Making a Case for More Law School Students

Karan Saini Criminal Justice Major & Blake Wilson Associate Professor Criminal Justice

Professor Blake Wilson Creates Pre-Law Minor Within Criminal Justice

By Lori Gilbert

Stanislaus State students have taken the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) for years.

But the 2017 arrival of Associate Professor Blake Wilson has made that challenging road easier to navigate.

The licensed criminal attorney, who served defendants in private practice in San Francisco with his mentor, Tony Serra, quickly established a Pre-Law Resource Center at Stan State and offered advice at a table in his office.

Now, that center has expanded to a suite in Room 107 in Bizzini Hall, to be shared with new Criminal Legal Studies Professor Judy Bandermann, who is bringing a law-oriented Record Clearance Project to Stan State.

“Thanks to Dean Jim Tuedio and Associate Dean Steve Routh, pre-law has finally found a physical home,” Wilson said.

In addition, Wilson created two courses — Moot Court and Court Observer — to start a pre-law minor at Stan State.

The minor launched in fall 2020 during the pandemic, but Wilson said the number of criminal justice students in the criminal legal studies concentration has tripled since his arrival.

“I think it’s because students heard there’s this criminal defense attorney who’s starting to promote pre-law, and there are actually quite a few students interested in that,” Wilson said.

One was Karan Saini, who ditched his parent’s dream for him to become a doctor when he chose a criminal justice major. He has always been interested in governance and policies.

“We had the legal studies concentation prior to Blake’s arrival, but Blake polished it,” said Saini, a 2019 Stan State graduate now studying at Humphreys Law School and working part-time for a local defense attorney. “Blake helped make the journey easier for me and other students considering law school.”

Wilson attended University of the Pacific’s McGeorge Law School after graduating with a philosophy degree from San Francisco State. He practiced law for nearly 20 years, but he always wanted to teach.

He began that role at a community college in Colorado and then earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy of Law from New York’s Binghamton University.

Wilson was what Stan State was looking for in 2017: an experienced attorney with a Ph.D.

“When I got here, my job description was to teach in the Criminal Justice Department’s criminal legal studies concentration,” Wilson said.

Before long, College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Jim Tuedio and Political Science Professor Stephen Routh, who advised pre-law students in his department, encouraged Wilson to propose ideas for a pre-law program.

“It didn’t necessarily mean a pre-law minor. It meant, ‘Check out what we’ve got and what do you think would work,’” Wilson said.

In his advising, he was mostly helping criminal justice students apply for law school or take the LSAT.

“Having a pre-law minor in place now makes it so much easier for someone who knows they want to pursue a legal career,” said 2020 Stan State graduate Ana Villegas, who just started her third year at McGeorge Law School.

She relied on Wilson’s advising and office hours during her academic journey at Stan State.

Villegas also took the new courses and was on Stan State’s first competitive Moot Court team.

“I’d recommend Moot Court to anyone interested in going to law school,” Villegas said. “You have to do research, and research is one of the main things in law school.”

Neither course was offered when Saini was a student, but Wilson was a mentor, guiding his academic journey and helping him with his law school application.

Wilson joined the Pacific Coast Assocation of PreLaw Advisors (PCAPLA) to help him better serve and prepare his students.

His association with that group and researching prelaw minors at similar universities, specifically Cal State Monterey Bay, led him to establish the Moot Court class. In Moot Court, students prepare to argue a case in front of a judge, and the Court Observer program, which allows them to shadow a superior court judge.

Those courses were the final pieces for the pre-law minor.

Establishing the minor, though, was a challenge.

Wilson reached out to chairs of other Stan State academic departments to find courses that challenged critical thinking and writing skills. Those are critical for students to pass the LSAT and succeed in law school.

He put together a long list of electives from other departments to complement those required: Logic, Jurisprudence, Law and Society and either Moot Court or Court Observer. Wilson credits the Curriculum Committee and its chair, Jey Strangfeld, for its approval. They recommended he categorize the elective courses, so students were exposed to more disciplines.

Wilson is proud of the minor but emphasizes it’s not a ticket to law school. It’s just another tool he’s excited to share with students.

“My first priority is to serve my students in criminal justice, and specifically in the criminal legal studies concentration,” Wilson said. “The minor was to give those students the opportunity to take some extra courses and earn a minor that, in combination with other factors, may be beneficial to their later success.”