{"id":25925,"date":"2023-08-30T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T14:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/?p=25925"},"modified":"2024-01-08T16:37:43","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T22:37:43","slug":"after-start-in-science-professor-sarita-matheson-has-found-focus-in-the-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/2023\/08\/30\/after-start-in-science-professor-sarita-matheson-has-found-focus-in-the-law\/","title":{"rendered":"After start in science, Professor Sarita Matheson has found focus in the law"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Assistant Teaching Professor Sarita Matheson<\/p><\/div>\n

Sarita Matheson had always been interested in biology, so much so that when she earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in biochemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she was recognized for having the best senior thesis.<\/p>\n

But Matheson has also been long interested in the law, especially watching her parents struggle with the rules of a new country after immigrating to the U.S. from India. \u201cThere\u2019s something about being a voice for those individuals,\u201d said Matheson. \u201cAside from science, there\u2019s a part of me that wanted to go to law school to bridge that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the Illinois native found a dual degree program at the University of Minnesota that allowed her to earn a master’s in molecular, cellular, developmental biology and genetics, followed by a law degree. Having moved to Minnesota for the program, Matheson then remained after graduation in 2014 to be an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps legal fellow with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid.<\/p>\n

There, she represented minors in immigration court at a time when there was a flux of unaccompanied minors crossing the border. The challenge for attorneys like Matheson on those cases was the need to navigate both federal immigration courts and state family courts. \u201cThat was one of the most meaningful opportunities I\u2019ve had,\u201d she added. \u201cThey were very scared to go home, having come from violent communities. And they just wanted to learn and go to school. It was meaningful to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since her fellowship, Matheson has clerked for Judge Edward Wahl and worked at large law firms in Chicago and Minneapolis, handling intellectual property, antitrust, and contracts matters. She also mentored new attorneys, which gave her a taste of teaching, and launched a firm-wide pro-bono program that serves migrants on the border with Mexico. She\u2019s taught legal writing at the University of Minnesota Law School since 2021 as an adjunct.<\/p>\n

Matheson, who lives in the Twin Cities metro with her husband and two young children (and a dog!), is continuing to teach legal writing at Mitchell Hamline. \u201cLegal writing is the thing you have to do well in any situation in the legal profession,\u201d said Matheson. \u201cIt\u2019s also one thing I didn\u2019t feel was natural to me. I worked really hard at it. Having that perspective of working really hard at a craft and seeing the power of that skill is a benefit I think I bring to this course.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to encourage other students to keep at it and work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matheson also anticipates bringing her science knowledge and research skills into her work at Mitchell Hamline in intellectual property and related areas. But regardless of what she\u2019s teaching, Matheson adds she\u2019s most looking forward to connecting and working with students.\u00a0\u201cI love seeing students start in one place and grow over a year.<\/p>\n

“You work closely with them and get their perspectives, and that also makes me feel connected to community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sarita Matheson had always been interested in biology, so much so that when she earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in biochemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she was recognized for having the best senior thesis. But Matheson has also been long interested in the law, especially watching her parents struggle with the rules of … <\/p>\n

After start in science, Professor Sarita Matheson has found focus in the law<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5668,"featured_media":25927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[35,362,639,604],"class_list":{"0":"post-25925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-faculty","9":"tag-intellectual-property","10":"tag-legal-aid","11":"tag-sarita-matheson","12":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5668"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}