[ Makenzie Way, 3L at the University of Pennsylvania ]
So the time has finally come, your favorite law student is about to graduate and you have no idea what to buy them! With commencement ceremonies being pushed online, and in-person ceremonies being postponed, the law student in your life is sure to appreciate any gift you decide to give them … that said, if you want it to be something extra good, or extra useful, here are few ideas!
- Every aspiring lawyer needs a nice briefcase to tote their belongings and casefiles around. Try to stick to long-lasting materials like leather, and neutral colors, to ensure your soon-to-be-attorney gets the most use of it.
- Scrounging around in your purse or pockets for a business card isn’t very professional. Save your soon-to-be-lawyer from the embarrassment and buy them a business cardholder. Bonus points if it’s engraved with their school name or their initials.
- Diploma frames are expensive ($150 – $300), and yet they’re almost universally wanted by graduating students. Reach out to your law grad and offer to purchase, or pitch in, for the diploma frame.
- The most classic gift of all might be the whiskey tumbler and decanter set, or wine glasses.
- If your grad isn’t a big drinker, you can also buy some fun coffee mugs and/or travel mugs – trust me, we like our caffeine.
- Business attire! We’re all going to have to wear it, and you can really never have too much. Make sure to get a gift receipt in case something doesn’t fit, or go the safe route and buy an accessory like a tie.
- Speaking of business attire, what’s one staple of the American lawyer’s outfit? A watch. Sure, your law grad may have an apple watch, but do they have a nice professional looking watch? If not, consider gifting them one for graduation.
- Books. What law student doesn’t like books? This idea is pretty broad, you can go the legal route and buy them a Barnes and Noble collectible edition of the Constitution – it will look lovely on a bookshelf – or you can go the sentimental route and buy them ‘Oh, the places you will go’ or you can even buy them a book of legal jokes. The world is yours.
- You can never go wrong with a gift card, especially during this new virtual (and online) reality we’re all living in. Same goes for cash.
- Your soon-to-be-lawyer will likely appreciate a funny, or puny, legal t-shirt. It can serve as their bar studying attire.
- If you’re really feeling the funny gifts, and I mean why not, we could all use a good laugh right now. Consider putting together an entire care package. Grab your puny t-shirt, your favorite law inspired mug, a book of law jokes, and a few extras, like this fantastic ‘divorce papers’ scented candle, and gavel foam stress toy (great for bar studying stress).
BONUS: BARBRI has some cool stuff on Zazzle.com — zazzle.com/barbri
