It’s February Bar Season. But It Doesn’t Matter If You Pass. No, Really.
By Amy Impellizzeri • February 27, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Features, Bar Exam
Eighteen years ago this month, I was sitting for the Bar Exam in New York. I was already barred in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and had been practicing law in New Jersey and Philadelphia for several years, but still, the New York Bar Exam was sitting like a roadblock to my future that February. Or so I thought. I had just taken a new position in the Mass Torts Department of Skadden Arps in New York City. One of the Hiring Partners called me in December 1999 to convey the offer to me while I was sitting in my Newark,…
Interview with Linda Mercurio, Esq., Founder of Transformative Impact
By Amy Impellizzeri • February 12, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Features, Guest Bloggers and Profiles of Women in the Law
Linda Mercurio is the Founder of Transformative Impact, a company providing coaching, training, and consulting services to transitioning attorneys. From 2008-2016, Linda served as the Founding Executive Director of the American University Washington College of Law Lawyer Reentry Program - a program she designed and implemented. I've followed with admiration Linda's career path for some time now, and when I reached out recently to tell her so, she sent back a same time photo of her desk with my book, Lawyer Interrupted, atop her own "To Be Read" pile. I love when life sends us those moments of impactful connection. You…
The Best Way to Leave the Law When You’re Burned Out? Don’t.
By Amy Impellizzeri • January 26, 2018 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Other Law School Issues, Issues, •Women and Law in the Media, Other Issues
In 2009, I took a one year sabbatical from my 13+ year law career. I turned out the lights in my 42d floor office at 4 Times Square and left. Just a year. Nine years later, I often joke that I’m still on that one year sabbatical. The truth is, I’ve transitioned away from the active practice of law, and nine years has given me a fair perspective to understand how and why that transition has been so successful. In nine years, I’ve worked on the executive team of a pioneering start-up company, negotiated publishing contracts and a literary agency contract, launched…
Number One Piece of Career Advice? Make Sure You’re Not Writing the Wrong Story
By Amy Impellizzeri • November 15, 2017 •Careers, Other Career Issues
Very often when a group of writer friends and I get together – either in real life or in the virtual realm, we will share our works-in-progress. Premises, hooks, plot holes and characters are brought to life by their various creators. Most of us will give advice and feedback only when solicited. A few loyal friends will give advice even when it’s not. And occasionally, one writer will make a confession. I hate this process. It’s grueling. I’m miserable. One time, when I heard this familiar lament at a writers’ conference, made by a writer who was frustrated and even…