Written by: WSCL Marketing Team
Megan Khorashadi, an alumna of Western State College of Law from the Class of 2025, made a bold move to start her legal journey, moving across the country to California. Originally from Virginia, she had spent years visiting her grandmother in Irvine and always dreamed of living on the West Coast. “I only applied to schools in Virginia and schools specifically in Irvine,” she explains. So her decision to move was an easy one when Western State offered her a top scholarship. “It sounded like the best opportunity for me to save money, live with my grandma, and move to California.”
At Western State, Megan distinguished herself both inside and outside the classroom. She graduated near the top of her class, earned top honors in advocacy competitions, and served as Class Representative of the Student Bar Association.
Today, Megan is putting the skills she built at Western State into practice as an attorney at Everett Dorey LLP. After graduating near the top of her class and passing the California Bar Exam on her first try, she now spends her days working as an attorney, which is exactly what she moved across the country for.
Her story reflects the kind of experience many Western State students hope for: rigorous training, strong mentorship, and opportunities that help foster career success.
A Talent for Advocacy
A pivotal moment in Megan’s law school experience came in her first year, when she participated in Western State’s 1L moot court competition, which is part of the legal writing curriculum and gives 1Ls their first taste of appellate advocacy. Megan quickly stood out among her classmates, advancing to the final round and earning a major honor. “Competing and getting chosen as one of the top eight finalists, and then winning Best Appellate Argument, validated what I thought about myself,” she says. “It was the first time that we had gotten to use oral advocacy skills in school, and that’s where I felt like I shined. That’s when I realized that I chose the right path.”
Her success in the 1L moot court competition really asserted that she thrived in the courtroom environment. And her advocacy journey was just getting started.
Mock Trial: Where Hard Work Meets Opportunity
If moot court helped Megan recognize her strengths, Western State’s mock trial program helped her develop them. Interestingly, she didn’t initially join the team as an advocate. Instead, she started as a witness while taking Evidence with Professor Robert Molko. “I had never even heard of mock trial at all,” Megan says. “So I thought, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll be a witness. That sounds cool.’” Watching the competition unfold changed everything for her.
“As a witness, I watched the [student] attorneys in that competition,” she explains, “and I knew I needed to be part of this.” Megan had always been drawn to advocacy and the power of persuasive argument. “Being able to articulate arguments and convince someone with your words is a skill that not many people have, but it’s a skill that can be improved,” she says.
After speaking with Professor Molko, Megan joined the team and quickly rose through the ranks. She was selected as one of four students representing Western State at a national mock trial competition in Syracuse, New York.
Preparing for that level required a tremendous amount of dedication. “It took a lot of work,” Megan says. “We spent the entire day every single weekend in the mock trial room.” Students, faculty, and volunteers all played a role in the preparation, helping the team rehearse testimony and refine their arguments.
Even when she was sick, Megan kept training virtually. And her effort paid off. Megan and her teammates helped lead Western State to victory in Syracuse, an achievement that was one of the most defining moments of her law school experience. “My time in mock trial will definitely stand out the most,” she asserts.
Preparing for Real Courtrooms
While mock trial competitions are intense, they serve an important purpose: they prepare students for the realities of courtroom practice. For Megan, it was her first time being truly exposed to what litigation is like. “It was the first time I’d ever spoken in a courtroom setting,” she says. “Even just saying ‘Your Honor’ and learning the formalities of speaking to a judge, I think that will translate when I’m actually in a courtroom.”
That preparation proved valuable when Megan began interviewing with law firms in her final year. During her interview with Everett Dorey LLP, she was especially excited to learn that the firm frequently takes cases to trial and actively develops young attorneys into trial lawyers. For a student who had spent years honing her advocacy skills, the opportunity felt like a natural fit.
Passing the Bar and Taking the Oath
After graduation came the next milestone all law students have to face: the California Bar Exam. Like many Western State students, Megan relied heavily on the school’s bar preparation support and Academic Success Program resources. “They definitely helped me pass the bar,” Megan says. “The bar prep course that Western State offers is really good.”
She also credits the school’s structured preparation timeline with helping her get ahead early. “It gets you started studying for the bar as early as January,” she explains. “I don’t think I would have done that if I didn’t have that class. It really just gets the ball rolling.”
When the Bar Exam results were released, all of Megan’s hard work paid off. “I worked so hard to study for the bar exam, so passing it was probably the best day of my life,” Megan says. “I was just on a cloud floating for the rest of the night.”
Soon after, she participated in her swearing-in ceremony, where she officially became an attorney. “When people ask me what I do for work, and I say I’m a lawyer, it feels surreal to me,” she says. Megan is the first attorney in her immediate family, making the moment even more meaningful to her.
Building a Career at Everett Dorey
Today, Megan is an attorney at Everett Dorey LLP, where she handles a range of civil litigation matters. Although she originally expected to pursue criminal law, the opportunity to explore multiple practice areas ultimately changed her perspective. “Everything I did in law school was getting me ready for the criminal law field,” she says. She even earned a Criminal Law Certificate with Distinction and spent much of her time preparing for a career as a prosecutor. “But working on the civil side, there’s just so much more you can do with that.”
The firm’s collaborative culture also played a role in her decision to join them. “When I interviewed at Everett Dorey, it just felt like this was going to be a great place to work,” she says. The firm clearly felt the same way. “They offered me the job five minutes after my interview,” she says. “And I signed the offer letter that night.”
The Power of Western State’s Resources
When Megan reflects on her time at Western State, one theme stands out above all else: opportunity. From mock trial to career advising to bar preparation, she believes the school provides students with the tools they need to succeed. “The thing that stands out most to me about Western State is the resources that they provide to their students,” Megan says. That support is what helped her land the job she holds today. “I owe my current job to the career advisers at Western State for alerting me about the job opening at Everett Dorey,” Megan states. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have seen it.”
Since graduating, Megan has already begun giving back to the Western State community. She recently came back to campus with a partner from Everett Dorey to speak with 1L legal writing students about how to succeed as a summer intern and first-year associate. Fittingly, she presented in Western State’s new moot court room, a setting where she once competed.
Megan also appreciated Western State’s close-knit learning environment. “I think Western State was a great place to be a student,” she says. “It’s small, but it’s more personal. All the professors I had were super helpful, super nice, and there’s a lot of opportunity to succeed there.”
Advice for Future Western State Students
For current and prospective students, Megan has one piece of advice: get involved. Experiential learning opportunities, especially competition teams, can make a significant difference in a law student’s experience and offer a different angle that can’t be taught through theory. “Get involved with the competition teams, whether that’s negotiations, mock trial, or moot court,” she says. “They give you a different skill set than what you get through regular classroom teaching.”
In Megan’s case, those experiences helped her develop the confidence, communication skills, and courtroom presence that earned her the position she has, and continue to shape her work as a practicing attorney.
Life Beyond the Courtroom
While Megan’s professional life keeps her busy, she also believes in making time for adventure. After taking the bar exam, she went on a two-month trip across Asia, visiting Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. And she did it solo.
On her trip, Megan dove deeper into scuba diving, one of her favorite hobbies. “I was already into scuba diving, but on my trip I started doing my advanced certifications,” she says. “I was doing night scuba diving in the middle of the ocean in Thailand. That was really cool.”
Back home in California, she stays active through cycling classes, Pilates, beach days, and going to concerts.
A Future in Advocacy and Mentorship
Although Megan only recently started her legal career, she is already thinking about ways to give back to the Western State community. One possibility she mentions is returning to campus as a volunteer for mock trial competitions. During a recent visit back to campus, she also spoke with Professor Zoha Khan about potentially coming back to judge the 1L moot court competition, a role she hopes to take on as she continues to gain trial experience. “I plan to give back to Western State by judging mock trial competitions,” she says. “Maybe even come back to coach after I have a good amount of trial experience.
She also has an eye on teaching someday. “All throughout law school, I made money by tutoring,” she says. “So I do have an interest one day in being a professor.” If that path becomes available, she already knows which subject she would teach. “Evidence,” she says with a smile. “It’s the most fun, and I got a 4.0.” For now, though, Megan is focused on building her career and growing as a trial lawyer. And for Western State, the oldest law school in Orange County, her story represents exactly what the school is about: helping driven students turn ambition into achievement.
From the mock trial courtroom to the California bar and into legal practice, Megan Khorashadi’s journey shows how the right opportunities and the willingness to pursue them can shape a remarkable career.
