Reality Check: Are you Staying True to Yourself?
By Brandy Simpson • August 02, 2020 •Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
“Run Your Own Race.” “Just Do You.” “Comparison is the Thief of Joy.” There are multiple quotes and phrases to remind you to stay in your lane so to speak, and focus on what is important to you both professionally and personally. In the practice of law, I frequently have to remind myself to slow down and stay focused on things that are important to me. We are all different. Our goals are different. The things that bring each of us joy……guess what, they are different. Some people get a real charge out of billing over 200 hours a month…
The Influencers: From Canoe to Air Force One
By Carron Nicks • August 03, 2020 •Writers in Residence
You may not know her name, but I bet you’ve seen her picture. She’s the one in the lower left in the photo here. She’s wearing the dress with the polka dots on it, and she’s carrying the bible. Her name is Sarah T. Hughes. The photo was taken on Air Force One as it sat the tarmac at Love Field in Dallas, on November 22, 1963, barely two hours after the death of President Kennedy, as the jet’s engines were being powered up to take the new president, Mrs. Kennedy and JFK’s body back to Washington. To Sarah…
Desi Advocacy: Spotlight on Natasha Alladina, Recruiting Director at The Partners Group
By Prianka Misra • August 07, 2020 •Writers in Residence
For this edition of Desi Advocacy, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Natasha Alladina. Currently a Recruiting Director at The Partners Group, she is responsible for the recruitment of lateral attorneys and in-house counsels in law firms and corporations. However, Alladina has contributed her strengths in several legal environments in the past, including at a large law firm, a public defender's office, a boutique law firm, and as a central staff attorney in the Supreme Court of Georgia. I asked her about her career path and her advice for women of color searching for their niches in the legal profession. Thank you so…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: How To Find A Job You Love, Part One
By Paula M Jones • July 30, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Internships and Clerkships
“You are not given a dream unless you have the capacity to fulfill it” – Jack Canfield Well, you did it. You made it to law school. Now, perhaps you are looking for a summer internship, so that upon graduation you can boast some measure of experience. Perhaps you are on the way to graduating and need to find something permanent. Maybe you are one of those non-traditional students, getting an education while continuing to work your day job. How do you make a switch from your present area of employment to a brand new field? In the words of…
Some of the main differences between private vs. public service jobs as a lawyer
By Katalin Tarjan • August 02, 2020 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence
Over the course of my career I have worked in jobs both in the private sphere and the public sphere. There are a couple of clear differences between the two worlds, that I will lay out here based on my unique experiences. First on my list is job stability, since during times like these it is a major thing to consider. Whether you work for a law firm or a private company, you work for profit, and if for some reason or another profit is scarce, you will have to start worry about the future. Government organizations are going to…
Am I wearing too many hats? Learning how to juggle it all: Take it one day at a time.
By Crystal Elaine Ellison • July 31, 2020 •Writers in Residence
It feels like it was just yesterday when I received an email from my daughters’ school mid-March about her transitioning to online schooling. Now, we’re back to square one. On July 20, 2020, the Governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly, shared the details of Executive Order #20-58. One of the most important sections in this order is the delaying of schools from starting until after September 8, 2020: Labor Day weekend. The order could only be signed if the Kansas Board of Education voted to approve the order. Governor Kelly’s reasoning behind the order was to give districts more time to take precautions against spreading COVID-19. Unfortunately, the Board failed to reach an agreement on the order. However, schools…-100x100.jpg)
Practice Pointers - Up-leveling Your Interview Prep
By Natasha Alladina • July 31, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers
Know what used to give me more butterflies than an actually viable “we both swiped right” first date situation? Interviews. Although, to be fair, interview anticipation was more like having pesky moths or something more insidious eating away at my insides. And I know I can’t be the only one who’s gotten tingly hands and feet at the thought of an interview… So what’s changed? Well, for starters, I’ve done a ton of interviews (both public and private sector) since law school, both as an interviewee and interviewer. And more importantly, I’ve learned how to prepare effectively. So even though…
Techlegality: On Being a Change Agent No Matter the Path
By Victoria Willingham • July 30, 2020 •Writers in Residence
In true 2020 fashion, the past few weeks have been marked by a monumental moment in history. Congressman John Lewis passed away, and the nation will never be the same. As I read and learn more about his life, I am both fascinated and empowered. Through all of the coverage, my thoughts have gone in many directions, but I’ve been most fixated on his concept of getting into “good trouble.” A trailblazer and civil rights icon, Congressman Lewis recognized that in order to create change, we must speak up and take action when we identify something unsettling. This ideology resonates…
Freedom and July 4th
By Diane Wells • July 30, 2020
Freedom is something I sat and thought about more than ever this year around July 4th. There were more than enough reasons to do so. I get a bit overwhelmed by how important and fragile freedom has become to me. There was a stretch of time when I was being prosecuted for a crime I didn’t commit that I didn’t feel free, so maybe I’m barely qualified to write about it. My six-year experience pales in comparison with those who have always been unjustly confined, figuratively, or literally. Most people that have freedom can’t/don’t truly understand the far-reaching effects of…