Dear Law Students: Your Peers Are Your First Professional Network
By Celine Aka • March 01, 2017 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence, Careers, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
If you are in law school, you have probably heard that your peers are your first professional network. This is especially true for law students who do not have attorneys in their families or who simply have never interacted with attorneys. A good way to get to know your peers and be known in law school is to get involved in different students' organizations, on the board or be a member of your law school lawyering skills competition (e.g., national moot court, ABA Representation in Mediation, Client Interviewing and counseling etc) and/or get on one of your law school journals.…
2017 Ms. JD Honors Awardees Spotlight Series: 5 Q&A with Lieutenant General Flora Darpino
By Celine Aka • February 28, 2017 •Ms. JD, Conference, Careers, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job
U.S. Army Lieutenant General Flora D. Darpino 2017 Ms. JD Road Less Traveled Award The following questions were formulated based on U.S. Army Lieutenant General Flora Darpino's profile. 1. Your path is certainly not the one most law students take or even think about as an option. How did you decide to pursue a career in the Army? I often, half-jokingly, tell people I joined the Army because of a boy. My husband was an Army officer and I needed an employer that would allow me to travel around the world with him, without having to take a bar exam…
2017 Ms. JD Honors Awardees Spotlight Series: 5 Q&A with Gigi Parris
By Celine Aka • February 26, 2017 •Ms. JD, Conference, Careers, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job
Gigi Parris 2017 Ms. JD Woman of Inspiration Award The following questions were formulated based on Gigi's profile. 1. Prior to working at Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, you worked at a law firm as a corporate associate. So, when did you decide that family law was the area of law you wanted to practice? I envisioned practicing family law prior to going to law school, probably when I was in college. I just didn't necessarily envision practicing in the specific field that I am in since it is a bit of a niche in the world of family law. However,…
2017 Ms. JD Honors Awardees Spotlight Series: 5 Q&A with Alan Bryan
By Celine Aka • February 26, 2017 •Ms. JD, Conference
Alan Bryan 2017 Ms. JD TIM Initiative Award The following questions were formulated based on Alan's profile. 1. You served on the American Bar Association’s Diversity & Inclusion 360 Commission; you are an active member of the National Association of Women Lawyers and helped found its NAWL Challenge Club program; and you are a board member of DirectWomen. You are involved in many other organizations aiming at the advancement of women in the legal profession and you have received several awards attesting to your dedication to diversity in the legal profession. As a man, why is it so important to…
2017 Ms. JD Honors Awardees Spotlight Series: 5 Q&A with Jessica Brown
By Celine Aka • February 22, 2017 •Ms. JD, Conference, Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
Jessica Brown 2017 Ms. JD Sharing Her Passion Award The following questions were formulated based on Jessica's profile. 1. Since joining your firm, Gibson Dunn, in 1995, you have been a frequent author and lecturer on gender, diversity, and leadership issues. You are currently a member of the firm's Diversity Committee, and you served on the firmwide Professional Development Committee for 13 years. When and why did you decided to speak on such topics and be involved on those Committees? When I joined the firm in 1995, about 13 percent of equity partners at all major law firms were women. In 2005,…
2017 Ms. JD Honors Awardees Spotlight Series: 5 Q&A with Knight, Morris & Reddick (KMR) Law Group
By Celine Aka • February 22, 2017 •Ms. JD, Conference, Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
Knight, Morris & Reddick (KMR) Law Group 2017 Ms. JD Women's Strength in Numbers Award 1. How did you come about opening an all African-American female attorney law practice? KMR came to be because the three of us each have entrepreneurial spirits and wanted to own and operate a business on our own terms. Yondi mentioned the concept of starting a practice and I was completely on board. She and Jessica had been having conversations around starting a business, so the three of us met to discuss. As far as the fact that the practice is owned by all…
2017 Ms. JD Honors Awardees Spotlight Series: 5 Q&A with Lisa Horowitz
By Celine Aka • February 22, 2017 •Ms. JD, Conference, Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job
Lisa Horowitz 2017 Ms. JD Woman of Inspiration Award The following questions were formulated based on Lisa's profile. 1. What is Talent Management ("TM")? Talent Management involves a cross-section of activities typically broken down into two major categories: talent acquisition and talent development (e.g., training, career planning, mentoring, assignments and performance management). It includes activities aimed as enhancing diversity and inclusion. I have focused my post-law practice career on talent development and advancing diversity and inclusion. 2. How and why did you transition from practicing law to Talent Development? I transitioned to a career in Talent Development after an…
2017 Ms. JD Honors Awardees Spotlight Series: 5 Q&A with Daissy Dominguez
By Celine Aka • February 17, 2017 •Ms. JD, Conference, Careers, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
Daissy Dominguez 2017 Ms. JD Woman of Inspiration Award The following questions were formulated based on Daissy's profile. 1. Why did you decide to open your own practice, Dominguez Legal Justice Center, LLC (DLJC), as opposed to work for an already established public interest organization or law firm? When I started law school my intentions were to work for a legal aid organization serving low and moderate income communities. I spent my entire law school career interning and volunteering with legal aid organizations. I became a lawyer to be able to have the knowledge and tools to support our communities. When I…
2017 Ms. JD Honors Awardees Spotlight Series: 5 Q&A with Liani Balasuriya
By Celine Aka • February 12, 2017 •Ms. JD, Conference, Law School, Issues, Mentoring and Networking, Features, Superwomen JDs and What You Can Learn From Them
Liani Balasuriya 2017 Ms. JD Student of Inspiration Award The following questions were formulated based on Liani's profile. 1. What made you want to be involved in the Northwestern's Women's Leadership Coalition? I’ve been interested in women’s leadership issues since high school. I was the only woman on the executive board of my high school newspaper, and I believe being a woman affected how my peers perceived my leadership. I was also surprised by how few women ran for Student Council President. After graduating high school, I went to college in D.C. and volunteered at Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign headquarters…