A return to campus for many alumni is an opportunity for reminiscing. Cory Kopitzke ‘14 had the chance to not just reminisce, but to give back to his alma mater by sharing his own experiences as an attorney in his Prelaw Society speaker October 3.
Kopitzke first became interested in Wabash by a former high school football teammate, who was a Wabash man himself. Interest from the wrestling coaches got him on campus, and he was moving in the following fall.
Kopitzke quickly became involved and truly utilized what Wabash had to offer. The German major was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the top advocate during the 2013 Moot Court Competition, and a Peck Award winner. Kopitzke took a variety of courses outside his major while at Wabash, a decision he often advises current students to do.
“I wish I would have branched out more into other disciplines, like computer science, and not avoided those classes that seemed beyond my reach intellectually,” Kopitzke said. Additionally, Kopitzke served as a Resident Assistant both his junior and senior years and studied abroad at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. It was during his time in Freiburg that Kopitzke truly found an interest in law.
After graduating magna cum laude in 2014, Kopitzke attended Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington. He spent the summer following his first year as a Legal Intern for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
“Law also touches almost everything we do, from our careers, to how we protect new inventions and discoveries, to how we organize society,” said Kopitzke. “Law has to change as well, and it’s my job as a lawyer to keep abreast of those changes and be able to explain them to clients. I am always learning, especially in the health care space.”
Within healthcare law, the COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed the type of work many attorneys did, and how they went about doing that new work. During his talk, Kopitzke shared some of the new challenges he and his group faced as the pandemic started to unfold. Because of the emergency nature of the pandemic, new standards were emplaced to ensure people could receive critical care. Like many cases, individual suits and insurance claims had to be pushed until the situation settled down. A newly virtual court system was unprepared for some of the challenges the pandemic brought.
In his work at Quarles & Brady, Kopitzke largely advised a broad group of health care providers on regulatory issues among other things. While maybe less direct, his efforts to cut through red tape lay the groundwork for life-saving treatments and procedures.
Kopitzke returned to campus to share his unique experiences and help prepare the next generation of Wabash men. In keeping with tradition, Kopitzke, an avid supporter of the Little Giants Football team, predicts a 28-14 Bell game win this weekend.