Alumni Stories

Michael Joseph (M. J.) Casey, Class of 1986

1. Please provide a brief description of your path after Dickinson and where you find yourself today.

Initially I spent 3 years working in pharmaceutical research and environmental consulting in Philadelphia and a Washington DC. Then, I took an unexpected path (for most Biology and German degreed post-graduates) to Dickinson Law School where I was graduated with DSL Class of 1993 and passed PA Bar same year. After ~4 years working for a captive insurance defense firm in Philadelphia, I returned to Washington DC where I have worked for last 20+ years for major federal consulting firms (CACI, CSC, Deloitte, AIR) as an expert advisor on Government Contracts and Intellectual Property matters as well as Corporate Regulatory Compliance and Mergers & Acquisitions.

2. What is your strongest memory of studying on the Dickinson campus?

Beautiful fall colors around campus, Kline Center pool and fitness center workouts, the beauty and comfort of the design of the Spahr Library where I spent many hours studying both during my undergraduate career and when I returned to Carlisle several years later to attend Dickinson Law School.

3. Did you study abroad? Where and when?

Yes—1st Summer Immersion Program —Universität in Bremen, BRD (1985).

4. What are your memories of studying abroad?

Confusion, focus, near mental exhaustion . . . then recognized German words; sentences; concepts; proper pronunciations; colloquial phrasing; German ideologies; casual conversations with German friends (noch ein Bier, bitte!); dreaming in German; successes on long path to bilingual proficiency!

5. Do you still speak German on a regular basis? If so, in what way?

Yes—I am fortunate to have 3 good friends here in DC who also speak German with fluency and have had a few opportunities to use my German language skills at work on teleconference meetings or in reading and translating German web information needed by my employers.

6. Whether you still use the German language actively in your life or not, what else about your studies in German or in Germany proved important to you?

Opening my mind to cultural differences and transforming my reception of information from other countries to first understand from their perspective then apply my own comparative analysis to achieve a more complete understanding of others.