🤘Student Spotlight: Max Warshal ’28

For the first edition of Texas Law’s 2026-27 Student Spotlight series, meet 2L Max Warshal! 

Hometown: Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Degree: Bachelor of arts in political science from McGill University (Montreal, Quebec)

What made you want to become a lawyer?

The versatility of a law degree is what made me want to become a lawyer. As someone driven by passion, I want a career I can take pride in, and the law’s reach into nearly every corner of modern industry, commerce, and culture will allow me to carve out the career I want in the fields I find most interesting.

What has made Texas Law feel like a community to you?

The Society Program felt like such a natural and necessary part of my beginning at Texas Law that I assumed every law school had its own version. Only upon speaking with friends at other schools did I realize how unique the Texas Law experience is, something that makes me feel fortunate to be a Lawhorn.

You helped start a new intramural softball team, The Legal Guardians. How did that come about? 

Last March, as the Society Program wound down, I felt the need to keep building community outside the classroom. So, I pitched to my section mates the idea of “The Legal Guardians,” a coed, slow-pitch softball team in the university’s intramural league. Because cooperation trumps individual talent and every player can contribute, softball is uniquely suited to interpersonal development and community building.

How did the season go, and what do you hope comes next for the team?

With many of our players being inexperienced, expectations were low. However, with hard work, dedication, and a sense of something greater, our play and teamwork elevated us to the championship game. Now, we look to build on that success by establishing regular Texas Law participation at the UVA Law Softball Invitational and using casual softball participation to continue building camaraderie and companionship within the law school. 

What do you like best about living in Austin?

My favorite thing about Austin is its embrace of the outdoors. After a summer in the urban hellscape that is Los Angeles, returning to Austin has made me appreciate the value of a city’s third spaces so much more. The prominence and accessibility of public parks, bars, and restaurants give Austin a vibrancy and sense of civic happiness and contentment that I think many American cities lack.  

You took an academic gap year before college. Is there a lesson from that year that has stayed with you?

Before starting college, I took an academic gap year around the world. While staring out at ancient ruins in Delphi, Greece, my educator chaperone sensed my desire to close the physical and emotional gap between me and thousands of years of history and told me, “Ask for forgiveness not permission.” It’s always stuck with me and captures my ever-so-slight renegade streak and my innate desire to create, explore, dream, and do.

What is your favorite law-related movie, show, or documentary—and why?

Moving the goalposts slightly, my favorite piece of law-related filmmaking is Neighbors, an HBO docuseries that follows petty disputes between, you guessed it, neighbors. Much like the work of Nathan Fielder and John Wilson, Neighbors lets its subjects control the narrative, turning seemingly mundane observations into stark social commentary. In following its cast of kooky characters, Neighbors captures a uniquely American zeitgeist of paranoia, escapism, and the overwhelming need to be right in a post-COVID world.