Thoughts on iLegis’ 2024 Conference from a Law Student
By Hannah Robinson, a third-year law student at Florida State University College of Law
As I reflect on the closing fall semester, I can think of no experience more meaningful to my career goals than having attended the 2024 International Conference on Legislation and Law Reform, hosted by iLegis this past October. As a law student in Tallahassee, Florida, I rarely if ever get the opportunity to hear from legislative attorneys working at the federal level or in other states, let alone those working in other countries. This conference gave me the chance not only to hear from these professionals, but also to speak with some of them about their specific practice areas and offices.
My goal is to work as a nonpartisan drafting attorney in a state legislature, so when my law school dean sent me information about this conference, I knew I could not pass up the chance to go. The iLegis student discount allowed me to attend both full days in-person at the beautiful D.C. Bar headquarters in Washington, for which I am incredibly grateful because I got to speak with panelists after their events and with attendees – practicing attorneys, other law students, and iLegis committeepersons alike. Having to select which sessions to sit in on proved occasionally difficult, as all the topics seemed so interesting and useful to both current and aspiring legislative lawyers, but my personal favorites (because I can’t pick just one) were the skills-based “Avoiding Ambiguity in Drafting,” by renowned Professor Joseph Kimble, and “The Role of U.S. Federal Agencies in Drafting Legislation,” presented by former Chairman of the U.S. FCC, Ajit Pai. I am highly interested in the intersection of federal and state executive power and how each interacts with its respective legislative body, so I found this session enlightening; it was also fun to hear the former Chairman’s stories from his time at the FCC and in working with Congress.
Finally, speaking to other attendees and panelists helped me grow my professional network, and even brought to my attention different post-graduate employment opportunities exactly in line with my desire to work in the nonpartisan legislative realm and hopefully one day as a law professor teaching a legislative power/practice seminar. To any law student considering attending next year or interested even a little bit in legislative law, I truly could not recommend this conference more highly! It’s a wonderful learning and networking experience and in the perfect location, especially for aspiring government attorneys – and, the optional Saturday morning tour at either the U.S. Capitol or the Law Library of Congress was a great, fun way to end the event.
I will certainly be going again in 2025, and I thank iLegis for hosting such a wonderful event and helping me advance professionally and personally towards my goal of becoming a drafting attorney.
