Campbell Law Spotlight: Summer Combs ’21

“When I was in the fifth grade, my older brother went to law school. After he became a lawyer – my best friend and biggest role model – I told myself I wanted to be a lawyer, just like him.”  

While completing a degree in political science & international relations from Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. Navy Lt. Summer Combs ’21 was encouraged to apply to law school. Around that time, she was interning at Hutchens Law firm in Fayetteville.

“Several partners went to Campbell Law School, and the interns there were currently attending Campbell Law,” Combs reflects. At that point she realized, “If you live in North Carolina and go to Campbell, judges, lawyers, people in general will know that you are a competent attorney.” 

While Combs had always wanted to join the military, she wasn’t sure how that aligned with her desire to be a lawyer. During her first year at Campbell Law, she attended a Military Law Society meeting and met several students who had interned with the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. After speaking with a professor who had been a JAG, she applied and received an Air Force JAGC summer internship during her 1L summer.  

“I knew JAG is what I wanted to do for sure because of that internship,” Combs recalls.

“I had to build my own desk out of law books,” she said laughing. “You realize that you’re lawyers, but you’re also in a position where you’re thrown anywhere in the world and you have to figure it out. I loved that. I was helping draft wills in the morning and watching court in the afternoon. There were so many opportunities to gain so many skills.” 

After her 1L summer, Combs started applying for JAG postgrad jobs. After being accepted by different branches, she had to make a tough call. What helped make her decision? LinkedIn messages sent at 2 a.m. (or 0200) to current JAGs, and hearing about their JAG experiences from different branches. That’s what she recommends to students interested in the JAG Corps: Reach out to multiple JAGs in different branches and participate in an internship. 

This advice echoes her encouragement for those who don’t know what they want to do.

“If you think you want to litigate, and you get to Trial Advocacy and think ‘This is the worst thing I’ve ever done.’ That’s okay. And if you think you’ll hate litigating, but you try transactional work and think ‘This is boring.’ That’s okay. If you think you like family law, get an internship or externship before you commit. If you can’t get an internship, ask to shadow for a day or sit down with an attorney and ask them about their work. Go talk to people. This is your life – you have to take the wheel and figure it out. Don’t make decisions for other people – make them for yourself. And don’t be afraid to change your mind.” 

Combs has been a Navy JAG for nearly five years now. A positive of the JAG Corps, she shares, is that it allows you to do a variety of jobs. “You can be a defense attorney,” she says. “You can be an estate planner. You can be a prosecutor. You can be the military equivalent to an in-house counsel.”

When asked what her favorite part of the job is, she replied, “When you help a service member with a will before their deployment, you’re not just helping the person who is being deployed, you’re helping their family, and the overall mission because that person doesn’t have to worry about what’s going on at home – they can be focused on the mission. Whatever help you offer – whatever advice you give  – it extends beyond you and them – it matters.”

For Combs, being a JAG is the way that she serves her country, as a Naval officer… and as a lawyer.