English alumna Allison Clark, Jefferson County’s newly appointed Clerk of Court, reveals how her degree helped open doors to a judicial career in public service.
Finding her path to the judicial branch
Originally from Minnesota, Clark fell in love with Colorado State University the moment she set foot on the Oval.
“It just hit me,” she said. “I remember thinking this place is stunning, and then once I saw how contained the campus was, how much it felt like a community, choosing CSU felt like a no brainer.”
When Clark moved into her dorm in the fall of 2009, she thought she wanted to go to law school. Having a talent for writing and problem-solving, she decided to study English to support success on the LSAT. Plus: She loved to read and think creatively.
Then during her sophomore year, on an alternative spring break trip to New Orleans, another piece of the puzzle fell into place: Clark volunteered at an animal shelter and discovered a pull toward community service. Did she want to become an English teacher instead of a lawyer? While she tried student-teaching, Clark realized the classroom wasn’t the perfect setting for her personality.
A bustling office like the one she found herself in at a job with Student Legal Services (SLS), on the other hand, turned out to be Clark’s ideal work environment.
“I loved working in that office,” said Clark. “I loved the people I got to learn from, and I think what my time there gave me was a peek into being a part of the justice system without being a lawyer.”
Once she graduated, earning her bachelor’s in English with a concentration in Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy and a minor in Political Science, Clark joined the workforce straightaway to start paying off her student loans. Though it wasn’t her dream job, she accepted a manager position at Walmart where the salary was good, and she knew she’d gain leadership experience and develop supervisory skills.
After about ten months, Clark knew her heart was leading her in a familiar direction. “I wanted to be back doing anything, really, in the legal field, and an old co-worker from my SLS days reached out about an entry-level position in the state court system,” she said.
“I applied for that particular position in cities all over Colorado and ended up being offered the job of court judicial assistant in Jefferson County.”
Fostering connections across the court system
Multiple promotions and a dual master’s in public administration and criminal justice later, Clark achieved her biggest professional accomplishment yet this past March: Becoming Court of Clerk in Jefferson County. In her new role, Clark oversees a staff of 40-50 people and gets to collaborate with her fellow clerks of court to solve larger problems, streamline practices and create consistent experiences across districts.
Working with a lot of different people and managing many moving parts has left Clark even more appreciative of the skills she developed through her liberal arts education at CSU.
“My ability to communicate in writing, and in person, and find ways to resonate with a variety of audiences has been pivotal to my work,” she said.
“From working with a member of the public to working with attorneys and judges who have advanced degrees, my ability to navigate into all of those spaces was critical to getting where I am today.”
“My ability to communicate in writing, and in person, and find ways to resonate with a variety of audiences has been pivotal to my work.”
Another part of the job Clark feels strongly about is the mission: “I just love that I get to use my knowledge that I’ve gained over the last decade and help problem-solve and communicate with people to keep moving us forward, improving wherever we can improve, and providing the best service that we can to our public,” she said.
“We’re a neutral entity that’s tasked with liaising justice and providing access to justice to our community, and for me, getting to act as a conduit for that mission is what it’s all about.”
Alongside her day-to-day tasks that keep the court operating smoothly, Clark has also become a mentor to new employees in shoes that, once upon a time, she wore herself.
“As a hiring manager, I don’t expect recent college grads, who are twenty-two, twenty-three years old to come to me and know exactly what they’re doing and exactly where they want to go,” she said.
When you’re new to the court system as Clark once was, she reiterated that the goal is to learn something new and hopefully find something you love that helps make a difference.
“I’m hopeful that young people are coming here to gain professional experience and maybe find what I did, and think, hey, I like this place too.”