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Sarah Hicks Always Wanted To Practice In Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW). Hicks Plans To Work At The Holmes Firm As She Has Completed Her Law School Studies. This Firm Specializes In Commercial Real Estate Law As She Took Real Estate Transactions She Got Interested In Real Estate Law.
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continued on back
Sarah Hicks: Long-Time Dancer and Recent Graduate of Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law[By Heather Jung]
Sarah Hicks recently completed her law school career at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. She said
she decided to become a lawyer because she wanted a career that would be intellectually stimulating.
“I always joke that I could be a professional
student,” Hicks said. “Being a lawyer
is right up my alley because there are
constant changes in the law that require you
to be a ‘professional student.’”
Prior to attending law school, Hicks
graduated from Stephen F. Austin State
University with a B.B.A. in Finance. She
then attended Texas Wesleyan School of
Law for her first year of law school before
transferring to SMU, her first choice.
“I knew I wanted to practice in Dallas-Fort
Worth (DFW), and SMU has a wider base of
alumni contacts and is more widely known
than Texas Wesleyan in the DFW area,”
Hicks said.
For her first two years of law school, Hicks
interned for a medical malpractice attorney
whom she met at a ballet class. She said
they rehearsed together for a while and the
attorney asked if she would be interested in
interning. Hicks feels that the experience
gave her practical experience in a small firm.
Hicks also interned for a federal judge,
which gave her the chance to observe
hearings and gain familiarity with a
variety of pleadings and motions. She
feels that her drafting skills improved
thanks to immediate reviews of her work.
She gained experience working with the
school’s Federal Taxpayers’ Clinic, as well,
an experience she said worked well for
her because she got “a lot of experience
interviewing and communicating with
clients.”
Now that she has completed law school,
Hicks plans to work at The Holmes Firm,
PC, a firm that specializes in commercial
real estate law.
“I actually thought that I wanted to do
tax law when I came to law school,” said
Hicks. “However, after taking Real Estate
Transactions, I became interested in real
estate law. So much of what attracted me to
tax law also attracted me to real estate law:
facilitating and organizing a transaction;
attention to detail; and, most importantly,
not litigating.”
When she isn’t studying or working, you can
almost always find Hicks engaging in some
form or another of her passion: dance.
According to Hicks, she has been dancing
since she was just two years old.
“My mother actually taught dance classes,
so I was at the studio all the time,” she
said. “I was raised in a studio that believed
in having well-rounded dancers, so I can do
tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, hip hop, and pointe.
The studio, Tammy’s Dance Center in
Waxahachie, Texas, has turned out several
talented dancers that have performed all
over the world with artists such as Janet
Jackson, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera,
Pink, and Beyoncé.”
Hicks has been involved in numerous
productions and performances since she
Q. What do you do for fun? A. I still enjoy taking dance classes. I find time at least once a month to fit in either a ballet class or a hip hop class. I also love to play Scrabble with my neighbor, my grandmother.
Q. What CD is in your CD player right now? A. Amy Winehouse.
Q. What is the last magazine you read? A. ABA Journal.
Q. What is your favorite TV show? A. The Riches (on FX)-the main character is pretending to be an attorney.
Q. Who is your role model? A. I have many successful people in my life that I look to for guidance, but I can’t point to just one of them as being my role model. Q. What is something most people don’t know about you? A. I was formerly a contortionist. Also, I dance during my study breaks…it’s a great artistic release, and it gets the endorphins going!
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LAWCROSSINGTHE LARGEST COLLECTION OF LEGAL JOBS ON EARTH
started dancing. She has been in “several
Nutcracker performances” and served as
an assistant director for two productions
of the show that had target audiences of
school-aged children. She also performed
in a professional tap show, “World Tap,”
with the Mark Goodman Tap Company. She
spent time in Los Angeles, as well, where
she performed in several music videos and
television shows.
During her first year of law school, Hicks
auditioned for the arena football team’s
Dallas Desperados Dancers. She made
it all the way to the finals and was able
to perform in front of a large crowd but
ultimately did not make the team. She has
spent the past few seasons working with
Momentum Dance Company, performing in
several shows, including Coppélia and the
company’s spring show.
“Balancing law school and Momentum
Dance Company was not easy. I could not
do every performance because the shows
always came at the same time as finals. I
would look at my schedule for law school
and my schedule for the company, and if
there were too many conflicts, I would sit
out for that show. The director worked
with me to minimize conflicts for the
performances that I was able to do. The
ballet classes and rehearsals were every
Saturday, so there was no conflict with
law school classes. I often brought study
materials to rehearsal to make the most of
my time,” Hicks said.
As if school, interning, and dancing with
Momentum were not enough, Hicks has
been teaching dance for the past eight
years. She said that she has come to enjoy
teaching dance even more than performing.
“I love seeing the students progress and
mature,” she said. “I also enjoy the personal
challenge of identifying a group’s strengths
and choreographing to those strengths
and abilities. I’ve choreographed about 50
group routines and over 60 solos, and those
routines have won countless awards.”
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