de minimis per say: Recap
By Emily Crain • December 05, 2014 •Writers in Residence
The bleak fact is that there are not a large number of jobs out there for law school graduates. And there are a lot of women graduates that look to their near future, or their present reality, and wonder how it is that they are going to both grow a career and have the family time that they need. And, the practice of law is a all-consuming practice. The majority of women that I talked to this year have voiced the harship of being a mother and being an attorney, especially in a firm. It is hard to balance the…
de minimis per say: Jenny Day
By Emily Crain • November 05, 2014 •Writers in Residence
When Jenny Day entered law school she was not sure what she wanted to do with the degree that she would leave with. "I knew that I wanted to save the world." Ms. Day graduated with her juris doctorate and a job with the district attorney in Tulsa County. She believes that she has accomplished her goal. "In my own little part of the world, I am making a difference. Even though the community doesn't know what I do." Ms. Day beleives taht the district attorney's office is a great place to start a career. The job has given her…
de minimis per say: Dru Tate
By Emily Crain • October 05, 2014 •Writers in Residence
When Dru Tate graduated from the University of Tulsa College of Law in May of 2011, she began work with a firm that had a contract with a Native American tribe in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "I worked in private practice for another attorney and I had to practice how they practiced. I could not have the client relationship the way that I wanted to have the relationship. I wanted to build my business and maintain it the way that I wanted to." Now Ms. Tate works in a firm that she started with another partner in Glenpool, Oklahoma. They operate as…
de minimis per say: Penni Skillern
By Emily Crain • September 05, 2014 •Writers in Residence
Penni Skillern graduated from the University of Tulsa College of Law in May of 2011. She currently works at her own firm, the Skillern Law Firm, and has since graduation. As a solo practicioner, she says that being her own boss can be scary. "The downside is that you are own your own." She has taken charge of her firm by making connections with financial planners in South Tulsa and Sapulpa, which is a city near Tulsa, Oklahoma. She gives talks about estate planning to their clients and reviews plans that they might have in place already. She also teaches herself…
de minimis per say: Me
By Emily Crain • August 05, 2014 •Writers in Residence
I am going on my third year of being a lawyer, and what a lot has happened in my three years. My first year as an attorney was harrowing. I graduated in May of 2011, and I felt like I was grasping at the empty air for a job. There were not many for the taking. I submitted many resumes, made a lot of phone calls, walked up to attorneys after court let out and sat for a few interviews. As it turned out, the only jobs that were open at the time were in areas that did not interest…
de minimis per say: Rene Thomas
By Emily Crain • July 05, 2014 •Writers in Residence
"You need to plan for A, B, and C because you never know what will happen." Rene Thomas moved to Boulder, Colorado after graduation for a job. On September 11, 2013, it began to rain. It rained harder. Ms. Thomas and her husband bailed water out of their ground-level apartment all night. In the morning, Ms .Thomas e-mailed her boss and told him that she would not be able to come in to work that day, they had been affected by the 2013 Colorado floods. Ms. Thomas missed two days of work dealing with the water. They tried using a…
de minimis per say: Lorena Rivas
By Emily Crain • June 05, 2014 •Writers in Residence
Lorena Rivas did not think that she wanted to practice immigration law when she started law school. Her parents immigrated from Mexico in the 1980s, and Ms. Rivas felt that she wanted to be more than the child of an immigrant practicing immigration law. "At the time, that felt like a cliche." Then, Ms. Rivas was hired for her first internship, and the internship involved immigration law. Ms. Rivas found that she connected with the people that she was working with, and that their shared experience inspired her to work harder for her clients. She followed her internship with the…
de minimis per say: Melissa Eick
By Emily Crain • May 05, 2014 •Writers in Residence
Melissa Eick is a licensed attorney in three states: Virginia, Iowa and Oklahoma. "I knew that I was interested in copyright and trademark law; I knew that I was interested in trademark law, but I was told that I had to move to a bigger market to get a job in a large law firm to practice in those areas." Ms. Eick developed strong passions in law school in these three areas, but was not sure how to translate those passions into a career. Ms. Eick became interested in human trafficing after law school, and wanted to incorporate this interest…
de minimis per say: Valerie Dye
By Emily Crain • April 05, 2014 •Writers in Residence
Valerie Dye graduated from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 2010, and began practicing with the firm Graham, Allen and Brown in Tulsa, Okla. Before too many months had passed, Ms. Dye started her own practice, concentrating in Osage and Tulsa Counties, Okla. Ms. Dye's goal upon entering law school was to be a sole practicioner. "It was the best fit for me and my family." Although working at a firm was a great opportunity, and offered the ability to bounce ideas off of collegues, being a sole practicioner was a quicker way into the courtroom. Working in a smaller…