On March 31, AABANY’s Student Outreach Committee and the Network of Bar Leaders hosted a mentoring session for law students. The event was titled “Experiences and Tips to Sustain Your Legal Career” and featured five distinguished bar leaders:
- Vincent Chang, President, New York County Lawyers Association and Past President, AABANY (2007)
- Jean Dassie, Treasurer, Federal Bar Association SDNY Chapter
- Austin D’Souza, President, South Asian Bar Association of New York
- Karen Kim, President-Elect, Asian American Bar Association of New York
- Meredith Miller, Past President, Network of Bar Leaders and LeGal
The moderators were Margaret Ling, Vice President of the Network of Bar Leaders, and William Lee, Vice Chair of AABANY’s Student Outreach Committee.
Reflecting on their career paths, the speakers agreed on the importance of setting professional goals with an open mind. Both Karen and Margaret encouraged students to explore broadly, get to know their classmates and warned about tunnel vision in law school. Meredith shared that membership in a bar association has been important to her career as it helped her form many meaningful connections. Vincent added that many bar associations host mentorship programs that are especially beneficial to students and young attorneys.
In the second part of the event, attendees had the opportunity to talk informally with the speakers. Attendees introduced themselves and received advice tailored to their areas of interest. The conversation ranged from law practice in real estate to how COVID is changing legal academia.
Thank you to the speakers, moderators and attendees for a festive and informative event. To learn more about the Student Outreach Committee, please visit https://www.aabany.org/page/121. To learn more about the Network of Bar Leaders, go to https://www.networkofbarleaders.org/.