WK 3 BEHIND THE CURTAIN NOTES

Career Pathways for Lawyers

  • Overview of Behind the Curtain Sessions:
    • These sessions supplement online modules.
    • Opportunity to discuss interesting topics.
    • Chance to hear from alumni about their career paths.

Alumni Insights

  • Merging Past and Future: Focus on how alumni merged previous professional lives with their legal careers.

Session Structure

  • Informal Conversation: Encourages open dialogue and questions.
  • Guest Speakers: Alumni share experiences across various legal fields.

Topics of Discussion

  • Diverse Work Environments: Lawyers can work in law firms (private practice), government, or business.
  • Personal Strengths: Reflect on skills, characteristics, and competencies.
  • Legal Profession Needs: Identify competencies and attributes needed in different legal areas (law firms, business, government, own practice).

Guest Introductions

  • Guests share backgrounds, current practice areas, and career pathways.

Azeal Namadur

  • Background:
    • Graduated in 2021 from the blended program.
    • Practices data privacy.
    • Consulting work in data privacy.
    • Project manager at State Farm Insurance for 16 years.
    • CPA practice: Merged law firm and CPA firm, focusing on business, taxation, and trademark.
    • Current role: Texas Attorney General's office.
  • Transition to Public Service: Joined the Attorney General's office after a recruiter contacted him, drawn by the combination of accounting and legal background needed.
    • Reasoning for Public Service: Empty nester status allows for lower pay in public service.
  • Data Privacy Focus:
    • Sought opportunities in privacy while at State Farm.
    • Obtained certifications in privacy.
    • Consulted for PG&E, managing privacy professionals and a 4million4 million budget.
    • Transitioned to private practice, still focusing on data privacy.
    • Current role involves in-house counseling and building a privacy program.
  • Career Path: Non-linear, with ups and downs.
  • Data Privacy Growth: Expected average growth close to 7878, leading to high demand and increased salaries.
    *Public Service: Not Highly Sought After.
  • Data privacy is a very highly sought-after area.

Sheila Posthumus Patterson

  • Background:
    • 2023 hybrid student grad.
    • Background in human resources for 15 years.
    • Noticed trend of risk assessment in HR.
    • Started law school to better interpret law and assess risk.
    • Currently practicing law as Employment Law Compliance Advisor.
  • Role:
    • Reviews new bodies of law.
    • Applies laws to Patterson (6,000 employees across 50 states).
    • Translates laws for HR team.
    • Conducts compliance audits (e.g., I-9s).
  • Focus on Immigration: High demand and job security in immigration law due to current administration focus.
  • Employee Relations: Addresses insufficient procedures/policies and conducts research to improve practices.
  • Preventative Approach: Prefers preventing problems and ensuring employee well-being to avoid litigation or EEOC charges.
  • Corporate Legal Roles:
    • Attorneys review contracts, edit contracts, enforce contracts, and handle transactions and settlements.
  • Value of Legal Knowledge:
    • Legal degree crucial for quickly synthesizing laws.
    • HR compliance benefits from legal background.
  • Introduction to Business Organizations Class: Practical class to take relating to all the requirements to be an LLC and a corporation.
  • Focus on Collections:
    • Publicly held attorneys report to shareholders to the public and deal will all compliance. 8-K's, 10-K's, the year-end reports, earnings result, and more.

Molly

  • Summer intern at Patterson
  • Enjoys seeing how different parts of the company interact and how compliance fits into that.

Brenda Pfahnl

  • Current Role:
    • Owner and solo attorney at Colibri Legal.
    • Practices immigration law and small business law.
    • Works with immigrant entrepreneurs and their families.
    • Partners with Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC).
  • Background & Path to Law:
    • Worked as a community lender for 25 years and with the CDFI.
  • Switch to Law:
    • Made switch in her early fifties.
    • Felt she can't do what she currently is doing until retirement.
    • Inspired human rights delegation to El Salvador.
  • Fellowship:
    • Asked to design a program with a public interest organization.
    • Asked what she could do with Immigrant Law Center that would be useful to them but would use her strengths as a human being and as a future attorney?
    • Helps with small business law.
    • That's kind of, where I ended up with the small business law as well.
  • Immigrant Law Center:
    • Partnership with LADC and Legal Core for immigration and small business services.
    • Funding issues led to solo practice with a low-bono firm.
    • Continued partnership with LADC and pro bono work with the Immigrant Law Center.
  • Intersection of Immigration and Small Business Law:
    • Provides services at the intersection of immigration and small business law.
    • Business law will benefit immigration law.
  • Equal Justice Works Fellowship:
    • Create a proposal and applied through the Equal Justice Works Program through the Career Services office.
    • Design a program for nonprofit or government entity, but can't be affiliated with the organization already doing.

Challenges of Starting Your Own Firm

  • Fluctuating Income: Income will fluctuate wildly.
  • Health Insurance: Having to pay for health insurance can be an issue if you do not have a partner who does it.

Overcoming Fears With Solo Practice

  • Fear of Failure: Ask yourself what if you become so successful?

Starting Your Own Firm: Process

  • Start marketing yourself to prepare for when your bar exam is done.

Resources

  • Take the "Lawyers as Business Owner's" class.

Equal Justice Works: Benefits

*Know what the outcome is while you're still a 3L.
* Two years and not one, and nationwide to fund quite a lot of people.

Mistakes/Roadblocks

*When starting, it can be hard to consult with other attorneys and staffs.
* Create communities for encouragement purposes.

Startup Costs

*It can vary from a couple thousand to ten thousand plus dollars.
* Depends on what you want to include in that as starting out in space.
* Website, equipment, lease.

Access to Services

  • Westlaw/Lexis: Being able to access one or the other for the legal team.

JD Advantage Careers

  • Leveraging existing professional experience and skills with a legal education.
  • Examples in HR: Employee Relations positions benefit from legal knowledge.

Advice to Law Students

  • Sheila Posthumus Patterson: Extend your network. Send me a LinkedIn invitation right after this call, and I'll accept it. Do not be afraid to do that, and that includes your professors. That was one thing I didn't do kind of proactively enough was, you know, make those connections with professors. That will also be helpful in your future career.
  • Brenda Pfahnl: Be curious and meet as many attorneys as you can and pepper them with questions. (She shares that) I learned so much when I was in law school and nobody ever said no.
  • Azeal: Networking and Marketing, start marketing yourself now will lead to you having clients waiting after you are done with your bar exam.