preLaw Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 16)

A look inside law school life Filmmaker and lawyer Porter Heath Morgan chronicles the lives of eight Oklahoma law students — capturing the stress and emotion both inside and outside the classroom. BY MICHELLE WEYENBERG s a mother of six children, Tesha felt the need to raise the bar. So she applied to law school. Her first week of classes at the University of Oklahoma College of Law was the longest week of her life, she said. Tesha is just one of eight Oklahoma law students profiled in the documentary film “The Trials of Law School,” by Porter Health Morgan. Morgan, a 2004 Oklahoma law grad, captures the stress and emotion of the a s students as they try to juggle family and t relationships with school s commitments. m Braden, Reece, Cory, Katie, Ron, Stephanie, Nicki and Filmmaker Porter Tesha come from difT ferent backgrounds. Heath Morgan Whether they are coming straight from undergraduate school, are married with children or single parents, they each have expectations which are shown through their first year of law school as they encounter a new language, a new way of thinking, and a new way of life. Their journey is combined with insight from over 25 law professors and legal scholars from around the country. “They’re real people in law school, and 16 preLaw you can relate to them,” Morgan said. How it all began “I really hadn’t planned on going into law school,” Morgan said. “I planned for a career in film production.” Morgan received his undergraduate degree in film and B.B.A. in marketing from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. After doing well in a mass media law and business law course, his professor encouraged him to consider law school, which he suggested would help him with the production side of filmmaking. “Coming from a family of lawyers you see a lot of people going through [law school] — the hardships and struggles of all different types of people,” Morgan said. “I really had no background in documentary film production. I just jumped into it.” The idea of chronicling the lives of firstyear law students came to Morgan during his first year of law school at Oklahoma College of Law. After getting approval to film at the law school, Morgan dived into preproduction — taking a mental health class comparing law students versus medical students. With only two people committed to starring in the film, Morgan had intentions of only chronicling four students. “I wanted to make the people chronicled as diverse as possible,” Morgan said. The dean gave him approximately 12 more names. “Whoever said yes I took,” he said. “Then there were eight.” By Morgan’s third year of law school, he was shooting the film. The final product Morgan said the response has been overwhelming. “This wasn’t done through reality TV casting,” he said. “They didn’t expect the personal stories.” Morgan said it was really a work in progress as to how the film was going to play out. Though it did take some of the students a lot longer to become comfortable in front of the camera, the overall product was more than he could have asked for. During the students’ second and third year, Morgan traveled the country, talking to law professors. Their perspective is used as narration throughout the film. The film ends with the eight students finding out if they passed the bar exam, along with where they are now. The film was completed last spring and tested for audiences. The first formal premiere came in August at the Dallas Video Festival. “You know you did something right when you can go to schools on both coasts, north and south, and they really say it was like their first year,” Morgan said. When he’s not practicing law in Oklahoma, Morgan is working on promot- Photo by Erin McCaffrey

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of preLaw Magazine - Spring 2008

preLaw Magazine - Spring 2008 Contents From the Editor For the Record Large Gender Gap Remains Among Political Hopefuls Man Charged in LSAT Scam Barry Dean Recognized New Report Examines Legal Ed Drexel Receives Accredidation New Mexico No. 1 for Hispanics A Film Journey in Law A Law Student at Last Debt Salvation Great Law Schools for Minorities Grad Opts Out of Big Firm Job Specialties Helpful Advice

preLaw Magazine - Spring 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.