Class of 2026 Commencement Feature: Kathleen Casey

For Kathleen Casey, the path to law school began long before she ever stepped into a courtroom. Growing up on the East Coast, she was first introduced to the law through a mock trial program at her public middle school, an experience that sparked an early interest in advocacy and justice.

That curiosity developed into a lasting passion. Kathleen went on to attend the College of the Holy Cross, where she majored in political science and continued participating in mock trial. As the first aspiring lawyer in her family, she approached her path with a strong sense of purpose and discipline. During her undergraduate years, she spent a year studying in Oxford, where she took law-related courses and gained a broader global perspective on legal systems.

“Oxford really solidified my interest in the law,” she said. “It made me realize this was something I truly loved and wanted to pursue.”

When it came time to choose a law school, Kathleen was looking for more than just strong academics—she wanted a place that reflected her values.

“Notre Dame’s mission really stood out to me, especially the emphasis on serving others and taking a global approach to the law,” she said.

Although she had multiple options, Kathleen committed to Notre Dame sight unseen. A conversation with a Law School alumna and a strong sense of intuition guided her decision.

“I just had a feeling that Notre Dame was the place for me,” she said. “And it has far exceeded anything I could have expected.”

At Notre Dame Law School, Kathleen quickly immersed herself in both academic and experiential opportunities. She serves on the executive board of the Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy, where she has taken on significant leadership and management responsibilities. Her Note is also set to be published in the journal. Alongside her academic work, she has been deeply involved in moot court, competing both domestically and internationally, including twice in Vienna, Austria. She also competed twice in the Justice Amy Coney Barrett Moot Court Tournament, where she and her partner reached the finals both years and had the opportunity to argue before two U.S. Supreme Court justices. Since the spring semester of her first year, she has also balanced these commitments with part-time work on campus, reflecting a strong work ethic and discipline.

Beyond these experiences, Kathleen has engaged in hands-on legal work with real-world impact. Through Notre Dame’s moot court program, she worked on a Seventh Circuit appeal involving a real client, addressing multiple legal issues in an effort to reduce his sentence. She also externed with the Innocence Project while studying abroad in London and participated in Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic, where she worked on an asylum case.

Her commitment to learning has extended into the classroom as well. As a teaching assistant for Professor Haley Proctor’s Evidence course, Kathleen helped guide fellow students through one of the Law School’s more challenging upper-level classes.

“I’ve been really fortunate to learn from incredible professors,” she said. “Professor Proctor’s teaching style, in particular, has had a big impact on me.”

Kathleen’s summers reflect her global and professional range. After her first year, she worked at an Irish law firm as a Dublin Honors Scholar. During her second-year summer, she joined Jones Day in Boston as a summer associate, an experience that reinforced her interest in litigation and exposed her to the firm’s collaborative, global culture.

After graduation, Kathleen will clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver before returning to Jones Day’s Boston office to work in litigation.

As she reflects on her time at Notre Dame, Kathleen points to both academic rigor and community support as defining aspects of her experience. Late in her first semester, she experienced a profound personal loss when her father passed away unexpectedly, only weeks before her final exams.

“It was an incredibly difficult time,” she said. “I didn’t know many people yet, but the support I received from the Notre Dame community was overwhelming—not just from my new friends, but also from classmates and upperclassmen I barely knew.”

That experience, she said, shaped her understanding of what it means to be a “different kind of lawyer.”

“For me, it means putting others before yourself, even when you’re under pressure,” Kathleen said. “It’s about showing up for people, doing the right thing, and persevering no matter what.”

She also sees it reflected in the broader culture of Notre Dame.

“There’s a sense here that you keep going, even when things are difficult or unfair,” she said. “You stay grounded, work hard, and trust that what you’re doing matters.”

“I’m incredibly grateful for this community,” she said. “It’s shaped me not just as a law student, but as a person.”

As she prepares to begin her career, that formation—grounded in resilience, service, and purpose—will remain at the core of the lawyer she is becoming.