by Judy Hale Reed, Staff Writer
Judge
Nora Barry Fischer, District Judge for the United States District Court for the
Western District of Pennsylvania since 2007, shared her career path through
local firms and onto the bench. She also
advised students about how to attain a federal clerking externship. If you want to clerk, you can start the
process at the Clinical Legal Education website here. The Duquesne Law Clinical Program also
manages all externships.
What
was it like to practice law before maternity or parental leave policies
existed, or if they did, the expectation was to never actually take the
leave? Or when women were recruited to
new ambitious firms because the founding members needed a woman (yes, one) in
their composition? And how important is
networking, anyway?
On
Thursday, January 17, Duquesne University School of Law hosted a Pennsylvania
Bar Association Women in the Profession panel with three local attorneys. They shared their experiences as legal
professionals, their insights into how much things have changed, and the value of
bar associations for networking and career advancement.
 |
| © Amanda Knorr, 1L/PBA Student Liaison (Class of 2015) |
Both
of the other panelists have crossed professional paths with the Judge.
Stacey
Vernallis leads the litigation group at Goehring, Rutter & Boehm. Ms. Vernallis discussed the importance of not
being just a member of a bar association, but participating fully and
developing your leadership quotient. She
defined leadership quotient as one’s demonstrated, known leadership value; put
another way, it is one’s reputation as a competent, successful leader. Plus, serving on a committee is, for most of
us, an easier way to meet people than trying to dazzle an attorney you just met
at a cocktail reception.
Beth
Fischman just completed a temporary contract position with Bernstein-Burkley,
P.C. Ms. Fischman discussed the
importance of connections gained through service with bar associations. She pointed out that the PBA has a huge
membership with many committees, including diversity, membership, legislative,
promotion of women, quality of life, governance, communication and public
service just to name a few. The PBA has
about 30,000 members, 50 committees, and 20 sections.
Ms
Fischman told the audience about two upcoming opportunities to meet PBA
attorneys in Pittsburgh. The PBA
mid-year meeting will be held in Pittsburgh in March, and the PBA annual
meeting will be in Pittsburgh on May 8-9, 2013 at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh
Downtown. Like this panel, these will be
great opportunities to take a break from studying for some high-powered
networking and career exploration, just a short walk from campus.
Maria
Comas, Director of the Law School Career Services Office (CSO), added that
“students interested in externships can contact the CSO to review application
materials and use the judicial directories in the CSO Resource Center.”
Bar
Associations in Our Area:
Allegheny County Bar Association [http://www.acba.org/]
Judy Hale Reed is a second year student at
Duquesne. She had a pre-law career in international human rights focused on
gender equality and anti-trafficking in persons, speaks Romanian, and sometimes
bikes to school. She serves as the Pennsylvania Bar Association Student Liaison
for the Class of 2014 and holds a BA in Sociology and Women’s Studies from Ohio
University and an MPA from Seattle University.
