Client Success & Buzz

Derek Meeker: I wanted to thank you for your services during last year’s cycle. Truly, I’m not sure what I would have done without your guidance. I know for a fact that I would not be heading to Philadelphia this weekend were it not for your sagacity, patience, and attention to detail. You helped me understand my strengths, personal story, and motivations; in that respect, our work was something greater than just working on applications, and for that I’m very grateful.

Erika Guckenberger was very knowledgeable and helped me improve my application immensely! I will be forever grateful for her help and kindness.

Nathan Neely didn’t just provide much-needed feedback on my essays and resume, but he also gave regular guidance and moral support through the application cycle. He knows so much about the admissions process and was willing to answer all of my questions, big or small, and always encouraged me to pursue my dream of attending law school.

Derek Meeker truly cares about his clients. He went above and beyond to work around my schedule and I owe my success to his patience, creativity, and commitment to ensure the best result during my application cycle.

My consultant Kevin Petty was incredible in all respects. He was responsive, answered all of my questions comprehensively and promptly, and provided unwavering support throughout all of my applications. I felt so supported in the midst of an incredibly incomprehensible process and I am very grateful for that. I also feel that I’ve ended up at the school that is best for me. I would highly recommend working with Kevin to any aspiring 1L!

Derek Meeker’s thoughtful guidance and patience throughout the admissions cycle helped me prepare 20 (!!!) stellar, and unique, applications. Derek helped me tell my story in my personal statement and elevated my writing skills to new levels which will serve me well this upcoming semester. The most invaluable aspect of my time with Spivey Consulting was Derek’s never-ending reassurance and calmness, as I could always turn to him when my admissions-induced anxiety was acting up. I am so appreciative for all the hard work Derek invested in my admissions cycle - it was truly a game changer!

I worked with Derek Meeker over the course of more than a year across two difficult application cycles. When I had my first consultation, I was coming off of the back of going 0 for 13 in acceptances and weighing whether I even was going to try again at all, or whether I was going to move on from law school as a possible path for me. Derek gave me the confidence to choose the former, not only recommending an LSAT tutor who helped me get a higher score, but then working with me 1:1 the following year to help me craft a brand new personal statement and stronger resume that highlighted what admissions wanted to see. In the end, I wound up getting 6 acceptances the next cycle, all from T-14 schools that had rejected me the previous year, with generous scholarships received from all 6 schools. I truly cannot recommend working with Derek and the rest of the Spivey Consulting Group enough - they made all the difference!

Working full-time, I couldn’t have presented such a polished application without Derek Meeker’s help. Having his perspective throughout the process kept me focused and prevented me from freaking out over little things. Derek took the time to understand my goals and helped me put my best foot forward.

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I worked with Danielle Early, and she was fantastic. She is an excellent writer, and her critiques and feedback dramatically improved my personal statement. She always responded quickly and our phone calls were incredibly helpful. Her edits to my resume were transformative. She ensured that it looked polished and professional. I can’t say enough great things about Spivey.

My name is Christian Parham, and I am an entering 1L at Pepperdine School of Law. I worked with Paula Gluzman as one of the recipients of Spivey’s pro-bono application editing, and I truly can’t put into words how much she helped me. Her patience, guidance, and support allowed me to craft an application that was representative of my story — in a way I didn’t know how to do before. She answered every question I had and consistently went above and beyond to make my work shine. I am beyond thankful for Paula and Spivey for their wonderful work that allowed me to get into my top school.

After deciding to reapply, I knew my application had what it took to succeed, but I had not been able to make it as strong as possible. Joe Pollak was able to take those pieces and develop it into a strong argument that gave me the results I had hoped for.

Derek Meeker was invaluable during my law school application process. As the first person in my family to go to law school, Derek was a voice of calm and expertise while I navigated the cycle and figured out how to best present myself as an applicant. Derek gave me excellent, personalized advice not only on my application and writing samples, but also encouraged me to apply to schools I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. One of them ended up giving me a full ride scholarship and I am now able to go to law school debt-free – something I would’ve never imagined for myself before starting this process. In short, Derek’s advice and guidance truly made the difference for me, and working with Spivey was worth every penny. In fact, it paid for itself in the scholarship I received. It ultimately changed my life and my options and flexibility I will have for the first step in my career. Thank you!

I got the full cycle package, and I feel like I underpaid Spivey for the many hours of high quality help I received. Nathan Neely was incredibly clever, creative, and patient with me in all of our work together. My favorite part of the experience was Nathan’s editing. His edits made me realize my potential as a writer by helping me improve my syntax while maintaining my personal voice. He also helped me form an interesting narrative in my personal statement that I did not realize I was capable of before we began brainstorming. I highly recommend Nathan and Spivey consultants to any future law student. I am set to attend a school I really want to attend. I had a GPA 0.37 below my future school’s 2021 median and an LSAT score 2 points above the median, and Nathan helped me negotiate an already substantial scholarship offer up to 70% of tuition. This scholarship opportunity far exceeded my expectations I had prior to my work with Nathan.

Danielle Early was an incredible thought partner who helped me put my best foot forward by packaging my story in the most effective way. I cannot overemphasize what a relief it was to have a very qualified second set of eyes. She was very understanding and worked with me every step of the way. She can help you with whatever part of the application is intimidating you and break it down into more manageable pieces.

I worked with Tom Robinson and had a fantastic experience. Tom always had prompt and insightful feedback on every part of my application, and I have no doubt that I wouldn’t have ended up at my dream school were it not for him. His attention to detail and insider experience were absolutely invaluable throughout the admissions process. He’s also just a great person who acted as a friend and emotional support coach in an application cycle that had its fair share of ups and downs. I’m incredibly thankful to have worked with him.

Karen Buttenbaum was essential in helping guide me through the process of selecting a topic for my personal statement based on my life experiences. She also went through almost ten rounds of drafts with me which helped lead to my transfer admission into my target school!

Joe Pollak was a great consultant. He enhanced and sharpened my ideas and helped me execute them to the best of my abilities. I felt like I gained insight into the admissions process, felt more reassured and confident as I went through it, and now am going to one of my top choices!

Jenn Kopolow was an invaluable resource to me during the transfer process. From basic logistics to complicated details, she was on top of everything. Perhaps most importantly, she kept me calm during a stressful, often overwhelming process. My goal was to transfer to a T14 school, and that is precisely what I will be doing in the fall.

I worked with Karen Buttenbaum, and she was so lovely. She helped me craft a complete and cohesive application package to sell myself effectively. She also was upfront about what package would most benefit me, and did not try to upsell me to an unnecessary package. I felt like she was interested in me as a candidate and genuinely bought into my success.

Nathan Neely undoubtedly changed the course of my law school career by providing me with countless hours of his time and advice. I didn’t have any questions that he couldn’t answer and I would take his advice over anyone.

Anne Dutia was fantastic to work with. She gave brutally honest advice about my writing, and helped shape a narrative that best showcased my life story to the admissions committees.

Anna Hicks-Jaco turned law school admissions from a daunting, anxiety producing process into a challenge that we tackled as a team. I am deeply appreciative of how warm and responsive she was. With her guidance, my applications and interview preparation improved tremendously. I strongly recommend her to anyone pursuing law school!

I worked with Paul Rollins and was fortunate to do so. He really helped me break down what admissions would actually want to see and helped me formulate my story in such a way as to make my application better. I have no doubt that the application I sent was the strongest it possibly could have been with my stats. He never gave me unrealistic expectations about my chances at any given school which I appreciated as it didn’t feel like he was ‘selling’ me on a higher school than I could actually get into. The cost of Spivey ended up paying for itself many many times over in scholarship award at a good school, so it was absolutely worth it for me.

Kevin Petty is incredibly knowledgeable, kind, caring, approachable, and beyond helpful. With the amount of time he spent on me alone - I genuinely don’t know how he does it all! We designed every aspect of my (many) applications together. I cannot say I would have gotten into multiple T14 schools (and waitlisted at many others) without him. I could not be more grateful I got to work with Kevin and can’t recommend him enough!

Tom Robinson’s knowledge of law school admissions and ability to provide clear feedback helped me improve my overall application strategy and make the most of my “on the cusp” quantitative factors. In addition to being interpersonally kind, he engaged with me collaboratively so that I could improve the quality of my materials in an authentic way.

I write to express my sincere gratitude for Sir Williams’ help throughout this application cycle. He has been exceedingly professional and responsible as a consultant—almost a therapist really, for me as an applicant who anxiously procrastinated until the last minute. I could not have completed my application cycle without your guidance and encouragement. Thank you so much for all those extra long calls and careful rounds of edits.