The Litt family includes three generations of lawyers with very different experiences of law school, but a common connection to Hofstra Law.
Juggling Motherhood and Law School
After having three children, Marilyn Litt ’78 decided to go back to school. When she applied to Hofstra Law, she met with former professor, Rabbi Twerski. “He was surprised — but delighted — that I wanted to go to law school with three young children,” she says.
“I had a wonderful experience at Hofstra Law. I enjoyed my professors and the other students. It was a very warm and comforting law school, even though there weren’t that many women in law school at the time. It was a coup to get into law school as a woman, but I was treated very well at Hofstra Law,” she recalls.
But law school wasn’t always easy with three young children. “I worked very hard,” she says. “My son Robert was a young boy at the time. I had to go to a hotel the night before the bar exam to study because it was impossible with three kids at home. I remember that Robert said to me, ‘Mom, you had better pass because I can’t go through this again,’ as he put me on the Long Island Rail Road to go into Manhattan for the bar exam.”
Working Hard and Making Connections
That son, Robert Litt ’93, remembers his mother’s time at Hofstra Law. “I was 7, 8, 9 years old, and Mom would drag me to Hofstra. I was stuck waiting for her. I had to be quiet, I couldn’t run around, so I would hang out with the students who would entertain me and keep me company while Mom was doing what she needed to do,” he says.
Robert was a history and business major in college and he enjoyed public speaking and debate. “I always wanted to be a lawyer,” he says. “I enjoyed Hofstra Law School. I had a lot of the same professors Mom had, 15-16 years later, who told me they knew my mother. It was cool to have that connection.”
“The hard work, relationships, and contacts I made help me to this day. Over thirty years later, I still have relationship with many of my classmates.”
Robert began working as soon as he got to law school, and took advantage of opportunities to work in various law firms and with the Town of Hempstead. “Even though we weren’t supposed to work during first year, I felt it was important to meet people, to build contacts and relationships,” he says. “I wanted to see what kind of law I found interesting. As a result, I saw both the academic side of the law and the practical side — what goes into the actual practice of law.”
That work experience stood him in good stead in school. “My classmates were so smart; they put me to shame in many ways,” he says. “They could write and research better than I could, but I was the hustler. I was always running from one place to another because I was working.” While he didn’t get onto any of the journals, he did get involved in the school newspaper. “My friend was the editor-in-chief, and he wanted me to get involved because the newspaper was struggling financially and was in debt, and they needed someone to help them make money.”
Within one and half years, Robert helped the newspaper get into the black with revenue from advertising and he started attracting good writers to the paper. In his third year, he became the editor-in-chief, and the paper received an award for top law school newspaper in the country. “Dean Rubinowitz dropped the phone when I called and told him we won a substantial award for the school at the national event,” Robert says. “We ended up contributing to a fund that provides anyone who works for papers or journals with a small scholarship. My daughter Carlee got one this year.”
“I learned a lot at Hofstra Law,” says Robert. “The hard work, relationships, and contacts I made help me to this day. Over thirty years later, I still have relationship with many of my classmates.”
Pursuing A Joint Degree
Robert’s daughter, Carlee Litt, has one year remaining on her joint JD/MBA degree at Hofstra Law. But she didn’t always want to go to law school. It wasn’t until she needed a summer job at age 15 when she helped out in her father’s office that she developed an appetite for the law. “I loved it,” she says. “It changed everything. Over the years, I would pick up how my Dad and my grandmother spoke and how they thought about things at the dinner table, so I was exposed to it, but it was only when I was older that I could see myself doing it as a career.”
During college, Carlee took a variety of courses just to be sure that law was the right direction for her, but she kept coming back to law as her path. When it came time to apply to law school, Carlee knew she wanted to stay in New York. “Once I was accepted at Hofstra Law, I knew that there was nowhere else I would go,” she says.
Part of the reason Hofstra Law was so attractive was their JD/MBA program. “I liked business from undergrad,” she says. I wanted a joint degree and Hofstra is one of the best schools for that.” Carlee has spent three years in the program now; the first year she spent with her section in all law school classes, while the second year was more focused on business courses, and her third year, she was back to law school and time spent as editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Business and Law.
The Journal is one of the highlights of Carlee’s law school career. “It was incredible when I got the phone call that I made it on the Journal,” she says. “I wasn’t sure I would get it, but my Dad was.” He is the one who convinced her to run for editor-in-chief of the Journal, and her grandmother helped her with her acceptance speech when she won. She was even asked to stay on the Journal for an additional year, while she finishes her degree. “That’s really unusual,” she says. “Usually, you spend only two years on a Journal. I will be helping them next year as an advisor and helping incoming journal members.”
Carlee also followed in her father’s footsteps making connections while in law school, both with her law school and MBA classmates. Although her friends from her first-year section are all graduating this year, “I met new friends along the way, including rising 3Ls and JD/MBA candidates,” she says, “But I will have to meet more people, network and grow” in the upcoming year.
Legal Careers
Carlee is currently working in the Hempstead Town Attorney’s office and at her Dad’s office so that she can experience several different ways of practicing law. “Carlee is in the same program as an intern for the Town Attorney that I was in 30 years ago,” Robert says. “She is working with several of the same attorneys I worked with. It’s quite a thrill to see her in my old stomping grounds.”
When asked about her future legal career, Carlee says, “I always want to be learning and growing. I never want to be bored. I love so many things about the law, I can’t decide, and so far I haven’t seen anything I didn’t like. I can see myself one day joining Dad’s practice and continuing his legacy. But I want to grow and develop myself first in the legal field so I can come in with more of a foundation. Right now I’m keeping my options open and seeing what comes to me.”
Her father is on board with Carlee’s approach. “When it comes to picking a career, law is so exciting, and there are so many options. You don’t know what will come along. I never thought I would be going into tax certiorari and condemnation, but it’s a constantly changing field and it is very interesting. I did real estate and zoning out of law school. Those things don’t ever leave you.”
Marilyn also had some unexpected twists in her career as a matrimonial lawyer. She retired some time ago, but about 5 years ago, Robert brought her out of retirement to work with his firm. “We had some matrimonial cases that popped up, and I thought this would keep her busy,” he says. Marilyn loves every minute of it. “I have a good dynamic with the young lawyers newly out of law school. They are so smart, but nothing beats experience. They appreciate the learning and wisdom.”
A Proud Hofstra Law Legacy
It is easy to see how pleased both Marilyn and Robert with Carlee’s accomplishments. “I’m so proud of my granddaughter. She is a superstar,” says Marilyn. “She works hard and cares so much about so many things in our country and at Hofstra Law — she is a very aware person. I will be proud to call her a fellow lawyer. She will be a welcome asset to the legal community.” Robert says, “I will have a hard time at graduation. It will be something.”
All of the Litts are proud to be part of the legal community. “We are fortunate to live in country that has law and lawyers willing to step up to the plate and maintain law of this country,” Marilyn says. “As lawyers, we look at the world differently than everyone else,” Robert says. “We listen and digest everything. We need lawyers now more than ever because the world is changing dramatically and we have no idea which direction it is going to go. We need to rely on lawyers to tell us. It’s up to Carlee’s generation to handle all of this. We can provide experience, but they are ready take it on.”
Three generations of Litts have attended Hofstra Law. “Sometimes there can be a disconnect between generations,” Carlee says. “Hofstra Law is something we can share but at the same time I got to make my own mark on the school and still be connected to my father and grandmother.” And Carlee might not be the last Litt to attend law school. Her sister Jaymie is considering law school as well, and taking the LSAT exam this year.
The post The Litt Family Legacy at Hofstra Law appeared first on Hofstra Law News.