Onetime Law Firm Gofer Now a Corporate Counsel

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Onetime Law Firm Gofer Now a Corporate Counsel

Posted Feb 11, 2008, 04:35 pm CST
By Martha Neil

When Ryan Swift got a job as a gofer, making sure the coffee machine was filled and fetching sandwiches for lawyers at Holland & Knight in Atlanta, his mother told him he just needed to get his foot in the door. It turns out she was right.

"I told them I had a paralegal certification," he explains to the Fulton County Daily Report. "After three months, they came to me and said UPS was a client that needed assistance. A paralegal was on maternity leave. Holland & Knight loaned me to UPS. Then UPS hired me as a paralegal."

That was a little over a decade ago. Attending law school at night at Georgia State University School of Law and working full-time at UPS during the day, Swift earned his law degree in 2006 and was admitted to the state bar in 2007. Now he is an in-house lawyer at UPS.

Plus, he has just finished an unusually plum assignment, working for three months at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society after UPS hired him as an in-house lawyer, where he gained valuable trial experience there before moving back to the corporate counsel world.

"I got to do things that probably in this job I would never get to do," he says of his legal aid experience. "That was great coming right out of law school. Even young attorneys who work in law firms don't get to go to court and represent people in the same way."

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Posted by Nathan - 9 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 11 hours, 43 minutes ago

Slow news day?
Posted by Robin - 9 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 11 hours, 35 minutes ago

I had a similar experience and am now corporate counsel myself. It is difficult to work your way through law school as a paralegal because you aren’t taken seriously if you didn’t go to law school full time. Nobody thinks about how exhausting it is and how much motivation it takes to do what Ryan did. Kudos to UPS for appreciating this guy’s hard work and dedication and giving him such a great opportunity! I would much rather read about this than the spoiled $160K biglaw whiners.
Posted by Jeff - 9 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 11 hours, 14 minutes ago

Nathan,

You are a JA.
Posted by Amy - 9 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 9 hours, 54 minutes ago

Nathan’s not a JA; he’s just acknowledging that Ryan’s story is the story of many, many lawyers. It’s pretty sad when working your way through law school and taking jobs at the bottom of the food chain constitutes news.
Posted by MPM - 9 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 9 hours, 39 minutes ago

Sometimes, some dreams do come true. Good for Ryan…and for you as well Robin. Amy, why do you characterize this article as “pretty sad”? Would you rather read tidbits on top tier firm associates taking 6-figure year-end bonus treasure baths?
Posted by Good grief... - 9 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 9 hours, 16 minutes ago

Must all of you really continue to comment on what constitutes news and what doesn’t? Interesting news to one person may not be interesting news to another, and vice versa. Some people enjoy the fluff. Some people enjoy the big law news. Some people don’t. Get over it and if you aren’t interested in the article, move on… There are plenty of meatier articles to keep you occupied…
Posted by Brownknows - 9 months, 2 weeks, 3 days, 8 hours, 5 minutes ago

Far better there than with H&K.
Posted by Improvilaw - 9 months, 2 weeks, 2 days, 23 hours, 23 minutes ago

I think this story is great. I wish it were mine. Sorry if Nathan is displeased. (Nathan, you do know that you are not required to read this and can skip it if it is not interesting to you, don’t you?)
Personally, I think that the legal field needs a bit more inspiration and less big law aspirations these days.
Posted by Marcus - 9 months, 2 weeks, 7 hours, 25 minutes ago

Amy, right now Mr Swift is probably on the golf course and we are confined to our daily grind - day after day…Good for Mr. Swift, Bravo. Dont be a hater.

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