Stories
Jackson Elmquist
Meet Jackson
English and Philosophy, B.A., NDSU, 2019
J.D, UND, 2023
I currently serve Clay County as an assistant County Attorney, handling a variety of criminal cases. Primarily, I am responsible for any theft offenses that are referred to our office, as well as a variety of assault and traffic offenses that come to us from different law enforcement agencies. I make frequent appearances in district court, and handle cases with the court of appeals as needed.
How did your time as an English major prepare you for your current role or your career? You can point to a specific skill, a course you took, or and/or something else entirely.
Law school is mostly reading and writing, and today I still spend most of my day reading police reports and court opinions. This major is also where I started to develop a comfort with public speaking – which is another big hurdle for a lot of people in my position.
Most notably, our capstone professor frequently emphasized the importance of cultivating a comfort with ambiguity, and the flexibility this came with was invaluable. I frequently run into legal issues where guidance from both the legislature and the court is difficult to assess. The law in the United States comes from several different places, and often conflicts with itself. Being comfortable forming an opinion despite that has been a major asset.
What advice would you give to someone considering an English major?
Think about what you want to do with your degree while you’re earning it. I had law school highlighted as an end goal pretty early on, and was able to seek out opportunities based on that much easier.
If you’re considering a career in law, I’d personally recommend majoring in English over anything else. I spent some time as a teaching assistant during law school and primarily helped students develop some of the foundational writing and citation skills required to be successful there, and it was clear those with a background in English studies struggled far less.