During the month of August, Bear Tullis plans to stay away from books. But after finishing first in his class at UDSL, studying most of the summer for the bar exam, and preparing to start a job at Cincinnati law firm Keating, Muething, and Klekamp after Labor Day, he has earned a little time off.
Tullis, a 2007 UDSL graduate, will enter the work force this fall as a real estate attorney, a decision he credits in part to his UDSL classes with Professor Jim Durham, especially last year’s Commercial Real Estate Transactions capstone, which Tullis called “awesome” and “extremely practical.”
Tullis said that Professor Jeff Morris was also a favorite, “a great teacher, a lot of fun,” but added “I don’t think I had a bad professor or a bad class” in three years at UDSL.
A native of Cincinnati, Tullis earned a political science degree from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. He said that he hadn’t always wanted to pursue the law and that it’s not a profession that runs in his family, but some mock trial experience in high school and some undergraduate classes made him think he would enjoy a legal education.
Upon entering law school at UDSL he received some good advice - ‘Just treat it like it’s a full-time job’ - and that’s what he did. Tullis said he would arrive on campus at 8am and stay until 6pm, regardless of his class schedule. After three years of hard work, when all final grades were tallied, Tullis was at the top of his class.
“When I started I just wanted to graduate and do well. Being first in the class was not an expectation,” he said. “It’s a nice honor and it’s good for a career, but it means more to my family than it does to me; I wanted it for my parents.”
Tullis found time to do more than just study while he was at UDSL, he also served as Editor-in-Chief of the University of Dayton Law Review during his third year.
“I like leadership roles and it was a good way to get involved and work with the best students at the school,” he said. “I thought it would also open doors, career wise, down the road.”
For Tullis, career doors have already begun to open. After spending two summers working at Keating, Muething, and Klekamp in Cincinnati, a firm with 110 attorneys, he was offered a job.
“I am ready to be out of school; I’ve been in school my whole life. I’m very fortunate to have gotten a great job at a great firm; I’m ready to start.”
But not before he enjoys a little vacation time. Tullis has a busy schedule of travel planned for August with his fiancé, Meghan Giles, a UDSL 3L student. Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, and New Jersey are among their destinations where they plan to spend time with each other, friends, and family…and steer clear of any libraries.