Legal Studies Graduate Spotlight, Lydia Wagenbach

ICC’s Legal Studies Program gave me the tools to succeed as both a paralegal and a law student. When I enrolled in the program in 2016, I was a shy eighteen-year-old with a plethora of doubts about my ability to succeed. However, thanks to the excellent mentorship, advice, and direct feedback that I received from my professors, my confidence in my legal research and writing abilities steadily grew. In fact, my confidence grew so much within two years (mostly thanks to the encouragement of Professor Higgins) that I began to seriously consider the prospect of eventually becoming a lawyer.  

After graduating from the program in 2018, I was able to easily find a job; I was hired at Prairie State Legal Services, a legal aid organization in central Illinois, and worked there for three years. During the end of my tenure in legal aid, I decided to commit to my goal of becoming a lawyer and attended Bradley University where I earned a bachelor’s degree in English. After graduating from Bradley in 2023, I worked for a year at the City of Peoria’s Legal Department while I studied for and eventually took the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). After being accepted to eight different law schools, I chose to attend the University of Dayton School of Law (UDSL) on a nearly full-tuition scholarship.  

I am now completing my first year at UDSL. Thanks to my paralegal degree and experience, I was able to secure a great, paid summer clerkship in a geographical area (Southwest Ohio) where I have very few connections. In fact, every interview I have had so far has begun with, “So you’re a paralegal? Tell me about your experiences working in law.” I credit ICC’s Legal Studies Program with fostering my passion, understanding, and appreciation for the law, and I can’t recommend the program enough to any prospective lawyers and paralegals.  

Lydia Wagenbach, Class of 2018 

 

 

Legal Studies - A Pathway to a Career in the Law or an Excellent way to Prepare for and to be Employed during Law School!

Be employed before you complete the program.  Sustaining wages, exciting jobs await.  If you have an Associate or higher or you are well on your way to one and you would like a career in the law or an opportunity to work in the law while preparing for or attending law school, check out this program!

Utilizing Paralegal Skills Outside Traditional Law Firm Roles

 

"Battling the clock: Officers call for better work-life balance in ‘What Cops Want’ survey"

Graduates of our programs can be found working in departments all over our region and beyond. We hear and see many of the concerns expressed in the Police 1 article and survey linked below. I come to work each day intent on helping to prepare the next generation or provide continued training to people who choose to serve their community as law enforcement officers. Some of the concerns raised in this survey are not at all new. But I would suggest, based on the number of people seeking to enter this field and the number of people exiting it, kicking the can down the road on the types of concerns this years survey results raise is a recipe for disaster across the board. If we want the best from the people we look to for law enforcement, the people we expect to keep us safe, resolve or address crime and conflict and a whole host of other tasks that we have turned to law enforcement to provide, we must acknowledge the concerns raised in the results of this survey and other data. Those concerns can be funneled into these two categories. Time and Support. Provide consistent focus and action on these two categories and we will see increased interest and more people who are interested and willing to serve in law enforcement. We will see better service and response from those who currently serve in law enforcement. We will see law enforcement service return to the profession we say we want and quite frankly, most people working in law enforcement attempt to provide under increasingly difficult working conditions.
Please read the article and it's summary and analysis or the Police 1 survey.

Battling the clock: Officers call for better work-life balance in ‘What Cops Want’ survey
Inconsistent schedules, long shifts and lack of personal time are pushing officers to the limit, impacting wellness and performance.

Read the Article Here