What do RBG’s birthday, The Ms. JD annual convention, and my Dad’s birthday have in common?
Well, this yr, all of them passed off on March fifteenth. If you are strange with Ms. JD, it’s for a nonprofit employer that is devoted to the fulfillment and aid of women regulation college students in addition to aspiring and early career ladies lawyers. That’s right. There become a girl’s lawyers conference, hosted through a nonprofit whose sole task is to assist women attorneys, at the customer saint of ladies attorneys’ birthday. What ought to probably be higher than that? This 12 months’ conference was held at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and co-hosted by way of the Penn Law Women’s Association. The subject matter turned into “Speak Up.” The conference featured numerous panels, discussions, keynotes, and breakout classes. I had the delight of being a panelist at the Alternative Career Roadmap panel and attending several different periods. Here are most of the highlights and my takeaways from this fantastic occasion. The first workshop, “Finding your voice and using it,” given via Gail J. Cummings, of Gail J. Cummings Consulting, LLC, sincerely encompassed the conference subject matter. Gail recommended that we speak up for ourselves in our careers and give concrete hints on accomplishing that. For instance, we have to cast off pointless “I’m sorry” from our vocabulary and recognize and demand that we are paid our cost. My biggest takeaway from this consultation came in the form of a reminder of something I already knew: actual braveness is not approximately being unafraid but being afraid and taking motion anyway, no matter your fears.
Next up became the primary breakout consultation. Attendees had the option of three panels: Law Firm Life: How to make the most of your billable hour as a propose in your customers and your self; The Alternative Career Roadmap: Use your degree in a discipline that fuels your passion, or The Public Interest Path: Advocating for your self whilst working for the common excellent. I spoke on the Alternative Career Roadmap panel in conjunction with Monsurat Adebanjo, Director of Business and Legal Affairs at Brown Girl For The Arts Media, and Cheryl Solomon, Founder of Row House Yarn. Together, we fielded questions about our careers’ trajectory, why we determined to department out from the practice of regulation, how we ensure our monetary safety, and what realistic steps a person has to take when starting an enterprise, among many different incredible questions. I changed into surprised to research that several of the attendees had been regulation students and have been considering beginning corporations absolutely unrelated to the prison area. It was inspiring to listen to the memories of my fellow panelists and the aspirations of the attendees. My largest takeaway from this panel changed into that a law diploma can serve you well everywhere you are taking it, including an online knitting company! I knew the lunchtime Fireside Chat with E.J. Borrack, General Counsel, The Stilwell Group, Jannie Lau, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, InterDigital, Inc., and Lisa Matson, General Counsel & Senior Partner, Penn Capital Management was going to be, properly, on fire. However, as I don’t practice law, I wasn’t positive it’d apply to me. Well, I changed into certainly incorrect approximately that. These ladies are so badass, and feature had such interesting and tough careers that it became impossible not to take away some excellent facts. Some of the topics they spoke about were the stability (or the phantasm of balance) inside the context of law companies and in-residence positions, the importance of ladies in management positions making sure pay-equity for different women, and navigating merchandising. My largest takeaway from this panel got here from Jannie Lau. She shared a story approximately hiring a female to work as a VP beneath her, and HR asked what she makes in her modern-day position. Jannie told HR that it didn’t matter what the new VP makes now. Alternatively, they ought to base her reimbursement on the activity that she is being employed to do. Jannie explained that this is a critical manner to make sure women are fairly compensated for the work they’re doing. Her message absolutely not best resonated with me; however, the complete target market as properly, without delay, broke out into applause. Additional workshops and panels that I did now not have the pride of attending protected topics together with private branding, women operating in tech, the recommendation from girls operating as in-house counsel, ladies with criminal careers in the navy, negotiating for career fulfillment, and a conversation about what men can and must do to make the criminal profession greater inclusive with some male allies. Among the scheduled occasions, there have been some “thought breaks” where girls shared their non-public tales and, of direction, some RBG rates. Overall, it changed into a remarkable day of women lawyers networking, connecting, and supporting each other. I can’t think of a higher manner to have had a good time on RBG’s birthday. Can you?
Kerriann Stout is a millennial regulation faculty professor and founding father of Vinco (a bar exam training company) who is generationally trapped between her students and colleagues. Kerriann has helped loads of students survive regulation college and the bar examination with much less pressure and more confidence. She lives, works, and writes inside the northeast. You can attain her by using e-mail at
