Nebraska Supreme Court Justice Stephanie Stacy visited students at the Creighton School of Law Monday to answer questions and provide tips about what it takes to be a good lawyer.

In the hour-long session, Stacy opened the floor up for the law students to ask questions about issues such as the appointment process for judges in Nebraska, how lawyers should approach and prepare for oral argument, and her experience in law.

Stacy discussed how so much of law school is learning how to think in a different way.

“If I could have stayed in law school forever, I would have. It was the first time I liked school,” Stacy said.

She also provided advice about legal writing and its importance, saying that the principles that a lawyer advocates in the law today could be the legal principles the court adopts tomorrow.

In her closing remarks, Stacy emphasized the importance of the role of state courts saying that state courts are “on the front line in upholding the rule of law.”

The Creighton School of Law honors society Phi Delta Phi organized the one-hour session and was responsible for bringing Stacy to Creighton.

Christopher McMahon, president of Phi Delta Phi and a 2L student at the law school, spoke about the benefit of Creighton’s law students hearing from speakers like Stacy.

McMahon described Stacy’s lecture and other speakers’ lectures as “aspirational” in that students in that room may themselves one day become judges or other important figures in the law.

“Not only is it an opportunity for students to learn from them and their experiences but also to see what they can someday become,” McMahon said.

Regina Smith, a 1L student at Creighton’s School of Law, attended the event and said, “It helps to connect the theory that we spend all day learning and how to best be prepared to practice.”

Smith said that having the opportunity to hear from a justice about what they look for in oral arguments and legal writing helps to better prepare her and other 1L students for their 2L year in which they take part in a moot court in front of actual judges like Stacy.

Smith also spoke about the uniqueness of lectures like these in that not many law schools could provide such accessibility to people like Stacy.

“I don’t know of anyone that can sit in front of a State Supreme Court justice and there be 30 people in there,” Smith said.