"Got a Minute?" with first-year J.D. student Alex Lombardo
Every Law Dawg’s journey through William H. Gates Hall is unique. Each student brings a different background, perspective and set of goals to the law school community. Through our “Got a Minute?” series, we get to meet a new student each week, exploring what inspired them to attend law school, their experiences as a student and what they hope to achieve after graduation.
This week, we’re featuring Alex Lombardo, a first-year J.D. student.
UW Law: Are you originally from Seattle, and if not, where?
Alex Lombardo: I'm originally from Kansas City, Missouri.
UW Law: What's one interesting fact about where you're from?
AL: Kansas City has the best barbecue in the country.
UW Law: Where did you earn your undergraduate degree?
AL: Claremont McKenna College.
UW Law: Did you take time off between undergrad and law school?
AL: Yes, I got a master's degree at UC Davis, and then I worked as a mountain guide and ski patroller for about seven years.
UW Law: Why did you decide to go to law school?
AL: I wanted to have more agency and work towards preserving things like federal public land access and protections. Things have affected me as a guide and affected my coworkers and colleagues.
UW Law: How many United States Supreme Court chief justices have there been?
AL: 30-something?
UW Law: 17. Who was the first person you told you were admitted to UW Law, and what was their reaction to that?
AL: I believe I told my dad. He was very excited because he's a lawyer as well.
UW Law: What was a highlight for you from Orientation?
AL: Meeting people and getting an idea of where they're from and the different paths they’ve taken, and in some cases, overlapping with them in terms of interests. In other cases, hearing about wildly divergent interests, which is also interesting and part of the reason for doing this, I think.
UW Law: Do you have any secret talents?
AL: I'm a nationally registered and state-registered EMT.
UW Law: Which achievement or accomplishment are you most proud of?
AL: I’ll give two. I've summited Denali twice, leading expeditions there. Those are like 20-day trips in difficult conditions. And in undergrad, I was a double major, so I finished two theses concurrently, which my hand still hurts from writing them. They’re a lot of words.
UW Law: What's the official name of the street colloquially known as “The Ave” in the U District?
AL: University Ave.
UW Law: Close. Interestingly enough, it’s actually University Way.
AL: I should know that! I live right next to it.
UW Law: Who is the library named after?
AL: Is it Marian Gould Gallagher?
UW Law: Yes! Very impressive, especially since today is your first day of classes. Which class are you most excited about this quarter, and why?
AL: I'm excited the most about civil procedure because I have aspirations that would bring me into administrative law. If I want to do environmental work, I need to know admin law. If I need to do admin law, I need to know civil procedure.
UW Law: Who's your favorite fictional lawyer?
AL: Probably Vinny from “My Cousin Vinny.” He's a short, irate Italian person, which I can identify with at times.
UW Law: Which state holds the record for the longest written constitution in the world at almost 390,000 words: Michigan, Tennessee, Oregon or Alabama?
AL: I’m narrowing it down to Tennessee or Alabama, and I'm going to go with Tennessee.
UW Law: Close. It was Alabama. What were some summer highlights for you?
AL: I was working as a guide still, so I did my normal schedule of going up to Alaska for a month, and then working here in Washington. I climbed a lot of mountains and had a lot of good interactions with clients, which involved helping them achieve the goals they wanted to achieve.
And now settling into Seattle's been nice. I lived up in Bellingham the last couple of years, so this isn’t too extreme of a move, but it's been good to feel in place here.
UW Law: What would you be doing right now if you weren't in law school?
AL: What I did last year: hanging Christmas lights, which is an interesting job and terrifying at times. I’d be on the top of a fully strung-out 32-foot extension ladder putting lights up on a car dealership, not harnessed into anything.
Fun fact: I was writing all my applications and studying for the LSAT when I was doing that last year — it was incredibly motivating to never have to do that job again.
UW Law: Name one lawyer who inspires you and why.
AL: Everyone who is leading these suits against the social media and tech companies. I think it's long overdue, and I think it's prescient in terms of what's going to happen down the line.
UW Law: Is there anyone you would like to give a shoutout to?
AL: My brother. He’s also a lawyer here in Seattle, and I see him about once a week now, and it's just really nice having a close comfort or close relationship with an adult sibling. I’ve gotten a lot of good advice from him about starting school. I've slept cumulatively a couple hundred days on his couch the last five years, so I got a material support there.
UW Law: What's one interesting thing about you that people may not know?
AL: I lived in a Zen monastery for a while in New Mexico.