Campbell Law Spotlight: Taylor Pulliam ’23

Campbell Law School prides itself on providing students with exceptional opportunities and resources to achieve professional success. The professional experience Taylor Pulliam ’23  gained in Raleigh helped him land a job in the biggest city in the country.
 
A North Carolina native, Pulliam is a 2019 N.C. State University graduate who will be leaving his home state to work for the New York City Law Department as Assistant Corporate Counsel in the Torts Division beginning in September 2023. Pulliam will serve as a litigator defending the City of New York.
 
While a student at Campbell Law, Pulliam was wholeheartedly engaged in the community and student life. He served as a Student Bar Association (SBA) representative all three years of law school, most notably as SBA President his third year. Pulliam also worked as a Legal Research and Writing Scholar for two years. He competed in Mock Trial at the All-Stars Challenge on a criminal homicide case and the American Association for Justice (AAJ) on a civil wrongful death case. Further, Pulliam served as the Vice President of the Campbell Law Democrats and the Project Manager for the Education Law Pro Bono Project.
 
Prior to attending Campbell Law, Pulliam began his professional legal journey at McAngus Goudelock & Courie LLC, where he began as a runner and was quickly promoted to assisting the litigation team. Pulliam’s time at McAngus solidified his interest in law and litigation. He recalls, “I spent as much time as I could sitting in the attorney’s offices learning from them.”

After earning admission to Campbell Law, Pulliam began his first year in fall 2020. From day one of classes, he immediately recognized how his time at McAngus had nurtured him and predisposed him to legal topics. Pulliam was able to reflect on how what he learned in class translated to his past experience at McAngus.
 
Pulliam returned to McAngus for his first and second summers as a summer associate. Pulliam was proudly the first 1L summer associate ever hired at McAngus. During his summers at McAngus, Pulliam was exposed to the full litigation processes from depositions, sitting in on trials and handling mediations. Most memorably, Pulliam’s chief responsibility during his 1L summer was to write a summary judgment brief on an important North Carolina hog farmer’s case. Pulliam reflected that the attorneys and staff at McAngus “really invested in [him]” and allowed him to follow the path he is on today.
 
Although Pulliam says he is sad to be leaving North Carolina and all the wonderful connections he has made here, he is excited to explore the big city!  As he began to apply for post-graduate jobs in NYC, Pulliam routinely used his McAngus N.C. hog farmer’s case summary judgment brief as his writing sample. His application with the NYC Law Department was no exception. The interviewers at the NYC Law Department provided Pulliam with feedback that it was the most memorable brief they had read and they were fascinated with the North Carolina hog farming industry practices. Further, they informed Pulliam they were impressed by his professional experience. Pulliam attributes this wealth of experience to McAngus and the vast opportunities offered at Campbell Law.

“When I started interviewing for positions, recruiters and interviewers were really impressed with all the practical, hands-on experience I had garnered from my time in law school. They were very impressed with all my pre-trial litigation experience via classes, internships and clinical experience at Campbell. In my final interview for my new position, the lead attorney told me that it was rare to see a candidate with so much experience provided to them in law school as I had.”

Pulliam also credits Campbell Law’ Career Center with helping shepherd him by providing connections and the tools and resources he needed to succeed in his professional development. When beginning to look for jobs in NYC, Pulliam did not have any connections within his immediate orbit, but the Career Center was able to provide connections to facilitate his job search.
 
Pulliam said he is eager to begin trying cases right out of the gate from law school and defend the City of New York. Pulliam is looking forward to this next part of his professional journey and “is grateful for all of the mentors, professors, administrators, friends and family who have poured their wisdom and invested in [him] over the course of [his] law school journey. [Pulliam] hope[s] that [his] presence at Campbell and [his] post-graduate job in NYC will inspire other upcoming law students to dream big and recognize that, while North Carolina is and will always be home, there is so much more world out there waiting for us.”