Weekend Law, Supreme Results: Seton Hall Weekend Students Land Top Clerkships

When Tim Wagner received a phone call from New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Anne Patterson, he was seated at a hotel table in Florida—suit and tie on top, flip flops below. The former police captain had taken a Zoom interview while on vacation, never expecting it to end with an offer for one of the most prestigious positions a graduating law student can receive.

“I was thrilled,” Wagner said. “It felt like being called up to the big leagues.”

Wagner is one of eight Seton Hall Law students from the Class of 2025 selected for post-graduate clerkships with state supreme court justices. What makes this year particularly notable is that half of them came from Seton Hall’s Weekend Program, a part-time JD track designed for working professionals and nontraditional students.

The Program, which offers in-person classes every other weekend, was created with a promise: that students would receive the same high-caliber legal education and opportunities as their full-time peers. When not on campus, Weekend students stay involved through discussion boards, remote lectures, and self-paced learning modules. But these students are more than out of class learners. They publish on Law Review, compete in moot court, spearhead student groups, and join pro bono clinics—often establishing leadership roles and earning impressive co curricular honors.

This year, four Weekend students delivered on the Program’s promise.

Four Paths, One Destination

Wagner, Elizabeth “Lizz” Lesso, Myron Minn-Thu-Aye, and Jonathan Acampora come from different backgrounds: law enforcement, design, academia, and education. Yet each will soon be clerking at the highest level of state courts, working side-by-side with justices on some of the most complex and impactful legal questions in their jurisdictions.

And while their journeys differ, all four say the structure and community of Seton Hall’s Weekend Program made it possible.

A Way to Keep Serving: Timothy Wagner’s Journey from the Police to the Bench

Wagner had already spent decades serving the public as a police captain in a New Jersey municipality. But in the final years of that career, a new interest emerged.

“I always enjoyed the privilege of being a person with special training that others could turn to in a time of need for advice or help,” he said. “I had a first career as a police officer and felt I was at a point in that career where experience had taken me far, but I wanted formal legal training to better understand the law, particularly its criminal justice function.” That motivation, combined with personal experiences advocating for his children, inspired Tim to want to be a trusted advocate for others.

Still, the idea of traditional law school seemed impossible. But Seton Hall’s Weekend Program offered a model that worked. “I had a full-time career that I had not planned on leaving, and a family with three school-aged kids, so a part-time program was my only option,” Wagner said. “The weekend program seemed a much better option to me than struggling to stay awake in evening classes after a full workday.” 

The flexibility of weekend classes allowed Tim to pursue his legal education, but that didn’t mean it was easy. “Law school is an ultra-marathon event, even in a weekend, part-time program. Kids get sick, relatives die, furnaces break, and your reading and assignments are still due.”

What helped most was the people. Tim bonded with a “cohort of students who were mostly professionals in other fields, mature, committed, but light-hearted and drama-free.” They were excellent teammates to get through law school with. 

His law enforcement background also gave him a unique lens in the classroom. “Police work gave me a background in reading case law and experiences to understand how facts on paper may have looked in real life. My former job provided exposure to attorneys who I could study as role models of what to do and not do in developing who I would want to be as a lawyer.”

At school, certain courses shaped his outlook on the profession. He most enjoyed interactive classes, such as Lawyering, Appellate Advocacy, Advanced Criminal Procedure, and the Denis F. McLaughlin Advanced Trial Advocacy Program.

When Wagner retired from his police career earlier than expected, a new door opened. “At first, clerking right after school would not have been an option for me. But after retiring early from my first career, it opened that avenue to me.”

Now preparing to clerk on New Jersey’s highest court, Wagner is focused on growth. “SHL provided me with so many first-rate academic mentors and I hope my clerkship will allow me to develop relationships with the highest-caliber practitioner mentors,” he said. “I hope to begin developing the skills to operate at the highest levels of proficiency and integrity in the profession.”

His advice for others considering the same path? Be honest, and be ready. “Take an honest inventory of your motivations, goals, interests, and resiliency. Law school is hard, it’s time-consuming, and its requirements are exacting,” he said. “You can rarely rest on your laurels in law school... But if after an honest inventory you still feel that drive smoldering in you, this is a fantastic program in which to learn to be a lawyer”

Designed for Justice: Lizz Lesso’s Path from Toys to Law

For Lizz Lesso, law school was a “pandemic hobby” that turned into a life-changing decision. A former graphic designer at a toy company, Lesso said she was drawn to law during the upheaval of 2020. “There were issues I felt strongly about, things I wanted to change, but I realized I didn’t have the tools to make that kind of impact.”

“When I learned that part time programs existed, law school started to feel like something I could really do.”

Lizz explored part-time options, and Seton Hall’s weekend format stood out. “When I was looking into part time programs, most programs were weeknights, and the prospect of working a full day followed by a full evening of classes every week was daunting,” she explained. “The weekend program, where classes met every other weekend, seemed much more manageable. I was still working basically every evening after work, but it was nicer being able to do it from the comfort of my own home.”

Lesso assumed that leaving the creative world of art and design meant abandoning part of her identity, but she quickly realized otherwise. “I was pleasantly surprised by how much I was able to bring with me. Law school still was a big change, with more focus on my logical brain, but I got to carry my creative brain with me. It was actually really affirming feeling like I wasn’t leaving anything behind, but instead like I was getting to be the fullest version of me.”

At school, it all came together when Lizz participated in the Impact Litigation Clinic. “When I started law school, I didn’t know the term ‘impact litigation,’ but that’s the type of work I came to law school to do,” she said. “The clinic was incredibly affirming—it was exactly the type of work I thought I wanted to do, I loved doing it, and it confirmed that this is the career path I want to pursue.”

Lesso will clerk for Justice Douglas Fasciale on the New Jersey Supreme Court. Like with Tim, her clerkship offer came as a surprise: “I was offered the position on the spot, which I hadn’t expected at all...” After the initial shock, “my surprise gave way to a mix of relief and excitement—relief that the process was over, and excitement knowing I had an incredible opportunity waiting for me after graduation.”

Looking ahead, she hopes the clerkship will deepen her understanding of complex litigation. “I’m eager to learn from the Justices’ experience and decision-making processes, which will undoubtedly shape how I think about law and advocacy moving forward,” she said. “Overall, I hope this clerkship will equip me with the insight, experience, and mentorship I need to become a more effective advocate for meaningful change.”

Proofs to Precedent: Myron’s Journey from Math Academia to Advocacy

Myron spent more than a decade as a math professor before pursuing a legal career. The shift was sparked by personal experience and a desire to effect change.

“As an LGBTQ+ immigrant, the law has had a significant impact on my life. This led to my interest in various legal issues, particularly those related to social justice,” he explained. “I enjoy thinking about difficult problems, which is why I became a mathematician, and I was looking for a way to channel skills I had developed in my first career into problems that involve people more directly.”

The transition to law more seamless than one would imagine. “I rely on math skills (formal logic and reasoning, organizing and explaining complex arguments) in legal work all the time,” Myron said. “More generally, I think having significant professional experience was really helpful in the legal job search and in legal work experience.”

Just as with Tim and Lizz, Seton Hall’s weekend format made law school feasible for Myron. “I had to attend school part time, and I chose Seton Hall in large part because of the Weekend Program,” he said. “I was not keen on balancing work and family commitments with evening classes, and having the opportunity to take classes during the day on weekends with flexibility to fit schoolwork into my schedule in the two weeks between classes was really appealing.”

Myron developed a strong interest in clerking early on Internships after his 1L year solidified his interest: “I interned for an Administrative Law Judge and a United States Magistrate Judge in the summer and fall... These internships were really important for deciding that clerking would be a good fit for me.”

He went on to become Editor-in-Chief of the Seton Hall Law Review. “The Law Review was a great way to engage with legal scholarship, and I learned about so many interesting legal issues from the authors we published,” he said. “I was very proud to publish some truly excellent work by our own students. The opportunity to write a comment contributing to legal scholarship on a topic of my choice was really meaningful to me.”

Myron will clerk for Justice Steven Ecker on the Connecticut Supreme Court. The process was intense, but rewarding. “I submitted my application as soon as the window opened... I interviewed with multiple Justices and their clerks in a single day,” he said. “It was really interesting seeing different interviewing styles... everyone was really nice, and the interviews were really enjoyable.” Two days later, he got the call from Justice Ecker with an offer. 

Looking ahead, Myron hopes to gain “broad exposure to different areas of law and types of legal issues.” He’s especially eager to “apply what I learned in law school in real live cases as well as interacting with the Justices and other clerks,” and is “excited to work closely with Justice Ecker and learn from his approach to legal problems and judicial decision-making.”

His advice for others? “Connect with students in the weekend program and learn as much as possible from them. I have always found my fellow weekend students to be so helpful and supportive, and it’s a community I’m proud to be a part of.”

One Program, Equal Opportunity

Alongside Tim, Myron, and Lizz, weekend student Jonathan Acampora—previously a grammar school teacher in New York City—will clerk for Justice Rachel Wainer Apter of the New Jersey Supreme Court.

These four join four full-time classmates—Emmeline Anderson, Timothy Knapp, Jessica McGloin, and Emma Riccardi—who also secured New Jersey Supreme Court clerkships, making Seton Hall one of the top feeders into these prestigious positions.

For Tim, Lizz, Myron, and Jonathan, the Weekend Program was more than a scheduling solution. It turned possibility into reality, providing them all with a transformative education and a core group of friends. And their paths show that no matter where you started, your experience has a place in the legal field.

Seton Hall Law’s Class of 2025 proved that you don’t need a full-time schedule to succeed in the legal profession—just full-time commitment, curiosity, and a motivation to serve others.