As LexBlog continues its growth and expansion in the realm of digital publishing and assisting lawyers with their legal blogs, it’s vital to bring the right people onto the team. The kind of people who know a thing or two about writing and have a passion for the law.
A former journalist turned aspiring lawyer, Alec Downing found LexBlog to be the perfect fit for his career path—and LexBlog found Alec to be the perfect fit for the publishing team.
Joining LexBlog was no accident. Alec had been following Vice President and Publisher Colin O’Keefe on Twitter for years and regularly read up on his blog posts about the Seattle Mariners. Having previously worked with Editor Michelle Newblom in college, Alec had no trouble fitting into the dynamics of the team.
“Being a part of the publishing team allows me to do all of the things that I learned and loved doing as a journalist—writing, podcasting, all that kind of stuff—but with an eye for what I want to be doing in the future.”
And that future involves becoming a lawyer—an option Alec decided to begin pursuing just this past year.
“During the pandemic, I had a lot of free time on my hands. And I had always thought about pursuing law and law school,” Alec said. “It just gave me ample time to finally pursue that. So with all the extra time that I had, I studied for the LSAT—and I’m still doing that.”
Politics, law, journalism and the like all had a hold on Alec from a young age. With his dad regularly watching the news, Alec’s interest in global politics steadily developed.
(It also doesn’t hurt that his favorite comic book hero is none other than Peter Parker, who himself works for a newspaper.)
But his interest in these industries is more than just a surface-level desire to stay informed. At the core of Alec’s passions are his drive to help others.
Though he entered the field of journalism mainly writing about sports, Alec quickly shifted gears.
“There was one piece I wrote with one of my colleagues about a group of custodians at Seattle University that were trying to form a union. That was such a pivotal moment in my career as a journalist—but also a really pivotal moment in my life.
“Long story short, we did a lot of hard work on this story and got to talk to those custodians, and the union representatives and the company that Seattle U was contracting with. I still remember being in that room and just hearing these very emotional stories and testimonies and realizing—we are the only people who are hearing this story right now. We have an immense responsibility to tell people what’s going on and to shed light on the injustice that’s happening here.”
It only makes sense that Alec’s initial interest in law lies in plaintiff-side labor and employment law—though he is keeping his options open.
“What really what made me love journalism was being able to shed light on injustices and expose corruption, that sort of thing. But I feel like I’ve really realized in the past year—while journalism is a great avenue for that—the law is a chance for me to achieve that even more directly.”
With a strong background in writing—serving as Editor-in-Chief for Seattle University’s school paper, working at KIRO Radio as an anchor and reporter—coupled with that aforementioned interest in the law, Alec is a great addition to the publishing team and LexBlog as a whole.
“I really could not have asked for a better opportunity because it’s just the perfect marriage of my past experience and knowledge of journalism and writing, but also my future career interest in law.”