The National First-Generation College Celebration is celebrated annually on November 8 to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
Being a First-Generation Law Student (FGLS) presents unique challenges, unfamiliar surroundings, and new experiences for those pursuing a J.D. The journey through law school can be demanding, but the accomplishment of reaching this stage is significant.
Each entering class at Syracuse Law includes many FGLS, creating a supportive network of peers with shared goals. Additionally, many faculty and staff at Syracuse Law were first-generation students in college and/or law school and are available to serve as mentors, advisors, and sources of support throughout the experience.
Chief among them is Professor Courtney Abbott Hill L’09, a Syracuse native and Syracuse Law alumna who obtained her J.D., magna cum laude, in 2009. In addition to teaching Legal Communication and Research (LCR) to first-year students, she is also the Faculty Advisor to the First-Generation Law Student Association (FGLSA).
Like many law students, her path to the legal profession was not traditional. “I was a political science major at Nazareth College, and everyone asked if I was going to law school. At the time, pursuing a career as an attorney was not something I had really considered. After graduating, I was teaching and working on a master’s in education, but going to law school was always in the back of my mind. I finally took the LSAT to see whether I could get accepted at Syracuse, which was the only school I applied to.”
As a proud lifelong resident of the area, being accepted to Syracuse Law meant the world to Professor Abbott Hill. She excelled at law school, serving as Managing Editor of the Syracuse Law Review and receiving the honors of Order of the Coif and the Justinian Honor Society, among many others.
Returning to her alma mater after serving as an Appellate Court Attorney at the New York State Appellate Division, Fourth Department, and then as a regional director for a national bar prep company, meant she was able to combine her love of teaching and the law in her role on the faculty.
“I returned to Syracuse Law to teach in the bar success program. Later, I had the opportunity to teach an LCR class and fell in love with it. I was fortunate to have mentors like my first-year LCR Professors, Ian Gallacher and Aliza Milner, who recognized I’d be good at this before I did and encouraged me to apply for a full-time position teaching LCR. I am so grateful for that encouragement because I have the greatest job in the world.”
Abbott Hill can trace her passion for teaching and mentoring back to spending summers working as a camp counselor and later as a teacher and coach at a Syracuse high school. “Even if I didn’t always know I wanted to teach in law school, in hindsight, it all makes sense,” she says.
“FGLSA is an amazing organization. Student leadership purposefully doesn’t define what a first-generation law student is because they want it to be the most inclusive, supportive organization for any student, residential or JDi, that wants to be a part of it.”
—Professor Courtney Abbott Hill L’09
These experiences help inform how Abbott Hill teaches first year law students in LCR, where they learn how to research and apply law to complex factual situations. She sees teaching or assessing students through the rigors of LCR as a not one-size-fits-all proposition. “I see my job as helping students identify goals for their legal education and partnering with them to achieve those goals. There is a steep learning curve the first semester of law school, so I’m willing to try non-traditional things in the classroom to help students understand and execute difficult legal concepts.”
As the Faculty Advisor to the FGLSA, Abbott Hill uses all her skills and experiences as a lifelong mentor and educator to make an impact on Syracuse Law students. “FGLSA is an amazing organization. Student leadership purposefully doesn’t define what a first-generation law student is because they want it to be the most inclusive, supportive organization for any student, residential or JDi, that wants to be a part of it.”
The FGLSA facilitates several programs for its members, including pairing first-year and upperclassmen as “buddies”, hosting panels and symposia on issues important to FGLS, networking events, and other opportunities to build community.
“We want to make that transition to law school a little smoother to those that may feel like a fish out of water,” says Abbott Hill.