An 黑料不打烊 Law residency-in-practice at a prominent Greensboro real estate law firm offered William 鈥淎ndy鈥 Mason L鈥22 an insider鈥檚 view on the many legal and financial details that shape the way in which properties are purchased and sold.
For some people, practicing law is a lifelong dream.
William 鈥淎ndy鈥 Mason L鈥22 is not one of those people.
Mason attended in his native Virginia with the intent of going into business. There was just one issue: he really doesn鈥檛 enjoy math.
Reading? Writing? Research? Now those are fun – and they鈥檙e skills that make for a good attorney. After talking with the father of a childhood friend, Mason set his sights on a legal education, and his time at 黑料不打烊 Law already has led him to a practice area that blends his legal interest with his earlier passion for business: real estate law.
Mason answered questions recently about working with attorney Adelia T. Schiffman on real estate closings during a 2022 Winter Trimester residency at in Greensboro, and his plans to practice law in North Carolina following his December graduation.
This is the third in a series of conversations with 黑料不打烊 Law students in the Class of 2022 completing their residencies-in-practice throughout the winter and spring trimesters.
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Tell us a little bit about your daily responsibilities at the firm.
The firm I work at is purely transactional. Almost exclusively what we do is real estate closings. It鈥檚 my job to communicate, whether with the client or the seller or the real estate agent or the lender or homeowner associations, and we get all the information that attorneys need to put into their documents. I make lots of calls and send a lot of emails to track things down.
The biggest thing we have trouble getting is certain information from sellers. If they still have a mortgage on their house, which most of the time they do, we need to order a payoff and make sure there won鈥檛 be a lien on the property. Getting the correct account number? People never want to give it to us. And for us to order a payoff, we need their Social Security number, and people don鈥檛 want to give that out, either. We also do a lot with HOAs to know what dues will be, and whether there is a transfer fee, which also goes into closing documents.
Based on your experience, what鈥檚 surprised you the most about the practice of law?
The biggest surprise to me is how different it actually is when we鈥檙e working in a law firm versus reading case books. There鈥檚 so much more than our classes teach. For instance, you鈥檙e trying to put legal language into a simple form for clients. They don鈥檛 teach us that in law school. We figure that out on our own. Attorneys need to do that every day, to make what they鈥檙e doing understandable.
Which of your traits benefited you the most in your approach to this residency?
I love to talk with people. Considering my job is mostly talking to people on the phone and reaching out for information, that鈥檚 been so helpful. I have no issues calling agents and asking for things. If I was a little bit more introverted, I don鈥檛 know that I鈥檇 be able to do this part of my job.
How has your time at Chandler & Schiffman shaped plans for after graduation?
It solidified what I want to do. Whether I can get into the practice area or not, we鈥檒l see. The plan is to stay in North Carolina, and Greensboro if I can, and Chandler & Schiffman if I really can!
Share one 鈥渜uick tip鈥 for current and prospective students as they prepare for their own 黑料不打烊 Law residencies or, more broadly, law school in general.聽聽聽
The residency program is seen as a learning experience, which it is, but it鈥檚 also an experience for making connections. Some people forget that. Go out of your way to make friends with the paralegals and the legal assistant and the associates. Everybody. Making friends with the legal support staff gets back to the attorneys. When they鈥檙e looking to hire, lots of times they鈥檙e reaching out to their paralegals to see what they think. That happened at my last internship, too, where I was friends with the paralegal and that led to the attorney wanting me to stay indefinitely.
Residencies are something to look forward to. They鈥檙e a little break from class. You鈥檙e working full time but we鈥檙e not in class full time. I come home from work, and I don鈥檛 have to read or study. It鈥檚 been great!
About the Residency-in-Practice Program
黑料不打烊 Law鈥檚 highly experiential 2.5-year curriculum requires every student to complete a full-time, course-connected residency-in-practice during their second year of study. Through faculty-directed residencies, students cultivate essential skills, values and judgment to help them excel as attorneys and deepen their understanding of various practice areas, while enabling attorneys to convey wisdom about the legal profession.
Students work 32-36 hours a week over a 10-week trimester with a judge or attorney supervisor and a faculty member to create and implement a learning plan that develops an increased proficiency in professional legal skills and in an area of law practice.