Unlikely Weekend Warriors Jeopardy! Champ Jamie Ding and Alumna Lizz Lesso

Left: Jamie Ding on Jeopardy! (Screen capture via YouTube); Right: Lizz Lesso (Photo courtesy of Lizz Lesso)

Reigning Jeopardy! champion Jamie Ding ‘27 and graphic designer-turned-attorney Lizz Lesso ‘25 found their calling in Seton Hall Law's Weekend J.D. Program—without giving up their day jobs. 
 

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If you caught Jamie Ding ’27 on Jeopardy! recently, you may have noticed he’s good at juggling more than trivia questions. The reigning champion and Princeton graduate works full time for the State of New Jersey and, on alternating weekends, trades the buzzer for a casebook at Seton Hall University School of Law.

Ding is enrolled in Seton Hall Law’s Weekend J.D. program, a format that fits his life. “I loved my job and wasn’t sure I could handle evening classes after a long workday,” he said. “The weekend structure lets me focus on learning rather than logistics. The scholarship helped, too.”

Back in Newark, Ding has become something of a celebrity. The enthusiasm among Seton Hall Law classmates and faculty—caught up in “Jamie fever”—is unmistakable. His classmates have embraced his Jeopardy! fame with T-shirts, watch parties and social media tributes.

“The weekend class of 2027 is incredibly proud to have Jamie as one of our own,” said Jillian M. Riedel ’27, who helped design the shirts with classmates Maggie Chung and Jenny Loeb. “We’ve loved cheering him on this semester.”

Ding speaks about his cohort with the same warmth they show him. “My classmates are amazing, supportive people with diverse backgrounds and life experiences,” he said. “The professors are excellent and seem to love us weekend students as much as we love them. They clearly enjoy teaching us.”

It is the kind of organic, unscripted school spirit no admissions brochure could manufacture—and it captures the essence of the Weekend J.D. community. Students progress through their coursework together over four years, spending long Saturdays and Sundays side by side. The bonds run deep. By the time the bar exam arrives, they know each other the way combat buddies might after years in the trenches.

The program also has unexpected perks. “Everything being in one building is convenient,” Ding said. “I’m not sure why the website doesn’t mention it, but I was pleasantly surprised to find hot breakfast on the first day. I’m quite glad that we are well-fed.”

Seton Hall Law created the Weekend J.D. program to meet changing student needs. The school had long run a successful evening division, but the four-nights-a-week schedule no longer suited many working professionals.

“We wanted to give an opportunity to students who couldn’t commit to weekday or evening programs,” said Professor John Kip Cornwell. “At the time, there was only one other ABA-accredited weekend law program in the country.” Working alongside Dean Kathleen Boozang, Cornwell helped design and launch the program. Today, he still teaches criminal law on weekends alongside his wife, Professor Lee Larson Cornwell, who has taught lawyering to “weekend warriors” for many years.

Classes meet every other weekend—all day Saturday and most of Sunday—over four years. Students complete 88 credits, including up to 15 online. Full-time faculty teach the same courses offered during the week, which Cornwell said is essential.

“Weekend students aren’t second-class citizens,” he said. “They receive the same quality program and instruction.”

The results speak for themselves. Weekend students have earned clerkships on the New Jersey and Connecticut Supreme Courts.  Myron Minn-Thu-Aye ’25, a math professor by day, became the first weekend student to serve as editor-in-chief of the Seton Hall Law Review. He now clerks for the Connecticut Supreme Court. 

Many also take part in student life, from moot court competitions to the Barristers’ Ball. “I was stunned this year by how many weekend students attended the ball,” Cornwell said. “They feel a part of our community every bit as much as weekday students.”

The program also draws students from across the country. One accountant commutes from Florida; another student flies in from Dallas for each session. “You always wonder if something new will work,” Cornwell said. “This program has been wildly successful.”

Weekend J.D. in a Class of Its Own

Alumna Lizz Lesso ’25 offers another view of the program’s appeal. After a decade in graphic design and marketing, she came to law school midcareer—and mid-pandemic—after offhandedly expressing an interest, prompting a friend to challenge her to take a practice LSAT. She scored well enough to apply the following month.

“Art school to law school sounds like a big shift,” Lesso said. “But everyone who knew me growing up knew it made sense.”

She chose Seton Hall’s weekend program over Rutgers’ evening division for practical reasons: a manageable schedule, generous scholarship aid and a strong alumni network. Quitting her job wasn’t an option, and the every-other-weekend format made a J.D. possible.

Lesso arrived with no fixed plan—only the sense that a law degree mattered. “Everywhere I looked, the people steering the ship had law degrees,” she said. “I thought I should, too.”

Her first surprise was how creative the law could be. “I expected Contracts to be dry, but it was full of interesting arguments,” she said. “Law school wasn’t a total 180 from my past life. It let me blend my creative and analytical sides into one holistic version of myself.”

That blend propelled her forward. She entered the Gressman Moot Court Competition “on a lark, for the one credit,” and made the finals, arguing before the chief judge of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She earned a position on Law Review, published a comment, and went on to clerk for the New Jersey Supreme Court, with a fellowship at FBT Gibbons to follow.

“Nobody comes to part-time law school later in life because someone else told them to,” she said. “Everyone here is motivated. You can’t do this program without serious focus.”

Cornwell agrees that shared purpose defines the program. “When prospective students visit, they talk to the faculty and current students. And they always leave impressed,” he said. “There’s a palpable excitement about the place.”

Hot breakfast and lunch, it turns out, are just a bonus.