Women in Law - On The Record

Latest Episodes:

Episode No. 56: Nikita Tuckett (Facebook), Maryann Zaki (Morgan Lewis), and Kimberly Diego (Criminal Defense) Sep 21, 2020

Show notes

Today I share brief, but meaningful, conversations with 3 women from across the country--all with very different jobs. First, I spoke with a friend and listener of the podcast, Maryann Zaki. Maryann is a litigation associate at Morgan Lewis in Houston and a mom of two young girls. She spoke about the importance of voicing your needs, wants, and concerns in your career. I next spoke with Kimberly Diego, a solo criminal defense lawyer in Denver, Colorado. Kim talked about how to relate and empathize with your clients, which has furthered her efforts to be a trusted advisor. Lastly, I spoke with Nikita Tuckett, Lead Counsel for Product at Facebook. Nikita and I exchanged messages to cover certain talking points, which I will walk you through. As you will hear, Nikita shares some of the best advice she has been given. I hope you enjoy this new approach and if you do, please let me know!

Episode No. 55, Celeste Bruce (Partner, Rifkin, Weiner, and Livingston) and Lisa Borsook (Partner, WeirFoulds) Sep 08, 2020

Show notes

Today I'm talking to Celeste Bruce, litigation partner at Rifkin, Weiner, and Livingston in Maryland and Lisa Borsook, a real estate partner at WeirFoulds in Toronto, Canada. Both women emphasized the importance of being an effective communicator, explained how clients and mentors have acted as sponsors and endorsed their skills, and discussed how they've been able to share mentoring advice they've received over the years with the young associates they are now helping develop.

Episode No. 54: ICYMI - Brittany DeGan, General Counsel of RewardStyle Aug 24, 2020

Show notes

Today I'm resharing an interview I did in the fall of 2018 with Brittany DeGan, who is the General Counsel of rewardStyle in Dallas, Texas. I wanted to share this interview again because many of you are new listeners and probably haven't heard Brittany's story yet. A few things come to mind when I think of my time with Brittany. The first is how nervous I was! This was only my second time interviewing someone and I was still just figuring things out. Frankly, I'm still figuring things out. But more than that, Brittany's story is a prime example of what it means to seek out new and exciting challenges. And I thought it would be especially fitting to share her journey as we have all been stuck in one shared circumstance the last five months -- the continuing challenge of the Coronavirus. In one way or another, it's affected our personal and professional lives. So, I thought Brittany's journey could act as a reminder of how we all are capable of shaking our careers up for the better. After spending 9 years with a tech company in the D.C. area, Brittany moved across the country to join rewardStyle and become a one-woman legal department. She has been with the company for almost three years now but when we spoke she had been there for less than a year. Because Brittany is one of my favorite lawyers I've ever had on, I know you'll enjoy this discussion.

Episode No. 53: Lisa Baker Morgan, Chef and Author Aug 03, 2020

Show notes

Today I'm talking with Lisa Baker Morgan, attorney turned chef and author. After leaving her litigation practice to focus on her daughters, Lisa found a new, more fulfilling way to live life. In her book, "Paris, Part Time," Lisa shares how at the age of 38, and newly divorced, she unexpectedly found herself staring down death in a Monaco hospital, nine time zones away from her two young daughters in Los Angeles. After facing mortality and surviving, her life took on a sense of urgency to experience and accomplish all of the things she had ever wanted for herself and her daughters. Top of her list: a life-long desire to live in Paris. The seemingly indulgent and even "crazy" aspiration was part of a journey that set her on the path of recovery of health and of spirit. During the interview, Lisa shared her adventurous evolution of self-creation and determination to overcome obstacles. Her story is one of strength, resilience, and courage. Relatable in sentiment, heart-felt, and humorous, her book bounds with the optimism of infinite possibility and gratitude for life itself. In Paris, Part Time and online, Lisa shares recipes and loads of photographs from her travels. I can't wait for you to hear this story.

Episode No. 52, Katie Tipper-McWhorter, Associate, Greenberg Traurig Jul 20, 2020

Show notes

Today I'm talking with my friend and colleague, Katie Tipper-McWhorter, a litigation associate at Greenberg Traurig's Houston office. Katie attended SMU for undergrad and the University of Houston for law school. She's been with GT for a little over two years and as you'll hear, the reason I wanted to sit down with her is that she has quickly developed a reputation as a talented, hard-working, and passionate advocate. Katie also has been incredibly supportive of me, particularly with the podcast. So we spoke about how to effectively support other women in your firm. We also talked about what her motivations are and how she continues to set and achieve her goals. I'm a huge fan of this lawyer and I'm thrilled to share her insight with you.

Episode No. 51: Helen Dooley, Sr. Vice President and General Counsel, Tandem Sports & Entertainment Jul 06, 2020

Show notes

Today I'm speaking with Helen Dooley, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Tandem Sports & Entertainment in Arlington, Virginia. Helen graduated from Duke University where she obtained both a history degree and her law degree. She spoke about her informative years clerking for federal judges in the 10th Circuit, including Judge Tacha, who taught her the importance of being yourself. It was there that she learned, among other things, how to obtain and maintain the respect of your colleagues. From her clerkships, she went to Williams & Connolly in D.C., where she would spend the next 16 years of practice. While there, Helen's practice evolved and almost by happenstance, she was asked to help offer real estate advice to Duke alum and basketball superstar, Grant Hill. After spending several years advising sports clients, Helen left the firm to help start Tandem Sports & Entertainment with her long-time colleague, Jim Tanner. Tandem is a full-service sports and entertainment agency with expertise in athlete management, talent representation, marketing, communications and publicity services. Now a Senior VP and General Counsel, Helen serves the agency in a multitude of ways. She spoke about how she has been able to establish such a successful career for herself all while helping home school her three children. Helen has ensured her clients know her level of dedication to her work and has made herself an integral part of any team that she is a part of. Her story is a reminder that so often, we are more capable than what we give ourselves credit for. And with all the challenges we are facing today with coronavirus, Helen's reminder is nothing short of serendipitous. I think you'll find her spirit is assuring and her story interesting.

Episode No. 50, Aparna Bawa, Chief Legal Officer, Zoom Video Communications May 25, 2020

Show notes

Aparna and I recorded this interview before the corona virus pandemic took over and Zoom became a way of daily life for millions and millions of people around the world. Originally from Michigan, Aparna set out to become a technology lawyer after graduating from Harvard Law School. She comes from a family of engineers and entrepreneurs, who she has leaned on throughout her career for advice. She shared inspiring stories of conversations she has had with her role models, including her Aunt, who was an executive at HP and told her as a lawyer - you must direct your client, give them the recommendations they are searching for, and be in the trenches with them. Aparna's evolution in law began as a corporate and securities associate at Wilson Sonsini then she went on to be an investment banker for technology companies, and now she is the CLO of a global, powerhouse company -- Zoom Video Communications. Her perspective was humble, honest, and to me as a young lawyer, comforting. Aparna's journey gives me the confidence to know things will work out how they are supposed to in my career if I value my relationships, be a productive and agile communicator, and don't sweat the small things. She taught me it's ok not to know what your next move is going to be and for your long-term goals to be more of about WHO you want to be and less about checking things off your checklist. She was absolutely wonderful and I'm thrilled to share her insight.

Episode No. 49, Michelle Fang, Chief Legal Officer, Turo May 11, 2020

Show notes

A native of southern California, Michelle attended UCLA for undergrad and UC Berkeley for law school. From there, she became a trial lawyer at Quinn Emanuel at a time when the firm had fewer than 100 lawyers. She gained deep trial experience and positioned herself to take on an in-house role at NBC Universal where she investigated and assisted with IP litigation. Michelle went on to eBay where she would spend the next nine years in the family of companies until she became the General Counsel of StubHub. A change in the organization and strong encouragement from a friend led her to consider the GC role at Turo. She was intrigued by the opportunity and inspired by Turo's CEO, who she casually met for tea to learn about about the company. It was then that she knew, the Turo team was one she had to be a part of. Reflecting back on her storied career so far, Michelle shared experiences that brought her pride like the Tiffany v. eBay case that created precedent around the country in trademark law. She talked about how she builds and manages her team and how she hires her outside counsel. In fact, before Michelle and I met, I knew her from her groundbreaking efforts in the Women's General Counsel Network, where she helped author an open letter to law firms regarding diversity and inclusion. Michelle undoubtedly leads by example on those efforts and we could learn something from her extraordinary perspective on these issues.

Episode No. 48, Bree Vculek, George Washington University Law Student. Apr 27, 2020

Show notes

Bree Vculek is a first-year law student at George Washington University in D.C. Although she will be a lawyer soon enough, Bree is the first non-lawyer who I have featured on the podcast. I thought it was important to share a student's perspective because things evolve, and we as lawyers are hiring these students. Plus, I have a lot of listeners who are students or people considering going to law school, so I thought Bree's perspective could bring some comfort to their circumstances. Of all places, Bree and I met through Instagram. She and I have followed each other for a while and I've always admired how she shares her "day in the life" journey through law school and working full time through a positive lens. Bree grew up on a farm in North Dakota, where her parents (entrepreneurs) showed her what it was like to run a business. She went to a small private school for undergrad where she studied biology and chemistry. She later obtained her Master's Degree in Biotechnology from Texas A&M. Working for a Senator, helping shape legislative policy, Bree ventured to D.C. Now, with hopes that she will be an IP lawyer, Bree goes to GW in the evenings and works for a global, biomedical company during the day. In her role, she supports labs in Germany and calls on her science background to serve clients. She was incredibly kind and I think there is a lot we can all learn from her vision, work ethic, and drive.

Episode No. 47, Lavonne Burke Hopkins, Sr. Legal Director Cybersecurity, Product & App Security, IT Security at Dell Technologies Apr 13, 2020

Show notes

This is a special episode because it was done in collaboration with the University of Houston Law School student organization for First Generation Law Students. Lavonne is an alumni of the University of Houston Law School but before that, she attended Howard University and Johns Hopkins University where she obtained her Masters in Biomedical Engineering and performed her post-doc work. Lavonne was on track to go to medical school but was drawn to the law in the hopes that she could leverage her engineering background into a career as a patent litigator. She started her career at Vinson & Elkins and as she was mastering her skills as a lawyer, she retooled to become an expert in cybersecurity. Lavonne's drive and work ethic are unmatched and I am thrilled to share with you how she was able to do it. Special thanks to Latham and Watkins and the University of Houston Law School for making this episode happen.

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