Bo Schwerin 2L
March 13, 2014 – After 10 years of writing and editing for publications and agencies from Washington to Beijing, Bo Schwerin decided it was time for a change and thought law might be an interesting challenge.
He has more than met that challenge at the University of Houston Law Center and will put the skills honed in his previous career to good use as editor in chief of the Houston Law Review next fall. Schwerin also is the first member of the class of 2015 selected for a judicial clerkship and recently won a state bar scholarship for sharing the highest grade in an environmental law class.
“It’s been a wonderful experience,” he said of his time at the Law Center. “While in publishing, I most enjoyed learning new things on the fly. Now I’m learning something new every day and constantly writing for nearly every class.”
A native of Miami, Schwerin, 36, graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in creative writing. He worked in public relations in Baltimore, New York City, Pittsburgh, and for NASA in Washington, D.C. For a year, he and his wife lived in Beijing where he wrote for That’s China, an English-language magazine aimed at expatriates.
“I had hit the ceiling as to what I could do in publications,” he said. “We wanted to start a family and my wife and I wanted to come to Houston to be closer to relatives, not to mention warmer temperatures.” His wife, Christine, who worked in finance, is currently a full-time mom to their 1-year-old son.
Schwerin shared the $1,000 Buck Wynne Environmental Law Scholarship with Kate Ferrell, a 3L, for their work in Professor Tracy Hester’s Environmental Law class, but he is uncertain where his long-term interest lies. “I’m all over the place . . . international law, environmental law, torts? Houston is full of opportunities.”
No matter what field he decides on, Schwerin knows his experience clerking for U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller of the Southern District of Texas after graduation will be a tremendous benefit. “To work with someone like Judge Miller is a remarkable opportunity,” he said. Schwerin noted that the judge is a strong supporter of the Law Center. Currently, all the clerks in the judge’s chambers are UHLC grads.
