SBAND PRESIDENT
SBAND PRESIDENT
RECRUIT LOCAL STUDENTS TO CONSIDER THE LAW
HON . TED SANDBERG SBAND President
I never intended to be a lawyer , not in high school , nor my time in the Navy , nor throughout most of my collegiate years . I had no family members or family friends who were lawyers . Attending law school , much less being a lawyer , was something which literally never crossed my mind .
That changed approximately mid-way through my collegiate junior year when I was 22 years old , while attending a bar mitzvah . I was sitting at a table with a family-friend doctor who was asking about my post-college professional plans , which were , at that time , nebulous . He offhandedly suggested medical school , to which I responded I was too middling in both math and science . Undeterred , he then said , “ Well , what about law school ?”
That little table-top conversation changed my life . Fast forward 30-plus years , and here I write as bar president and district court judge .
There are certainly many people who would likely be strong candidates for both law school and the legal profession , but the thought simply never crossed their mind . It is therefore my opinion that we in the legal profession should seek out , counsel , and encourage people to explore the law .
The legal profession , and the legal work conducted in North Dakota , is only as good as the lawyers who make up the bar . And
4 THE GAVEL those lawyers are only as good as the men and women who decide to attend law school . In North Dakota , the University of North Dakota ( UND ) School of Law is the alma mater for most North Dakota-licensed attorneys , and certainly the majority of those who both reside and practice in North Dakota . Axiomatically , the quality of UND Law students is the primary factor in the quality of North Dakota ’ s legal profession .
The UND School of Law has done an excellent job in the past few years of encouraging and recruiting prospective regional students . Statistics for the recent three incoming classes at UND Law highlight the school ’ s successful regional recruiting efforts , to wit : For the Class of 2025 , there were 86 students , of which 36 were from North Dakota , 14 from Minnesota , and seven from Manitoba ; for 2026 , there were 83 students , 36 from North Dakota , 13 from Minnesota , and 10 from Manitoba ; and for 2027 , there were 82 students , 39 from North Dakota , eight from Minnesota , and 15 from Manitoba . Over those years , there were also eight students from Montana , the fourth most-common home region .
As president , I have worked with the law school , as well as the universities and colleges in North Dakota , to encourage otherwise “ untapped ” students to explore the law . Outreach efforts to career counseling offices and law clubs at North Dakota ’ s four-year schools have been met with positive responses to my modest yearly goal of securing at least five “ untapped ” students from every North Dakota four-year college to apply to law school ( Note : I am encouraging application to any law school , but I shamelessly encourage UND Law as the best choice if the applicant intends to live and practice in our region ).
The whole point of the exercise is this : There is an acute lawyer shortage throughout large swaths of our state . North Dakota needs more students to apply to law school , attend and pass law school , take the North Dakota Bar Exam , and then stay in North Dakota and practice . UND Law is doing its part in the recruiting efforts , and a special note must be made for the hard-working leadership and staff , specifically Pamela Shea and the Dean ’ s office . As president , I am working with North Dakota colleges to find those “ untapped ” ( or quite frankly anyone ) who can be potentially encouraged to explore the law .
And lawyers who are happy where they live and practice generally make better lawyers . They put down deeper roots , develop long-term community ties and leadership positions , and this improves the legal services provided throughout the state .
It is now also up to you , the SBAND membership . You are the people who live and practice in places such as Dickinson , Carrington , or Minot . At a wedding , at a graduation , while out hunting or fishing , keep your head up and your eyes open for people who could be decent candidates to enter the legal world . This is a benefit for the whole state , because a person from Minot ( for example ) who graduates from UND Law might be more inclined to live and practice in Minot . Please , get out there and recruit local students to consider the law .