ECU communication alumni find success in law careers

As three East Carolina University alumni neared graduation with their communication degrees, standout classes, faculty mentors and a drive toward advocacy led them to law school and, today, successful legal careers.

Within the last eight years or so, School of Communication professor Dr. Cindy Elmore started noticing an increase in communication graduates going down a legal career path. She said it “makes perfect sense” because SOC classes teach good communication skills.

“It’s important in every profession, but certainly in law, where the language has to be really careful and precise,” she said. “What’s not so obvious is we don’t teach pre-law and don’t promote ourselves as a pre-law program; (students) come to the realization that we can prepare them for law school.”

School of Communication alumna Mary Katherine “MK” Karcher received an Outstanding Student award during her undergraduate years at ECU.

Henna Schafer ’17 focused on broadcast journalism and knew after a pre-college exchange in Belgium that she wanted to tell people’s stories. After the 2016 election, she decided she wanted to influence people’s stories more than just telling them. She connected with the idea of law school during a media law class her senior year, and her gender and communication class with Dr. Aysel Morin helped direct her goal toward public service and civil rights.

Schafer left a job in news after graduation from ECU, took the Law School Admission Test, and moved back to her home state of Ohio with her husband to start law school at the University of Akron School of Law.

“I met a fellow Pirate (Troy Nance) on my first day!” she said. “We were pleased at how small the world really is, and Pirates seem to find one another everywhere.”

Schafer graduated from law school in 2021 and, since then, has worked as an attorney at Community Legal Aid in Akron. She said her communication background gave her the courage to participate — and serve as president of — Akron’s trial team, and helps her today to be a confident and comfortable advocate for her clients. “Community lawyering” has her meeting them where they are, helping identify their legal needs and finding solutions.

“I can confidently say that my foundation as a journalist and my passion for connecting with people was well-honed at ECU and has made me the advocate I am today in my legal career,” Schafer said. “I’m comfortable in a courtroom and can easily ask the questions I need of my clients to get quick and necessary information to help them.”

Schafer worked at jobs and internships during her educational journey, something Mary Katherine “MK” Karcher ’20 also did. Karcher worked at The East Carolinian most semesters, and if she didn’t, worked at public relations internships with nonprofit agencies. She also found internships every semester of law school at the Emory University School of Law, even receiving her provisional law license as a student.

“My biggest advice is to actually work and try things, internships and externships,” she said. In law school, that gave her experiences with a public defender’s office, a housing and domestic violence foundation, and the Special Victims Unit for DeKalb County, Georgia. “The best thing I did is listen to my ‘why’; I’m very blessed to have my dream job. I prosecute felonies, but even in that world I have a sub-specialty; I’m very passionate about animal welfare and family welfare.”

While Karcher didn’t start there, she worked and made connections that led her to the “perfect fit.” With enough high school credit for a political science minor, Karcher decided on a double major with communication at ECU. Her skill in writing led a political science professor to suggest law school, a path she hadn’t considered, even though her sister was in law school at the time.

“I wanted to write and advocate,” she said. “I didn’t know all the different kinds of lawyers there were, and that advocacy is a whole channel of the legal profession.”

ECU School of Communication alumna Madison Gurrera graduated from the Charleston School of Law in South Carolina in 2021.

Karcher has worked as an assistant district attorney for Douglas County, Georgia, since graduating law school in 2023. She cited SOC classes and taught skills that help her in the legal profession. One of those was a career readiness class that focused on networking, resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn.

“I can’t overstate the importance of that class,” she said. “You have to really sell yourself in that way. A lot of it ties back to storytelling, even if it’s just about yourself. I always had a strong portfolio. I had things to put in it, but it’s really about the presentation.”

Karcher recommends students pay attention to writing and public speaking skills, especially if they’re thinking about law school.

“I’m an extroverted person and even I got stage fright; it took me awhile to build up that muscle,” she said of public speaking, also praising the SOC class. “A lot of people, I’ve learned, are just not good communicators. That definitely would set someone apart, the ability to truly communicate and listen. That’s a hard skill.”

Madison Gurrera ’19 agreed, noting that the law is half talking to people and half writing briefs and plans.

“I’ve always said everyone should take at least one communication class,” she said.

Gurrera felt at home in the public relations concentration, calling professor Brittany Thompson her “guiding force.” Six months before graduation, she wasn’t sure what to do next and was drawn to law school after taking a class that focused on risk assessment and management.

She graduated from the Charleston School of Law in South Carolina in 2021 and started as an associate attorney for a firm in Durham. Today, she is an associate attorney for NC Planning in Cary, helping people with estate planning.

“In my job, I’m able to make connections with people,” Gurrera said. “I really try to make it as comfortable as possible and create that rapport with them. I’m a people person, and I enjoy getting to meet with people and guide them on a path to them assuage those concerns.”

As did Karcher and Schafer, Gurrera found experiences along the way to help her learn, shadowing a judge, then meeting the assistant district attorney and shadowing them for a day.

“It was very eye-opening,” Gurrera said. “It’s about trusting yourself and opening up to experiences, and also trusting that communication can be used to do anything.

“I’m very passionate about my ECU time. I feel it really molded me into who I am today.”

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