One of the things I love about Michigan Law is that people come here from all over and then go all over after graduation.
Before law school, I worked for Google’s trademark legal team in Mountain View and was fascinated by the juxtaposition of new technology facing outdated legal concepts. Based on those experiences, I wanted to be a trial lawyer and loved my summer internships at Cooley LLP and Keker & Van Nest LLP, doing technology litigation work in the Bay Area.
Now I am an associate in Keker & Van Nest’s commercial litigation practice. I also am an advocate for workplace accountability in the judiciary.
Being behind the bench is critical to understanding how to write and argue a case in front of the bench. So I began my post-law-school career with two federal clerkships. Besides understanding the judicial system from the inside, I gained mentors and expanded my network.
But during my clerkship, two colleagues shared that they had experienced sexual harassment on the job. Friends in other courts also talked about the harassment or discrimination they were facing.
Given the formative and enriching experience I was having as a law clerk, I found it unfair that others did not have the same opportunities. I had assumed that there would be a simple way for employees to report such misconduct but quickly learned that was not the case.
I co-founded the Law Clerks for Workplace Accountability (LCWA). The organization’s goal is to ensure that the federal judiciary provides a safe workplace environment, free of harassment, for all employees.
My clerkships were an invaluable starting point after Law School. I am grateful to Michigan’s clerkship adviser for helping me navigate the application process and encouraging me to keep applying. I don’t know what I would’ve done without the alumni network and the professors who went to bat for me. Michigan alumni are everywhere, and they helped prep me for interviews and put me in touch with additional people who could be helpful.
Also, a professor hand-wrote a note to a judge that arrived just before my interview, which gave me a huge boost going into my interview. It reinforces Michigan’s reputation for teaching you to be a lawyer who plays well in the sandbox—lawyers that people want to work with even on the opposite side.
