Hillsdale College: A Great Place to be For Pre-Law
Written by Stephanie Gordon
Growing up in southeast Michigan, Katherine Montgomery Bennett, ’08, had a short drive to Hillsdale College. She knew she wanted to attend Hillsdale and appreciated the College’s unique politics program. Now, Katherine is mom to a three-year-old daughter and an eight-month-old son, all while working as an Assistant Attorney General for the Attorney General’s Corporate Oversight Division in Michigan.
“I had a teacher in high school who had gone to Hillsdale and talked about it quite a bit,” Katherine said. “That’s what caught my interest. Hillsdale is a great place to be for pre-law.”
Katherine stayed busy with her studies as a student because she managed to obtain a double major in political science and Spanish in three years. “My advisor, Dr. Teegarden, told me it was doable,” said Katherine. “And it was. I was also having fun, but taking a lot of classes. I was manager of the debate team which allowed me to travel a bit. I gave back to the community by mentoring local children. It all went by really fast.”
After graduation, Katherine worked on a congressional campaign, and in 2010, she was accepted to Western Michigan University’s Thomas M. Cooley Law School. After completing undergrad in three years, Katherine knew she could complete law school in two years. She did just that.
“When I was in law school, I was an intern at the Michigan Department of Attorney General in the Solicitor General Division, which focuses on appellate work,” Katherine said. “I applied for a job within that department right out of law school and was lucky enough to start my legal career there.”
During that time, Katherine spent five years in the Health Education and Family Services Division, where she handled cases involving the Department of Education and social services. In 2017, she transferred to the Corporate Oversight Division and focuses on consumer protection work and healthcare law for the state of Michigan. In 2021, she became a supervisor. Katherine added that she still practices law, but she supervises five attorneys who practice in her division.
“Prior to kids, I was very involved in Bar Association activities,” said Katherine. “I was president of the Ingham County Bar Association Young Lawyers section. A few years ago, I was admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Katherine’s advice to current students is simply put: Hillsdale is a great place to be for pre-law.
“I took a lot of law classes at Hillsdale,” she said. “I took constitutional law with Justice Stephen Markman and it was hands down the best class to prepare me for law school. I took an administrative law class with Dr. Pestritto. Dr. Schlueter took us on a field trip to Notre Dame’s law school. My textbooks from these classes were the same books I used in law school. I felt very well prepared for law school with my degree from Hillsdale.”
At the end of the day, Katherine said that Hillsdale College is a community. “Something that sticks out to me are the lifelong friends I have from Hillsdale,” Katherine said. “Hillsdale is a small school, but when you go out into the world, you meet people everywhere with Hillsdale connections.”
Katherine said she is focused on her family, church, and community with her husband, Cale, and staying involved with their church. “I established my career first,” she said. “It’s still very important to me, and I enjoy the work that I do in public service. I’m happy where I am right now, and I’m always looking for opportunities to grow.”
Stephanie Gordon, a lifelong Hillsdale native, is the managing editor of Hillsdale College’s Student Stories Blog. She is married to chiropractor, Dr. Matt Gordon, and has three children – Eloise, Flora, and Jack. When she has a spare moment, she enjoys paleo baking, floating on Baw Beese Lake, and breaking a sweat at the gym.
Published in May 2023