Blake Balley, Associate, McKool Smith P.C.- JD, 2009, Stanford Law School, Stanford Law & Policy Review, Editor, Stanford Environmental Law Journal, Editor, Order of the Coif
- BA, 2003, Economics & History, magna cum laude, Trinity University
About Blake's Legal Career
Blake attended Stanford Law School where he was a member of two law journals and served as a research assistant for Professor Michael Klausner for Stanford's Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. After graduation, he served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Edith Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Houston. He is currently working in McKool Smith's Houston office where his practice includes bankruptcy matters and bankruptcy related litigation.
There were two great benefits from Law Preview. First, it gave me a sneak peak of all the core subject matters. I cannot stress how much that benefited me. It removed the intimidation factor and gave me a broad overview of each subject. Second, and more importantly, it gave me a plan in which to succeed. While other law students were flailing around and trying to figure out what to do, I had a clear plan that guided my actions. Law Preview told me precisely what was required to succeed (lots of hours and lots of outlining). It gave me a schedule to do those things. And this schedule was given to me by a Law Preview lawyer invitee who would not sugar-coat the demands (or rewards) of this work. . . . I'm doing quite well, thanks in part to the boost I received from Law Preview. I finished up my clerkship with Chief Judge Jones of the Fifth Circuit and am working at McKool Smith in Houston. I wanted to say thank you for the career boost . . . and my wife! Jess and I met at Law Preview in Summer 2006 and got married in March 2010. So all-in-all, Law Preview changed my life in more ways than one.