Different Paths, One Purpose: Meet McAuliffe Honor Society Inductee Jacob Abdalian ’28

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What habits have contributed to your academic success?

I do my best to stay ahead of my readings throughout the semester rather than letting them pile up before finals. Balancing drill weekends and military responsibilities on top of coursework means I have to be intentional with my time, and that structure has worked in my favor academically.

Share a class or academic experience that impacted you this year.

Torts has pushed me to think more rigorously than I expected. Professor Rudolph encouraged us to argue for how the law should change, not just what it currently is, which I found really engaging. As long as we could reason through our position and ground it in the goals of tort law, we had room to be creative. Professor Rudolph has also shaped how I think about what it means to be a good steward of the legal profession. That balance of creative thinking and professional responsibility has made it the most formative class of my first year.

How has USF Law supported your success?

What has stood out most is how much the faculty genuinely cares about our development. My Legal Writing professor, Professor Phillips, gives feedback on our legal memorandums whenever we ask, even late at night or over the weekend. That is not something she has to do, and the fact that she does speaks to how invested the faculty are in our growth. That same energy carries over to our classmates as well. People here actually want each other to do well, and that has made the experience much more rewarding than any of us anticipated.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I came to USF with a clear goal of working in Big Law, and the Office of Career Services was instrumental in helping me get there. They took the time to understand what I was looking for and helped me turn that into a real opportunity. This summer, I will be working in M&A at a Big Law firm, and in five years, I see myself as an experienced corporate transactional associate. USF has been a key part of making that path possible.

About the McAuliffe Honor Society

Each spring, USF School of Law honors exceptional first-year students with an invitation to join the McAuliffe Honor Society. Named after USF alumnus Florence M. McAuliffe, a founding partner of the San Francisco firm Heller Ehrman White and McAuliffe LLP, the society recognizes outstanding academic achievement in the first semester of law school. Inductees receive a scholarship and gain access to mentorship and opportunities to connect with faculty and alumni across the legal community.