Take 5 with Grayson McGowan

As soon as finals wrap up, UW Law students travel near and far for summer employment opportunities that offer them a chance to move beyond the classroom and see the law operate in practice. Their jobs span the gamut of law firms, government offices, nonprofits and private businesses throughout the country — and abroad. They collaborate with practicing attorneys, work with clients and delve deep into real-life legal work.

Throughout the summer, we’ll check in with rising 2L and 3L students to see the impact they’re making through their work and to invite them to reflect on how these experiences shaped their personal growth.

This week, we met up with Grayson McGowan, a rising 3L.

UW Law: Can you tell us where you're working this summer?

Grayson McGowan (GM): This summer I'm working in the Immigrant Post-Conviction Relief Program for the Seattle Clemency Project.

UW Law: Are you originally from Seattle, and if not, where?

GM: I grew up down south. I graduated from high school in Virginia, but I mainly grew up in North Carolina and Virginia.

UW Law: How did you find out about this employment opportunity?

GM: I started working for the Seattle Clemency Project when I worked for Perkins Coie before law school, so I started working with my boss on some pro bono cases back then, and we just stayed in touch.

UW Law: What type of projects are you working on?

GM: This summer I'm working to represent about 100 people in Washington state who are plaintiffs in a nationwide class action settlement. We're working on vacating their old convictions and helping them restore lawful permanent resident status before the government seeks to detain and deport them at the end of the summer. That's the main thing. Aside from that, I'm litigating constitutional claims with habeas petitions in the federal court, and we're working on a lot of motions to reopen an immigration court as well, so we do the full spectrum of post-conviction relief.

UW Law: How long will you be working there?

GM: I'll probably wrap up in the middle of August, and then in the fall I'm going to keep working on my project as well, just because that's when everyone will start getting detained.

UW Law: Do you work as part of a team, and if so, how many people do you work with?

GM: Yeah, I work with a paralegal and then my boss, so it's just the three of us. And then we work with a lot of other volunteer lawyers in the area and other organizations as well to make up the gap. But yeah, for the most part it's our little, small but mighty team, which has been really fun.

UW Law: What type of networking opportunities have you had while working there?

GM: A lot, surprisingly. Post-conviction relief is a smaller area of law, so you get a lot of opportunities to meet people all over the country because there are so few people doing this kind of work. Right now, I've been meeting with a lot of lawyers in places like North Carolina, Texas and California, so we all try to convene regularly to help each other out.

UW Law: If you could plan any type of event or outing for you and your co-workers, what would you do?

GM: We're actually working on one. One of our clients, his son is a drag performer, and so we've started working on some drag shows, and the local queer community is helping us raise funds to represent people in detention. So, we're having a couple of different drag shows that are available to the public if anyone wants to come in July and August. It's part of the Queer Defense Fund Against ICE.

UW Law: Have you had any “aha” moments about the law or legal practice during your time working there?

GM: I have. Something that's been surprising is that a lot of our guys right now who are trying to fight deportation, a lot of them are homeless. They've been criminalized for many years in this country, and that's meant that they're unable to secure housing and other things because of their immigration status. And so we've been having to do a lot of extra work to try to make up that gap because it's difficult to focus on a legal process when you're homeless and you're trying to figure out where your next meal is coming from. So, that's definitely been something we've been spending a lot of time on this summer.

UW Law: What do you think will be the most memorable part of this experience for you?

GM: Being able to welcome people home to their families. We're seeing some really good successes right now, and getting to be there when our guys come home is pretty life-changing — not just for their families, but for us.

UW Law: What's one superlative you would give your office coworkers?

GM: Probably “Most Likely to Know the Answer to Everything” would be the superlative I would give Gail Brashear, and “Most Likely to Pull Off a Miracle” for Jennie Pasquarella.

UW Law: What's one positive surprise you've had since beginning your summer employment?

GM: Realizing how much I've learned in law school. I'm going into my third year in a place where I'm feeling a lot more confident about the knowledge that I've gained over the last couple of years.

UW Law: Has anything in your role differed from what you expected going in?

GM: In the past, the Seattle Clemency Project focused on the pardon and clemency process because for a long time that was a tool that was available in Washington state. And with the way that the local government has gone about not issuing pardons and things like that, we've really moved into the post-conviction relief space in terms of vacating convictions.

So, it's been surprising — in a good way — to see guys that we've worked with for a long time, who couldn’t get through the pardons process, be able to get these old convictions vacated because they were constitutionally deficient. And so I think getting to see how many second chances people have been able to have through the work that the Seattle Clemency Project is doing has surprised me.

UW Law: Has this experience changed your career goals or clarified them?

GM: I came to law school wanting to do immigration post-conviction relief. I know that's super specific. I wanted to get on this path because my family members have been personally affected by this. And so getting to work on my family's cases meant a lot to me, and it still means a lot to me. I think, if anything, the summer has definitely made me feel like I'm in the right place, and I'm keeping my promises to my family.

UW Law: If your office had a talent show, what would your talent be?

GM: I feel like juggling a million plates. We would all be juggling on some kind of unicycle too, because I feel like that's kind of what we do in the week, honestly.

UW Law: What's one mistake students should try to avoid during their summer job?

GM: Going into it thinking that you understand what your clients are going through. A lot of people will say that you'll learn so much throughout the summer, but really what it teaches you is getting to bear witness to other people's experiences. And I think a lot of times we can go into things feeling like we know everything. So, I think just keep a super, super open mind because I found that sometimes you know less about what people are going through than you think.

UW Law: What’s been the most rewarding aspect of your summer experience so far?

GM: Getting to keep people with their families. Our clients get judged and ostracized every step of the process. If you have a criminal conviction, it's this stain on your character. People go through this process and realize, “I deserve a second chance. I also deserve forgiveness.” They start to see themselves as not just the mistake they made, but as a person too. And honestly, that's just the best part.

UW Law: Do you have any other plans for the summer outside of your employment?

GM: This summer, my wife and I are going on vacation for the first time in a couple years. We're going to be down in Mexico City and Oaxaca for a little bit, and so I'm really looking forward to that. I'm also probably going to spend some time in the Philippines as well doing some organizing stuff.

UW Law: What are you looking forward to when school starts back up in the fall?

GM: I'm looking forward to getting my last year of law school over with, and I'm also looking forward to continuing to work with the Seattle Clemency Project on a lot of these cases.

UW Law: What's one interesting fact about you that people may not know?

GM: I'm ambidextrous. When I was a kid, I used to like teaching myself a new skill every summer, and so one summer I forced myself to write, eat and do everything with my left hand. I can even write in cursive too.