Current Job: Chief Executive Officer, JMK & Co.
Major: B.A. in Philosophy
Mentors: Philosophy Professors Timothy Stroup, DPhils and Catherine Kemp Ph.D.; Pre-Law Institute (PLI) Director Elizabeth Broccoli; Assistant Dean of Student Professional Advancement (SPA) Charles Robert Davidson, Ph.D.
Programs: PLI, Urban Male Initiative, CUNY Service Corps
Graduate Degrees: J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania, M.B.A. from the University of Michigan
Hometown: Brooklyn and Queens, NY
Career Aspiration: Attorney and Entrepreneur
What was life like before John Jay?
My parents immigrated to the U.S. from Belize. Neither of them went to college, so I was navigating a lot of my career aspirations without much information. I was interested in the law and entrepreneurship because as a first-generation kid growing up in a low-income household, the desire to achieve, improve myself, and uplift my family was deeply instilled in me. Education became my passion. My parents split when I was young and my dad moved to Los Angeles. So, a lot of my childhood was spent with my mother and two younger sisters. Being the oldest, I knew I had to be a role model for my siblings. I wanted to blaze an educational trail for my sisters and younger cousins. I wanted to lift them up as I climbed.
Why John Jay?
In the neighborhood I grew up in, everyone knew that if you wanted to become a lawyer, a prosecutor, or a defense attorney, John Jay was the school to attend. When I came to John Jay for a visit, I immediately knew it was the place for me. It had exactly what I was looking for—a focus on studying issues of justice.
What sparked your interest in the law?
As a kid, I really liked watching legal dramas. I know now that those shows are not real life, but the issues the actors engaged in intrigued me. I also had a passion for debate. I was in the debate club in school and was one of those kids who always questioned the world around me. I had a more critical lens on things and questioned the information I was being given. Basically, I was a junior philosopher when I was growing up.
How did your mentors support you?
Professor Kemp and Professor Stroup both wrote my law school application recommendations. Both went to law school and gave their students a philosophical, insightful view of the law. They took my writing to another level and helped a first-gen kid realize his dream of becoming a lawyer.
Professor Stroup would invite his students over to his house. His wife was a professor too and they poured so much into us in terms of guidance, ethics, and knowledge. He would read letters to us from students he taught years ago, who kept in touch with him decades later.
One of the things Professor Kemp taught me—and I used in all my graduate degree programs—was how to do explications. She explained how to take arguments out of dense texts, highlight them, line them up, and really see what people were saying. This knowledge came in handy for the LSATS and law school exams and helped me make sure that my points were written clearly.
What is your work like at JMK & Co.?
After adding an M.B.A. to my legal degree, and spending a lot of time working as a venture capital lawyer, I decided that I wanted to start my own company. I was already helping a lot of students as a mentor—giving them advice on how to apply to law school and grad school—so I wanted to create a graduate school and admissions consulting company. It’s been three years now and we already reached students at over 100 different colleges.
Why are you invested in helping aspiring lawyers?
As a first-gen college student, I know that there are many barriers to entry into the legal profession—the first one being insight. There are a lot of scholarships and opportunities that a first-gen student, or a student who doesn’t have legal connections, won’t know about. I was fortunate to have mentors and programs that helped me achieve social mobility. I want to do that for as many students as I can reach.
One of the things I’m really excited about is a new card game that my company created. Its goal is to help level the playing field for aspiring attorneys and anyone else interested in the law. It’s called Disbarred: The Card Game and it will help people learn high-level legal concepts in a fun way. The best part about it is that we will give a portion of the proceeds to organizations that support pre-law students in need.
What advice do you have for students hoping to become legal professionals?
Strive for academic excellence throughout your undergraduate career because law schools will care about your G.P.A. The higher your G.P.A., the more leeway you have with the LSAT, which is a very difficult test. When you’re choosing your major, make sure it’s something that you’re genuinely interested in—that way, you’ll do well in your classes and earn a higher G.P.A. Start looking into different programs and internships that will give you a better idea of what a lawyer does, and research scholarships. There are so many scholarships out there that support many different things—LSAT prep programs, application fees, and tuition. I didn’t pay anything to attend law school because I found the right scholarships.
What is your proudest moment?
Where I came from, just getting a high school diploma was a big deal because most of us didn’t have the resources needed to go further. When my family came to my graduations at John Jay, Michigan, and Penn, I could feel their pride in my accomplishments. Now, both of my sisters are in college. I was the first, but I’m glad I’m not the last. When I went to college, I had to work two jobs. They don’t need to do that because they can lean on me.
