Hello!
I'm Philipp Tran
Hi, I’m Philipp! I decided to take a gap year before college to explore law and learn outside the classroom. I’m here to share my experiences and everything I’ve learned. Click below to learn more about me.
Check Out These Posts
I’ve been documenting my gap-year experiences to share what I’ve learned about law, growth, and life beyond the classroom—for anyone curious about exploring law or taking their own gap year.
What I Learned About Work–Life Balance in Big Law
I met Haley through my older sister, who knew her from college. After a few back-and-forth texts, we finally found time to meet for a quick coffee chat at La Boulangerie during her lunch break. Over pastries and coffee, she told me all about her journey from Big Law in Palo Alto to her current role as a transactional attorney in Fresno.
Knowing Before You Leap
Ross Franson pulled into the parking lot straight from one of his family’s farms, dust still on his boots, when we met at The Elbow Room in Fresno. Today, he’s the President of Woolf Farming: one of the Central Valley’s premier agricultural companies. But his career started far from the fields, in corporate law offices. Before taking over the family business, Ross was a lawyer.
What I Learned Exploring the Legal Field
This past year, I spent time exploring different areas of law in Fresno, meeting attorneys, asking questions, and getting a sense of what legal work actually looks like day to day. What surprised me most wasn’t the complexity of the law itself—it was how many different types of law exist, each attracting a completely different kind of person.