Student Perspective on the Business Law Boot Camp: Ashley Deatherage

Baylor Law's Business Law Boot Camp is a week-long program that provides Baylor Law students with a practical, deep dive into various areas of law a corporate or business transactional lawyer deals with regularly. Taught by a diverse team of accomplished transactional attorneys, the Boot Camp courses are delivered via both classroom lectures and collaborative exercises.

Ashley Deatherage attended Baylor Law's Business Law Boot Camp in 2022. Read her thoughts on the Boot Camp below.

Why did you apply for the Boot Camp? Did it meet your expectations?

Upon entering law school, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in transactional law, but I had little understanding of what that career path would look like. It was not until my second year at Baylor when I was able to take elective courses that I began to see how I could shape my coursework towards a transactional career. The Business Law Boot Camp provided an exceptional opportunity to be exposed to numerous career paths and subject areas of transactional law. Business Law Boot Camp touched on areas of my transactional coursework and paired it with practical advice from lawyers practicing in those areas of the law.

What are your thoughts on what you learned during the Boot Camp?

It has been incredibly beneficial to learn from business lawyers that it is not always a straight path to get to your desired practice area. As you near the end of law school, there is an innate pressure building to have everything figured out about your career once you complete your education. It has also been enlightening to see how many areas of the law intersect and interact in each area of practice, and I am confident that Baylor Law has given its students an incredible foundational knowledge of many areas of the law providing a competitive advantage for its students entering into the business law sector.

Which classroom session(s) or topic(s) made a particularly strong impression on you, and why?

I really enjoyed the family business succession planning session. I have had an interest in estate planning and wealth management for some time now, but I was not quite sure how to combine it with my interest in business planning and corporate law. This session connected a lot of dots for me as to the career path I would like to pursue and has provided me significant guidance on the courses I will select to take and career opportunities to pursue.

What part of the Boot Camp was most challenging for you?

The concepts of indemnification in the contract drafting session and the materiality scrape concept in the M&A session were the most challenging for me to wrap my head around. I am excited and motivated to further study these concepts to solidify my understanding.

What would you say to a fellow student who is interested in applying for the next Boot Camp?

Do whatever you can to participate; do NOT miss out on this opportunity if you have any interest in business law. You will be able to see what you have learned in your transactional classes come to life and see how different practice areas involve and apply what you have been learning in your coursework.

What comes next for you? Do you think your attendance at the Boot Camp will impact your future plans?

The Boot Camp helped me narrow my focus to the area of law I would like to practice in the future for which I am extremely grateful. I can now further focus my coursework as I enter into my final year of law school and have a network of contacts from the Boot Camp moving forward that I can reach out to for their guidance and insight.