Jack Igoe, ’21
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, New York
Jack Igoe describes his Criminal Procedure class with Professor Eve Primus as “intense, and rightfully so.” He says that being pressed on minute nuances helped shift his focus and allowed him to learn the material better, and that it was the first time he realized the pedagogical purpose of cold calling. “It might sound cliché to describe a class as career altering, but it affirmed my desire to get up in court because it gave me a sense of what it might be like to be peppered with questions from the bench,” says Igoe.
For many, law school can be an intimidating place, and there were times when Igoe asked himself if he belonged. “During those tough moments, my scholarship helped me find my feet and reminded me that I belonged at the Law School,” he says. “The support and assistance from my peers helped sustain me as well, and I was a tutee and tutor in the peer tutoring program, which was an incredibly rewarding experience from both perspectives.”
Those experiences made me want to be a litigator because I thrive on the adrenaline rush of standing up in court, and because it’s rewarding to help clients achieve the justice they deserve.”
During Igoe’s 1L summer, he went to court proceedings with his supervisors at the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice. Before the pandemic altered court appearances, he was in court a number of times with the Civil-Criminal Litigation Clinic. “Those experiences made me want to be a litigator because I thrive on the adrenaline rush of standing up in court, and because it’s rewarding to help clients achieve the justice they deserve,” says Igoe. “It’s a unique opportunity to represent a real person on a real issue that has consequences outside of a letter grade, and it is hard to imagine until you have done it.”