As a former civil rights litigator and legal education administrator with more than twenty years of experience across admissions, law practice, student affairs, and diversity and inclusion, Shannon Bartlett provides her clients with the insight, honesty, and strategic guidance they need to build their strongest possible law school application and to make the enrollment decision that is right for them.
Shannon has worked across the full arc of legal education, from teaching and advising current students to recruiting the next generation of law students. Her admissions work has spanned the full cycle: developing application questions, advising law school applicants through their admissions process, reviewing and evaluating applications, conducting interviews, and counseling admitted students through waitlist and scholarship negotiation processes.
Prior to joining Spivey, Shannon worked as an independent law school admissions consultant, helping applicants navigate the process and secure admission to schools across the T14 and beyond.
Shannon is passionate about demystifying the law school admissions process. As a first-generation law school applicant who applied to exactly one school, late in the cycle, with no guidance and no roadmap, she knows firsthand what it costs not to know what you are doing—and she is committed to making sure her clients do not repeat that experience. She helps applicants understand the process, their options, and how to present themselves authentically and strategically. As a former Dean of Students, she also cares deeply about what happens after the acceptance letter arrives, and she works to ensure that admitted students choose the school where they will genuinely thrive and achieve the professional outcomes they are working toward.
Shannon earned her JD summa cum laude from DePaul University College of Law, her Master of Arts in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis. She is currently working toward obtaining her International Coaching Federation certification.
Shannon is a coach and consultant, a native Chicagoan, and the proud parent of two kids and Cinna, her mischievous dog. She enjoys the summers enthusiastically, tolerates the Chicago winters with varying degrees of grace, and loves exploring her creative side, even when that means bad poetry, mediocre crochet, off-rhythm tap dancing, and unevenly baked cakes. Shannon firmly believes the value is in the journey and in putting yourself out there. Not coincidentally, that happens to echo the advice she gives to her clients.
Working with Shannon Bartlett was one of the best investments I made in my law school application process. She was responsive and specific in her feedback: not vague directives, but precise observations that pointed me toward what needed to change while leaving my voice and ideas fully intact. She knew each school's ethos well enough to help me identify which stories and threads to pull forward for a given application, and she could contextualize advice to my actual situation rather than offering generic guidance. Beyond the statements themselves, she proactively shared resources/articles based on my areas of interest and was quick to answer the kinds of questions that fall outside the scope of "editing" — the strategic, situational ones that matter just as much. I came away with stronger applications and a clearer sense of my own narrative.
With years of admissions experience and a personalized approach, we are here to guide you through the process and help you present your strongest application. Reach out today to get started.
