a profession, one in which you become a community leader," says Wilson, who has been Duke's pre-law adviser since 1969. But it's also popular because of the variety of options a legal education provides. "I like what the dean of admissions of Georgetown says: 'A decision to go to law school is merely a decision to go to law school, not a career decision.'

"It's a decision to acquire additional education and tools to do things you want to do in the community. That's something Duke students have always been interested in."

Nobody is keeping track, but it's assumed by many people in the field that Wilson has the greatest seniority among pre-law advisers at American universities. He is a leader in the PreLaw Advisor's National Council (PLANC) and has co-written a text published jointly by the Northeastern Association of Prelaw Advisors and the Southern Association of Prelaw Advisors that serves as a sourcebook about law programs for pre-law students.

On a recent afternoon in his Allen Building office, which is decorated with party buttons and other political paraphernalia, Wilson was preparing for a full day of interviews with students. One of the best aspects of advising students about law school, he said, is first getting to know them through wide-ranging discussions.

"I love legal advising," Wilson said. "It's why I've stuck with it all these years. I love working with the students. Most of them share my interest in law, politics, journalism and history, and we have great conversations."

Ari Redbord, a 1997 Duke graduate, took three courses taught by Wilson -- an introductory American history class and two seminars, "Leadership in American History" and "American Dreams/American Realities" -- and then worked with him on an independent study project.

"He has an extraordinary ability to teach to his students," said Redbord, who graduated from Georgetown University's law school in 2000 and is now an attorney with Janis Schuelke and Wechsler, a Washington, D.C., law firm. "I think it was the individual interest he took in each of his students that was so extraordinary."

Classroom discussions often expanded into conversations outside of class, said Redbord. Not surprisingly, many of those exchanges involved politics.

"We always disagreed with each other's politics," said Redbord, a former editor of Duke Review magazine. "He's a liberal Democrat and I'm a moderate Republican, but there's probably no one I've enjoyed discussing these issues with more or anyone on campus I respected more. He may have disagreed with me -- or other students -- but he always encouraged our views and always allowed those views to come out in conversation."

Many of those conversations included Alex Gordon, Trinity '98, a 2003 Harvard University law school graduate now clerking for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Gordon, Redbord and Wilson gathered weekly in the Oak Room for dinner and informal discussion about "topics of the day" before heading over to the "Leadership in American History" seminar.

"We just hit it off," said Gordon, a writer and editor for The Chronicle during his student days. "Dean Wilson was such a great facilitator of discussion. We might argue over something, but everything was based upon a mutual respect. It was done in such a way that it was never vituperative."

In addition to his role as teacher, Wilson also helped both Gordon and Redbord navigate the law school application process.

"Every student that comes in is more than a number to him," said Redbord, praising Wilson's advice, extensive network of contacts and ability to open doors for graduates. "And he's very real with you in terms of what your strengths and limitations are. In that, he helps you craft a plan that will work for you."

Law schools have changed over the past 34 years, but at the core a legal education is still about providing students with a well-rounded, general immersion in the law, Wilson said. Each school boasts of certain specialized areas of strength, but Wilson advises pre-law students not to base decisions too heavily on their personal interests of the moment.

"I advise students on the process," he said. "I've visited 85 of the 186 accredited law schools, and I feel my function is to know about the law schools and to get to know the students and then put the two together in the best match.

"You do not choose a law school on the basis of specialization, or more correctly, you don't sacrifice quality for specialization. The best law school can be defined a number of different ways, including the best law school for you. Only if all things are equal, and one school has an area of specialization of interest to the student, only then would it affect the decision.

"The reason for this is you probably don't know specifically what a law school has to offer in terms of specialization. You may have a general idea about international law, but then get there and become fascinated with labor law, immigration law or something else. Most students know they want a law degree, but they don't realize there are so many things you can do with it. You can't understand the variety until you have the experience. That's what law school can provide you."

Blake Dickinson contributed to this story.