After 14 years of teaching and observing the arcs of hundreds of University of Cincinnati College of Law students, Sean Mangan has honed his motivational speech to a few choice words.

“Why not you?”

It comes with a fervor — an unshakable belief in the possible, born of hard evidence and hard-won success. “I very much believe in dreamers,” says Mangan. “The reason is that I just know a lot of them.”

Mangan’s teaching focuses on legal practice in non-litigation contexts, including contract drafting, client counseling, and corporate governance. He serves as Co-Director of the Corporate Law Center and Director of the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic. Each role provides a slightly different perspective on teaching, training, and becoming a “whole attorney.” 

Q: How do you get to know each new Cincinnati College of Law class, and the individual and collective ambitions contained within?

Sean Mangan: I survey at the beginning of a class I teach for second-year students. I ask students to describe their ideal career if every dream they have came true. Then I ask them to identify the most significant obstacle between them and that dream. One thing I did not appreciate when I was younger is that somebody needs to do all the great jobs the world offers. I think about my friends who are running global corporate legal departments or leading a major sports franchise, and I know that my students have that potential. Putting those dreams on paper and then talking about them gives everyone permission to thrive in that way.

Q: What would you want to tell prospective law students about persistence in pursuing dreams?

Sean Mangan: I think about a student like Zamira Saidi, who fled Afghanistan and the Taliban. She launched a non-profit to help Afghan women. In the middle of law school, she returned home to help her family cross the border. Success has never been a straight line for her. She persists. She’s the most courageous, toughest person I’ve ever met. I like being around people like that because it reminds me that we all have something better waiting when we push through the obstacles. I encourage anybody considering law school to realize that the world needs lawyers like Zamira and like you. If you’re unsure, know you’re needed much more than you think.

Q: Nobody achieves success as a lawyer without a few essential skills.  What are those skills?

Sean Mangan: First, client communications … being able to draft brief, concise, business-friendly emails. And, being able to draft contracts without resorting to legal speak. You may have a great legal mind and business instincts, but if you can’t produce quality written work, you’ll never realize or manifest those other skills. Early on in your career, so much of what you will do is the written word. 

Q: How do the experiential learning opportunities hone practice skills?

Sean Mangan: We have an entrepreneurship clinic where the students work directly with business owners. That’s where they get client interaction reps. You can only read about that aspect of lawyering so much. You need to do it. You need to sit down with a client you know nothing about, interview them to find out their needs, learn about their business, see where we can help, and then continue that relationship throughout the representation. The great thing about our clinics is that students meet the full range of potential clients. Some are challenging. Some are sophisticated. Some know more about the law than our students.

Q: How do you know if the experiential learning opportunities are working?  

Sean Mangan: I track two metrics. How many decisions do I force them to make in a class, and how often do I put them before a non-lawyer? Those are the two muscle-building exercises that I am trying to repeat, over and over.

Q: Can the experiential learning opportunities reveal something about a student that the classroom exercise missed?  

Sean Mangan: Yes. I remember many students, especially one, who only thrived once he got to skills classes and client work in the clinic. Suddenly, you could see his talent. Taking law school exams was not his great skill, but being a lawyer was. He’s a fantastic lawyer. The client contact gave him confidence that he had made the right choice in law school and could do this work at a high level. 

Q: Does the corporate side of law share anything with the criminal side?  

Sean Mangan: I think so. At first glance, the Ohio Innocence Project and the Entrepreneurial Clinic represent opposite sides of legal education. I see them as very similar. They are developing similar legal skills. It comes down to this — you must be passionate about people’s stories. The best lawyers invest more time in understanding their client than in understanding the law. Becoming a lawyer has less to do with having the right answers and more with asking the right questions. The difference between good and great attorneys is the depth and strength of the client relationship. You see it in second-year students who make those connections and rediscover why they wanted to go to law school.

Q: When do you know you’ve become a good or great attorney?  

Sean Mangan: It takes a long time. I’m not sure I’m there yet, and it’s been 25 years. You take a giant step in your first year of practice. It’s a steep learning curve. And then you sharpen your skills and move toward advising rather than simply defending. You’re able to get ahead of legal issues.

Q: You spent time in the Marines before attending law school. What did that experience teach you?

Sean Mangan: I can imagine no greater leadership lab in the world than being a second lieutenant in the Marines. I walked into my very first platoon of 57 Marines and knew immediately that they knew what they were doing and I did not. But you’re in charge. You survive by knowing your people. You survive on the strength of your curiosity. In the Marines and in business, there is always someone who has earned the group’s trust. As a young lawyer, a mentor said to me, “One of your jobs is to know how everyone in the room gets paid.” In other words, people say and do what they’re economically motivated to say and do. And so, the best way to lead is by observing and listening.
 

 Q: What continues to make teaching appealing and fulfilling?

Sean Mangan: Oh, I have the best job in the world. I honestly believe that. I had a fear when I started teaching that I would get bored. Take my basic drafting class, the most popular class I teach. I’ve taught it 35 times and am not bored with it. Each class is different. Every single year, without me having to lift a finger, the University of Cincinnati gives me 120 brand new people to get to know. I am reminded every day — these students are awesome.