Megan A. Neubauer chose real-world legal experience over chasing perfect grades. She explains the trade-offs she faced in law school, why practical work mattered more for her, and how that choice shaped her early career.
Grades matter to some employers, but practical legal experiences can demonstrate the skills employers actually hire for.
Growing up in a small community can make networking and hands-on experience more valuable than a perfect transcript.
Megan A. Neubauer describes a common dilemma for law students: pursue straight A's or invest time in real legal experience. Early in 1L year she realized she could not realistically achieve both without burning out. She chose hands-on experience and says that decision has paid off as she moved into practice.
Why grades felt like the obvious target
Growing up in a small rural Wisconsin town shaped her thinking: relationships and practical skills often matter more in local practice than a pristine transcript. Neubauer concluded that being a well-rounded, practice-ready lawyer would better serve her career goals. She leaned toward internships, clinic work, and other hands-on opportunities that exposed her to client interactions, courtroom procedure, and transactional tasks.
Neubauer notes that you cannot do everything in law school. She mentions choices such as joining moot court or competing for top grades, but she had to limit commitments to avoid burnout. The decision was pragmatic: invest time where it would produce visible, demonstrable skills employers could evaluate beyond a GPA line.
After graduating Miami 2024, Neubauer became an associate attorney with Konstantakis Law Office in Greenfield, focusing on probate, estate planning, and real estate. Her path shows an example of how experience-focused choices in law school can translate into immediate practical roles in local practice areas.
Neubauer's account is a clear example of choosing practical legal training over the pursuit of perfect grades. For students weighing the same decision, the practical route can produce demonstrable skills and work history that matter to many employers, particularly in local and practice-focused roles.
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