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Graduates from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law will have an opportunity to hear from three of their peers during commencement on May 7. Li Fengquan will speak on behalf of the LL.M. students, Burnell Grimes will represent the J.D. full-time students, and Marcus McGhee will represent the J.D. evening division.

In the photo from left are Grimes, Li, and McGhee.

Li is the first law student from her alma mater, Shanghai University of Politics and Law, to come to IU McKinney to study for an LL.M. in intellectual property law. She graduated among the top of her class at her school in China, and she has plans to prepare for the New York Bar Exam after graduation.

In addition to deepening her knowledge of the law and perfecting her English skills, Li has developed some self-discipline and learned to cook for herself, which she jokes that her mother is pleased about.

The LL.M. students are like a family, Li said of her classmates. “We come from all over the world,” Li said. “We respect each other. We support each other. We encourage each other. We like each other and we love this family. I realized that diversity does not fight against harmony. We learn to embrace diversity, and then we create a harmony. That is what teamwork really means, I think, and our LL.M. family proved that.”

The teamwork displayed by IU McKinney students extends to the juris doctor students as well, as Grimes is happy to attest. He recalls being called on in a class early in his first year, where he had to stand and brief a case. Grimes had prepared, but said “I was scared to death,” and drew a blank. “Luckily I had great classmates around me who were able to whisper an answer or two and point me in the right direction in the book when I struggled to find the answer,” he said. “I knew then that my law school classmates were amazing and that law school at IU McKinney was completely different from all the general law school horror stories I had heard. That experience also taught me to always be prepared for any situation and to always have confidence in myself.”

After graduation, Grimes will begin working in the Indianapolis office of Faegre Baker Daniels after taking the July Bar Exam. He also plans to expand on the community service he’s undertaken during law school. “My experience at IU McKinney has enhanced my passion to serve and give back to the Indiana and Indianapolis community.”

The final year of law school can be a time when students ease back on the number of demanding experiences, but that doesn’t apply for those who have their sights set on fellowships and editorships. McGhee was a fellow in the Program on Law and State Government during 2015, and was the editor-in-chief of the Indiana International & Comparative Law Review (IICLR) for the 2015-16 academic year. McGhee is also the first African-American to serve as editor-in-chief of IICLR.

“I have experience and accomplished things that I could have never imagined,” McGhee said. “Knowing that I can do those things just makes me want to know – what else can I do, what else can I achieve? Having that desire makes my next steps after graduation all the more exciting.”

After graduation, McGhee will take the bar exam and seek a job in the public interest sector. “The holistic, analytical, multi-step approach to analyzing issues, questions, and life in general, provides me with some comfort as I move forward with my own life,” he said.