Nassau Standard

From a young age, third-year Hofstra Law student Liam Sugrue had a strong sense of community and great work ethic instilled in him from playing sports.

“I’ve played sports my whole life,” says Liam. “Ever since I was little growing up, my parents and my coaches always told me that hard work pays off and to give 110% in anything I do.”

The support, guidance, and sense of community that he received as an athlete was something he looked for when he researched law schools. Growing up on Long Island, he crossed paths with some Hofstra Law alumni involved in the sports industry.

“One of the attorneys I met with works for the MLB, and as I want to go into sports law, he was a great resource” says Liam. “He helped mentor me in my decision to choose which law school to go to. The alumni have been excellent. I’ve met a couple of them before I came here and all of them just had raving reviews about why I should come.”

Finding His Passion

Liam’s first year at Hofstra Law took place in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but even with classroom restrictions, he was able to thrive that year.

“We were the only people on campus, it was just the 1Ls,” he says. “I think there were 45 people in the small sections. Just being able to sit there in the classroom and have all that focus just on you as a 1L was awesome. I feel like in that moment, that was when I felt most like a law student. I was sitting there just absorbing everything.”

The more he studied the more his love for learning the law grew. “‘This is almost like I’m participating in sports right now,’” Liam told his first-year professor. “I would go home after reading and studying all day and just be exhausted as if I ran up and down the field for 45 minutes. It was a really good experience and I learned so much in those short 13 weeks.”

Student Organization Involvement

Liam has been active in several different student organizations at Hofstra Law. He founded the Irish Law Society with the help of his classmates in his first year. The organization has not only helped him with meeting other students but has also facilitated and expanded his connections outside of the Law School.

“I got to connect with great people through it, not only alumni but people within the Irish American community here in Nassau County,” he says. “I got to meet the president of the Irish American Society which was great and every time that I go to an interview the Irish Law Society gets brought up.”

His interests in sports law and business contracts led him to joining the Sports and Entertainment Law Society (SELS), where upperclassmen in the organization helped him understand how to network and create connections within the industry.

“They’ve been a big help, especially during my first and second year here,” he says. “And they had some great events that I got to enjoy.” Students in SELS have the opportunity to attend sports games together as well as meet prominent sports and entertainment lawyers and players.

However, one of Liam’s favorite experiences has been writing for the Journal of International Business and Law (JIBL), where he is the editor-in-chief. In his role he has learned and refined many skills needed to work in the legal field.

“Being the editor-in-chief I’ve really learned how to communicate with people who not only work with you but work somewhat for you,” he says. “When I need something done, what I’ll do is try to problem solve, I’ll see if I can do it myself, and if necessary I’ll delegate it.”

His work for JIBL has also brought new challenges for him. “As a junior staffer I got to do all the research and writing for my own note, as well practice preparing professional notes which was always interesting. Especially international ones in different languages which provide interesting and unique challenges . Now, I have my hand in everything. So I’ve had to do a lot of problem solving and I think that’s been very helpful, especially on the research side.”

Supportive Leadership Team

As a student leader, Liam works closely with administration helping to advocate for students’ needs, while getting guidance and advice from them.

“Dean Monticciolo has been really one of my guiding lights here, especially in the second year and third year, where she’s helped me speak with alumni and network a lot.”

“Dean Monticciolo has been really one of my guiding lights here, especially in the second year and third year, where she’s helped me speak with alumni and network a lot,” he says. “I’ve been able to participate in many events that I feel like I may not have had the opportunity to had I not made these excellent connections.”

Liam’s professors also play a huge role in his professional and personal development since he started law school.

“I’ve had a great support system here at Hofstra Law,” he says. “I have Professor Sample who I’ve really trusted with everything that I’ve needed help with. He’s talked to me from 1L to 3L about trying to get jobs, about life, and sports. I also have Professor Colesanti, he’s my advisor for the business law honors concentration and we meet at least once a semester but we talk over the summer very often. I’ve even been invited to play hockey with him a couple times.”

Experiential Opportunities

Many of the experiences and connections Liam has made through Hofstra Law have assisted him in obtaining valuable real-world learning opportunities.

The summer going into his 3L year, he was connected to the Nassau County Attorney’s Office for an internship position through Hofstra Law’s Office of Student Affairs. “I got a call from Dean Monticciolo and she said ‘would you be interested?’ and probably within five minutes I was speaking with one of the main attorneys at the Nassau County Attorney’s Office. Twenty minutes after that I was accepting the position and working within a week.”

While there he gained hands-on experience working in the court alongside a judge handling consumer affairs. “It was a great opportunity,” he says. “I learned a lot and I got to rub shoulders with some of the best attorneys in the county.”

Currently, Liam works as a part-time law clerk at the solution-oriented law firm Cullen and Dykman LLP, located in Garden City, New York. Hofstra Law’s close proximity to NYC as well as being on Long Island made it “very easy for going after class and working” at the law firm for Liam.

Many of the transferable skills he learned while working on JIBL have helped him thrive in his role there. “The research that I’ve done has been a great asset,” he says. “I’ve written a speech for my current boss in which I got to employ all my research and writing skills, and I somehow didn’t need to use the bluebook for citations because I memorized them all from all the source gathering assignments that we’ve done.”

The position has also introduced him to other aspects of the world of lawyering. “While I’m there I’ve been doing line by line trial prep, looking at depositions and preparing documents for trial,” he says. “Before this position I had never tracked minutes or billed clients.”

Helping the Next Generation

The importance of having an educated, supportive community around you while you’re growing and learning is something Liam knows very well. As he finishes out his last year of law school and moves into practicing he wants to be able to have a lasting, genuine impact on his clients.

“A big part of sports law right now is student athletes being paid for their name, image, and likeness and one of the important parts of that is making sure that the student athletes do not get strong armed by large corporations,” he says. “The distraction that the contracts with the corporations might pose as well as their lack of knowledge on the actual subject can really put them in a dangerous position. I’m hoping to help them out, and get them some protection from corporations by making contracts that will work on both sides so they get what they’re due.”

Original source can be found here.