The Thriving Equine Professional | Career Connections, Equine Industry Resources, Career Advice. · JodiSpeaksLIFE: Speaker, Career Success Coach, Podcaster

73 | Exploring a Career in Equine Law with Corinne Mitchell

·44 min·2 clips

Corinne Mitchell says horse law is "just general civil practice" with horses as the specialty layer.

1. The Thriving Equine Professional episode centers on Corinne Mitchell’s path into equine law and the career choices behind it. 2. Jodi Lynch-Findley hosts the conversation, and Corinne Mitchell joins as a practicing attorney from Belleville, Illinois, with experience in equine-related work. 3. The episode asks what an equine lawyer actually does and how horse experience can become a legal career. 4. Corinne describes growing up in the Chicagoland area, starting hunter-jumper lessons at Crosswinds Farm in Schaumburg at age 6. 5. She says her grandparents gave her a horse as a birth present and that her family later called her a "Nija kid" because they were not buying high-end horses. 6. Corinne explains that she rode in IHSA at the University of Illinois and did not know college riding opportunities existed when she started undergrad in 2008. 7. She says she entered as an animal sciences student, then moved to psychology and neuroscience with a minor in animal sciences after organic chemistry did not fit her. 8. Corinne says her father is a psychologist and that she saw trial law as requiring psychological reading of people. 9. She explains that a junior-year Bar Association study on the LSAT led to a specialty scholarship program that let her go straight into law school without taking the LSAT. 10. Corinne says her original animal-law interest focused on breed-specific legislation and pit bull terriers, not horses. 11. She describes an internship at the state's attorney's office and local equine-board work as early ways to test whether law fit her interests. 12. Corinne says she helped with 501(c)(3) setup, show-management disputes, and communication for a local USHJA affiliate. 13. She explains that talking openly about her goals brought opportunities and helped her build legal skills inside the horse industry. 14. Corinne says she spent her first five years after law school in large-firm trial work, then left because the pace became unsustainable. 15. She later federally clerked and then joined Claiborne and Wagner, a boutique firm with about 15 people. 16. Corinne says her firm encouraged the equine-law division after she kept talking about horse industry problems and showing horses. 17. She defines equine law as standard civil practice, including contracts, litigation, arbitration, insurance disputes, and sale-contract disputes. 18. Corinne says her work now includes insurance-denial calls, lease disputes, veterinary malpractice matters, and business structure questions like LLCs and breeding contracts. 19. The interview is conversational and practical, with Jodi repeatedly connecting Corinne’s career to branding, networking, and life balance. 20. Horse professionals, college riders, and young attorneys interested in equine law would likely get the most value from this episode.

As heard by us

A career-forward look at equine law, burnout, and how a niche practice took shape.

The episode treats equine law less like a legal seminar and more like a career story, following Corinne Mitchell from burnout at a large firm to a federal clerkship and then to a smaller boutique practice where equine law became its own division.

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Why you'd press play

You get a close look at how an equine lawyer built a niche career after burnout, clerkships, and a move into boutique practice.

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