Leaders of Tomorrow: Nia Montoute

Law Student, Washington University

St. Louis

Helping others has always been a throughline in Nia Montoute’s professional career. Now, a 2L at Washington University, Montoute originally began in social work but always kept her legal ambitions top of mind. 

Montoute practiced social work for two years at a local community non-profit where she worked with the incarcerated population. Throughout her career as a social worker, she knew she could multiply her impact with a law degree.

“The issues that I was seeing that was happening were really trickle-down effects from the systems that they were a part of,” she said. 

Simultaneously, Montoute is pursuing her Master of Laws in negotiation and dispute resolution as a way to marry her skills in social work, and her practice of the law. 

This summer, Montoute will be a summer associate at a large law firm in Chicago, focusing on employment law. 

“I’m looking at disputes that happen between employers and employees and seeing how businesses can better support their employees,” she said. “[This way], they have better policies that trickle down and contribute to better lifestyles for their employees or for their consumers.”

This is a change from Montoute, as she began law school with the intent to practice real estate law.

“When I got to law school, I realized that I really loved the things that are transactional,” she said. “I really don’t want to be in the courtroom, but I still want to interact with individuals and make agreements.”

While figuring out her career path, Montoute said she experienced social challenges in law school as well. As a Black woman, Montoute cited times where she felt she had to work harder to feel respected. 

“Don’t worry about what others are thinking of you,” she said. “People are always going to have misconceptions about you. Just make sure that you have people in your life who love you, and who support you, regardless of whatever your field is.”