Leading While Learning

“Chicago-Kent College of Law is special because the professors truly want what’s best for each and every student,” says Sahil Bathija ’27. “They work hard.”

Honors scholar Bathija looks forward to paying that forward. He may only be in his second year of law school, but he’s already stepping up to lead.

“I currently have two mentees though the Honors  program and one mentee through the First-Generation Law Student Association,” he says. “I want to help break down barriers in the legal field and improve representation in top leadership roles throughout the legal sphere. I want to help widen access to the legal profession and improve the economic and social mobility for anyone who dreams of being a lawyer.”

Bathija has managed to stay in the top 1 percent of his class, earning awards for the top grade in four courses: Legal Writing 1, Legal Writing 2, Property, and Personal Income Tax. This is in addition to his extracurricular activities, including the Chicago-Kent Law Review and the Moot Court Honor Society . He also serves as treasurer of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association and the Kent Justice Foundation, the student group dedicated to public interest law.

“I believe that lawyers have a unique ability to help individuals at a time when they may need it the most,  and that it is imperative that we help anyone who is less fortunate or in a time of need,” he says.

Bathija completed more than 100 hours of community service in his first year at Chicago-Kent, earning him the Certificate of Service. Many of those hours were spent at Chicago-Kent’s Self-Help Resource Center at the Richard J. Daley Center, a starting point for members of the community who are representing themselves in court proceedings.

“Even though we were just law students and could not provide legal advice, it was refreshing to see how important it was to many pro se litigants that someone was there to listen and help,” says Bathija. “In Civil  Procedure we learned about the expressive function of the law, and it was nice to see that in action, witnessing firsthand how important it was for the litigants to have their stories heard and feel like the justice system allowed them to express their grievances.”

Bathija has had several opportunities to explore the law and narrow his focus. His first summer, he externed at GSK Stockmann, a firm in Munich, Germany, while taking courses at the University of Augsburg through Chicago-Kent’s study abroad programs. Last spring break, he accompanied Chicago-Kent’s Immigration Law Society to help individuals detained at the southern border with their legal intake and asylum applications.  He has also worked with  the public defender agency in his hometown of Juneau, Alaska. Next summer he looks forward to being a summer associate at Greenberg Traurig, where he’ll have the opportunity to explore many different practice areas.

Wherever he ends up, Bathija knows his Chicago-Kent community will be there to support him.

“It feels nice to attend a school where the alumni are always happy to help and can be found in nearly every firm throughout the city,” he says. “It’s a good community. People work together to help each other succeed.”