In the latest in a series of profiles of Elon Law students reflecting on their residencies-in-practice, Aysha Johnson L'19 shares how her work for the Guilford County Clerk of Superior Court provided her with a deeper understanding of the complex issues involved in real estate law, property rights, and estate planning.
Looking back, Aysha Johnson L’19 isn’t quite sure how she developed a fascination with real estate as a young child, but her best guess is this: when her family was only the second to move into a new residential neighborhood in Chesapeake, Virginia, Johnson had the opportunity to literally watch homes spring up around her.
The when she got to middle school and met an attorney who practiced real estate law, Johnson realized there was more to helping people create homes or build businesses then simply agreeing to a parcel purchase price.
That eventually led her on a path to Elon Law where Johnson, an Honor Council defender and academic chair of the Black Law Students Association, is also pursuing her MBA through the law school’s JD/MBA dual-degree program with Elon’s Marthan and Spencer Love School of Business.
The graduate of George Mason University is the latest to be featured in an occasional series of profiles on Elon Law students in the Class of 2019 completing their residencies in recent months. She answered questions recently about her learning experience.
What inspired you to pursue a legal education?
“I was inspired by my interest in real property and real estate. I initially did not know exactly how to transform these areas of interest into a career, but after gaining some exposure to other attorneys and the work they did, I realized a career in the legal profession was an option for me. Pursuing a legal education would allow me to gain a high level of knowledge and practice in my areas of interest.”
Describe the responsibilities you were assigned as part of your residency and how your classes prepared you for these tasks.
“Some of my responsibilities included preparing or amending removal orders and foreclosure orders, auditing estate files, and preparing questions and exhibits for court hearings. My classes helped prepare me by providing a solid foundation in legal research, legal writing, and substantive law. In my residency I referenced outlines for classes I had previously completed, specifically Property Law, Wills and Trusts, Secured Transactions, and Contracts – evidence that what I learned in class really does translate into practice!”
How did your residency reinforce your career goals or channel them in a new direction?
“This residency did both. My experience in the Clerk’s office provided me with so much practice in the areas of wills and estate planning, and it allowed me to see how these areas of practice operate through a judicial lens. I’m now gaining experience in how these areas operate from the perspective of private practice with a spring trimester externship.”
What’s one thing you learned during your residency that you don’t think would have happened solely by attending class?
“Substantive law I learn in class can sometimes seem like abstract concepts. However, on my residency I learned how classroom lessons show up in practice. What’s more, I learned how a single issue can touch on multiple areas of the law.”
In what ways do you predict your approach to classes and bar preparation might change because of your residency?
“I now think about how the various areas I study interact with each other as opposed to thinking about them independently. Often, in classes, I didn’t think about how the different areas of law work alongside each other; I always processed them separately. My residency gave me the skills to think about how multiple areas of the law work together and the impact of this when analyzing an issue.”
About Elon Law:
Elon University School of Law in Greensboro, North Carolina, is the preeminent school for engaged and experiential learning in law. With a focus on learning by doing, it integrates traditional classroom instruction with course-connected, full-time residencies-in-practice in a logically sequenced program of transformational professional preparation. Elon Law’s groundbreaking approach is accomplished in 2.5 years, which provides distinctive value by lowering tuition and permitting graduates early entry into their legal careers.