At multinational law firm Latham & Watkins, Mik Bushinski ‘17 helps tech innovators get their start

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At multinational law firm Latham & Watkins, Mik Bushinski ‘17 helps tech innovators get their start

"The impact of Utica University on my life is enormous."

When Mik Bushinski ‘17, G'18 left Utica University, he left with dual degrees in Government and Politics (now Political Science), Economics, and an MBA. He was bound for Yale Law School, one of a handful of prestigious universities that sought the Utica University grad.

While Mik still remains connected to the Utica community and his former hockey teammates regularly, he certainly has plenty to keep him busy as an associate at the multi-national law firm of Latham and Watkins, the second largest law firm in the world.

With more than 3,000 lawyers covering 14 countries, Latham & Watkins has no headquarters, its management is spread throughout the globe, which allows them to serve their clients with the best-suited teams, regardless of location, and better help them achieve their business strategies and goals around the world.

There at Latham & Watkins, among his many duties, he puts his unique blend of business, finance, and government expertise to use helping technology companies and startups hit the ground running.

“Being a legal counselor to founders of companies is something I really enjoy. It’s partially giving legal advice and partially giving business advice. A lot of companies I work with are new and innovative technologies, so I’m also learning a lot just by being around them.”

He is certainly no stranger to entrepreneurship. When he was 16-years old, Mik started his own mobile food vending business in his native Minnesota. The business was made up of more than a dozen employees selling ice cream out of trucks, pushcarts, and even vending machines. After Utica University, the business was left in the hands of his mother, who now runs it with Mik’s father every summer, putting approximately 20-30 high school and college students to work. Though he’s no longer involved in the day-to-say operations of the business, he still remains involved in a high-level capacity.

From the Sixth Avenue offices of Latham & Watkins in New York City (one of its more than two dozen offices around the globe), just a two-minute walk from the legendary Radio City Music Hall, Mik looks back on his time in the classrooms, the campus, and on the ice in upstate New York, and can’t help but reflect on the value Utica University brought to his journey, his career, and his life.

“I worked with and learned from a ton of great people. The impact of Utica University on my life is enormous. I spent significant time thinking about the world and my path in a lot of different ways, and it was the first time I was truly challenged by professors and other students. My thought process and the way I think about things changed tremendously during my time at Utica University.”

He hopes that when others hear of the return on his investment, it will lead them to follow in his footsteps, taking advantage of all the opportunities Utica University has to offer.

“That ability to be close to professors and learn from them directly is incredible,” he says. “It’s one thing to be in a lecture hall at a giant university, but being in an office or room with one-on-one or five-on-one interaction from your professor is a completely different experience, one I would choose time and time again. That close relationship where they can provide not only their intelligence and knowledge but apply it to what you’re thinking about is wonderful.”