Keyn Isono’s dreams of becoming a lawyer began in middle school in his home state of Hawaii, when he found himself drawn to “the ability that I would have to help different people as a lawyer, whether individuals or business owners.”
“The laws apply to everyone, and having someone in your corner who can navigate any legal challenges that might come up and produce a favorable outcome is something I wanted to do,” he said.
In his high school years, his interest in law was joined by a fascination for business. Luckily, when it came time to go to college, Isono did not have to decide between the two paths of study. Thanks to Seattle University’s 3+3 Pathway Program, he was able to obtain his undergraduate degree in business at Albers School of Business and Economics in just three years. In what would have been his fourth year of a bachelor’s program, he started his first year of legal studies at Seattle University School of Law. Now, just one month after earning his undergraduate degree, he is already going into his 2L year of law school.
“I knew that I wanted to become a lawyer early on, and one of the benefits of 3+3 was being able to fast-track that part of my career,” Isono said. “Since I knew law school was the end goal, being able to shave off a year of education and enter the workforce a year earlier really resonated with me as an opportunity to get ahead.”
Isono plans to combine his two passions by going into corporate transactions. While interning at Morgan Stanley in Honolulu, he was tasked with researching various companies and developing an understanding of how they operate, then presenting his findings.
“It really stuck out to me as something that I saw myself doing for the foreseeable future,” said Isono, who hopes to one day work for a larger firm in the Seattle area.
He is spending this summer volunteering with Communities Rise and the Chinese Information and Service Center, as well as doing research for Professor Steve Tapia. This coming school year, he will stay busy as a staff editor for the Seattle Journal for Technology, Environmental, and Innovation Law (SJTEIL), event coordinator for the Property and Tax Law Society, and vice president of regional competitions for the Dispute Resolution Board. He is looking forward to taking more classes in his focus area, such as Business Entities.
“One of the reasons I chose Seattle U Law was because of the smaller class sizes,” Isono said. “I saw this as a better opportunity to connect with the professors and forge more genuine and deeper connections with them.”