Leon Matchin
New Jersey, 3rd Circuit
I always knew I would be an attorney because my uncle was a prosecutor and then a successful defense attorney and I wanted to do what he did. I graduated Cum Laude from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1998 and I started Seton Hall University School of Law at Newark, New Jersey the fall of that same year. I attended law school part time, however, because I also worked a full time job at a law firm in Elizabeth, New Jersey from which it was an easy 15 minute commute to my night classes. That was my life for four years until I graduated Seton Hall in 2002 and immediately hung my shingles. I never worked for anyone as a practicing attorney, except my clients of course. After all, I did everything an attorney does at the firm I worked at while attending law school for four years, except representing clients in court. Still, I accompanied the attorneys I worked for plenty of times on the cases I worked on, filed motions, briefs, etc… When I got my license to practice, I was ready to go out on my own. I was 26 years old. My four years working and studying gave me the confidence and knowledge to take such a leap of faith at such a young age.