Passion, execution, and a strong belief in her dreams are what landed third-year Hofstra Law student Shantay McIntosh in the position she’s in today: confident and prepared to thrive in the legal world. An immigrant from Jamaica, McIntosh moved to Long Island, New York as a child with her family. While looking for a law school that would meet her needs, she came across Hofstra Law.
“While attending some admitted student events, I met with members of the team that made me feel like family,” she said. “There is a great sense of community here. We all want to see each other win. I think I have made the most friends since being at Hofstra Law. I’m very grateful I chose this school.”
Expanding Her Comfort Zone
For McIntosh, entering law school came with the usual challenges of balancing a heavy workload of classes and learning to decipher legal texts. Along with those growing pains, she also had to overcome a matter more personal to her as an individual.
“I think law school in general forces you to not be shy because at some point you will have to speak your mind.”
“In college, I was very shy and quiet. However, when I came to Hofstra Law, I forced myself to be a little more social,” she said. “I attended admitted student day events and came in with a couple of friends on my first day. I think law school in general forces you to not be shy because at some point you will have to speak your mind. From cold calls to one-on-ones with professors, you need to be able to articulate what you think and your reasoning behind it.”
She became a student ambassador for Hofstra Law’s Office of Enrollment Management, where she led guided tours and spoke at panels to prospective students. She also joined a few student organizations including the Business Law Society, Black Law Student Association, and the Hofstra Intellectual Property Law Association.
Creating a Game Plan
McIntosh’s dedication to pushing herself to new heights picked up momentum when she visited the Office of Career Services (OCS) for guidance. There she met Director Latoya Felton, who assisted her with refining her elevator pitch and prepared her to enter the world of law as a legal professional.
“She sat with me and helped me create my résumé,” she said. “We spent days on it. She pushes me in every interview prep we do. There’s not a job I’ve been invited to interview for that I didn’t get when I prepared with her beforehand.”
The guidance and mentorship McIntosh has received from Felton has boosted her confidence in her ability to lead and create her own path.
“Director Felton has been one of my biggest advocates while in law school,” she said. “I think she’s another reason why I’m not shy anymore because she makes me feel like I deserve to be here. In law school, many of us deal with imposter syndrome. Having someone like her in my corner is such a blessing.”
“It’s all about finding a way to sell yourself.”
Along with working with OCS to seek external legal opportunities, she also became a research assistant for Professor Barbara Barron as well as the external outreach coordinator for the Business Law Society.
“It’s all about finding a way to sell yourself,” she said. “Being a research assistant for a professor shows employers that you can be trusted to do important research. Being on the board puts you in a position where students look to you for advice. I still stay in contact with alumni that I worked with on the board during that time. They work for great firms, and it makes for good networking opportunities.”
Exploring Different Areas of Law
The many visits to OCS landed McIntosh her first internship at Global Atlantic Financial Group as a regulatory & government affairs intern. She leveraged her experience as a research assistant to showcase her strengths in the role.
“That was a major selling point for me during my interview with Global Atlantic,” she said. “I did research on current events, what was going on in politics, and explained how it would affect the financial service industry.”
Later, she would obtain a highly coveted compliance summer associate position at the Fortune 500 company, Citi.
“I loved my time there,” she said. “It touched on some of the same areas as my previous internship but also included compliance work. It was a very high-stakes environment and I feel like the work I did there genuinely mattered beyond a microscopic level. Compliance really is the backbone of any company.”
Now in her final semester at the Law School, she is a sports talent legal intern at Wasserman, a global company that represents talent in sports, music, entertainment, and culture. Her work there includes doing research on Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals as well as creating thorough spreadsheets to help inform lawyers on laws that could affect their clients.
“I’ve always been fascinated with the entertainment industry and lawyers play a big part in it,” she said. “We want to protect our clients by making sure they’re getting the best deal possible. Athletes don’t always have business savvy, so it’s our job to protect their interests.”
Another major aspect of her position at Wasserman includes drafting and redlining endorsement deals.
“Being able to draft and redline is very important,” she said. “Your employer might give you a document that has been worked on already and ask you to make changes. Lawyers need to be able to look at a document with a close eye and understand where something could be changed. You have to make sure that the contract reads the same way to everybody and there’s no room for interpretation.”
Advice to Future Law Students
After graduation, McIntosh will be returning to Citi as an associate in their corporate office. Reflecting on both her personal and legal professional growth, she believes that students should always take a chance on themselves.
“I know Hofstra Law has set me up for success, so there is no reason for me to be shy.”
“The more I accomplish, the more I feel confident in my skill set,” she said. “I know Hofstra Law has set me up for success, so there is no reason for me to be shy. I go into these internships, I network, do coffee chats with executives and even send cold email messages on LinkedIn. Being shy will prevent you from accomplishing a lot. We have to put ourselves out there, so we don’t block our blessings.”
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