Alumni Spotlight: David Suetholz ’03
Most people don’t pick a law school for its mission statement. Then again, Dave Suetholz, a Kentucky labor lawyer, isn’t like most people.
“I studied Catholic theology as an undergrad, and it was studying theology that really made me take the suffering of the world so seriously,” he says. Attracted by Notre Dame’s mission of educating a different kind of lawyer, he enrolled in Law School with a general desire “to work for social justice.”
Turning that broad goal into a real-life career took time. After a year of law school, Suetholz clerked for a legal services agency near his home in northern Kentucky. Though the lawyers he worked with inspired “awe,” Suetholz felt discouraged “seeing the same clients over and over with the same problems.” A year later, he clerked with the United Mineworkers and saw the glimmer of a vocation. “I realized that by joining the labor movement there was a chance to actually empower people to change structures that were causing suffering,” he says.
Both coursework and clinical experience helped train Suetholz for his chosen field. First, he studied labor and employment law with Professor Barbara Fick. “I felt very prepared to practice labor law just from taking her courses, and that’s saying a lot. Second, Notre Dame’s mission is best exemplified in the Legal Aid and Immigration Clinics, and I did both of them for three semesters. That’s where Notre Dame law students learn how to be lawyers,” he says.
After graduation Suetholz joined the Louisville law firm of Segal Lindsay & Janes, which has long represented workers and unions. His practice includes all aspects of worker and union-side labor, employment and discrimination law, and immigration law. He defends unions in various civil contexts, and is as likely to fight for his clients on a picket line as in the courtroom.
Suetholz also does pro bono legal services work in Appalachia. “Every attorney has a responsibility to reach out to people who don’t have access to legal services,” he says. On Election Day he volunteered to run a nonpartisan voter protection service in Ohio, ensuring that election officials were properly following the law.
On Labor Day 2008, Suetholz became a partner at his firm. He reflects, “I’m so blessed because I found the happy medium between doing public interest law and being able to pay back Notre Dame. You can make a decent living being a union lawyer. You’re not going to be wealthy, but you shouldn’t have to struggle to put food on the table … It’s awesome. The people that I serve inspire me daily.”
