He was the first person in his family to graduate from college, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame on an academic scholarship and graduating with honors in 1987. He then studied law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as an editor of the "Georgetown Law Journal" and made the semi-finals of the Robert J. Beaudry Moot Court Competition, while working at law firms during the summers and academic terms to help pay his tuition. He received a Juris Doctor with honors in 1990.