Recent CSI graduate Justin Giles will be studying Criminal Law at Fordham University this fall.
Justin Giles scored in the 99.7th percentile on his LSAT and is preparing to study Criminal Law at Fordham University this fall after graduating from the College of Staten Island last May.
Giles, who graduated cum laude, is one of many great success stories coming from this year’s crop of CSI graduates, explained that his current success is due in no small part to his PreProBono Fellowship during the summer of 2012. Giles put in about “30 hours a week of work, mixed between classroom meetings with the other fellows and watching explanatory videos at home.”
Justin chose Fordham Law for several reasons, not the least of which is “their dedication to serving their fellow man” which, he said, resonates very strongly with him since, “I am very interested in pursuing a career in public interest law and using my skills to help people.”
He claims that one of his reasons for studying law is that a law degree is “one of the highest academic pursuits and it grants you access to an elite club of people who argue at an incredibly high level.” He explained that one of the things that interests him most about criminal law is that it “allows two people to view the facts of a case or a situation and create a narrative, each arguing their client’s perception (since there really is no “truth” in an objective sense, merely our perceptions) and through their argument, they come to somewhere in the middle, the closest thing to what “really” happened.”
Justin’s less “selfish” reason, as he put it, is that pursuing a career in law helps to ensure that “the truth truly does come out and it allows me to participate in shaping the outcomes of legal cases, one at a time, so that the outcome is the best for everyone involved.”
CSI will leave him with only fond memories as he said that his experience at the College was “very enjoyable. I always found the other students to be friendly and willing to help whenever I needed to get the information about a class I missed or fill me in on a reading.”
He also credits the faculty, naming Professors Katharine Goodland and Steven Monte of the English Department and Professor and Pre-Law Advisor Michael Paris, for all pushing “me to work harder to really refine my arguments” and who have each “introduced me to some of my favorite writers as well as new and exciting ideas.”
A Staten Island native who went to Tottenville High School, Justin believes that his background had a great deal in effecting his decision to study law to help others. “My mother and father are both firm believers in helping people whenever you can,” he said about his upbringing. “That attitude was instilled in me in a big way and is why I want to help the people who need it most.”
