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Commissioner Cava visits Bilzin Sumberg

Our first week of the inaugural Academy continued with modules presented by members of our own law firm. We learned much about the different practices within the Business Finance and Restructuring group from bankruptcy to loan agreements and more. We also witnessed a live mock commission hearing from the Land Development and Governmental Relations group! This gave all of us attending the opportunity to witness not only how a they prepare for presentation to a county or city commission, but also the real interplay of commissioner questions and general public comments that are involved. This provided us with great insight to one of the advocacy components of the specific practice area.

Along with the presentations by attorneys from Bilzin Sumberg, unique perspectives from outside speakers helped our first-year class appreciate the importance of both community involvement and interaction. On Tuesday, a visit from Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava brought close-to-home meaning to more general words like “citizen” and “service.” Commissioner Cava spoke not only of her own triumphs in the greater Miami area, but causes our new attorneys (myself included!) could dedicate time to in an effort to improve areas within the community. Issues such as water conservation, education, and housing were some of the specific areas we discussed as showing plenty of need for local attention and service. A subsequent group discussion of the concept of giving back really enforced the idea that although attorneys serve those who need help with legal concepts, our broader role of assisting others in need extends far beyond law, and well into the community.

Later in the week, Jim Cranston from Law Vision Group hosted a morning session about practice development. Besides reinforcing the importance of networks and business development, Jim introduced us to concepts linking social media networks to professional interactions. It is easy for us to think of the two as necessarily separate, but with LinkedIn, and at times sites like Twitter, the two can truly be merged to foster professional networks and connections! Attorneys at the firm who publish blog posts covering an array of legal topics for example often share their discussions on different platforms to inform members of our own firm and far beyond of the changes in law or other findings. Utilizing these platforms effectively will definitely be helpful in discovering other individuals who are involved in areas related to our practice.

Overall, this week has sparked important ideas and concepts for the beginning of our professional careers as lawyers and also as community-members. I’m looking forward to the upcoming Academy lessons on these two aspects and more!

The Academy Happy Hour Day 1           Monday was a very special day for Jessica, Brendan, Anthony and me, as it marked the very first day of our legal careers! After spending the first half of our summer vigorously studying for the Florida Bar Examination, we each enjoyed well-deserved breaks afterwards. With two months of world traveling, beach-going, and catching up on much needed sleep behind us, we all felt refreshed and ready to embark on this new chapter: returning to Bilzin Sumberg as first-year associates! Knowing that we would be the very first class to have the privilege of going through The Academy for Professional Development made our return to Bilzin Sumberg all the more special.

Our first day was incredibly memorable. Despite it having been over a year since our summer associate program ended, walking back into Bilzin Sumberg felt as warm and welcoming as ever. We began the day with a welcome presentation from Managing Partner, John Sumberg, regarding the firm’s history, vision and commitment to community involvement throughout Miami. We then delved straight into our first interactive program of The Academy, led by University of Miami professor and mindfulness expert, Scott Rogers. This program introduced us to the practice of mindfulness, described as being present in the moment, rather than allowing outside thoughts to shift our focus and pull us away from the task at hand. We practiced meditation techniques to help quell outside thoughts that would otherwise interfere with our complete engagement in the present. Understanding that we are in control of our own thoughts was empowering. If we are practicing mindfulness, it is our choice whether we are focused or distracted. I can’t wait to incorporate these meditation techniques into my legal practice!

The rest of our day proved to be just as impactful. We were fortunate to have lunch with the second-year associates, who imparted words of wisdom and advice. We attended an inspiring program by the dynamic Werten Bellamy titled, “The Indispensable Associate.” I think it’s safe to say that we all used our newly attained mindfulness techniques to help internalize Werten’s powerful message. He gave practical and sound advice on how to take ownership of our careers and seize on opportunities to become an indispensable associate. Our first day would not have been complete without a 10@ with Marshall Pasternack to share insights and remind us that a shot not taken is a goal not scored. The day ended with a welcome happy hour at the very trendy and beautifully designed Wynwood restaurant Made in Italy. It was so great to be reunited with Jessica, Brendan and Anthony, and to reconnect with everyone at Bilzin Sumberg that had made our summer experience so impactful. With such a transformative first day, I can’t wait to see what the next two weeks has in store!

Anthony, Jennifer, Brendan and Jessica on their first day as associates
Anthony, Jennifer, Brendan and Jessica on their first day as associates

Today, we are delighted to welcome back the 2015 bloggers!  Jennifer, Jessica, Anthony and Brendan joined the firm today as first year associates.  With law school and the bar exam behind them, they are embarking on their legal careers and we are excited to begin this journey with them.  Their beginning also marks the beginning of an exciting new program at Bilzin Sumberg called The Academy for Professional Development.

Faced with a new generation of associates with a voracious appetite for hands-on training and a keen interest in becoming integral members of the community in which we practice, as well as new demands and expectations by clients that transcend conventional law school training, Bilzin Sumberg has established The Academy for Professional Development.

 

They’ll be blogging about it along the way and we can’t wait to share this experience with you!

 

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The summer associates enjoying their ice cream sundaes!

I have the honor of writing the last blog post of the summer, as today was a pretty busy day for the summer associates – a group farewell lunch with mentors at Komodo, followed by a firm-wide ice cream social and lots of individual goodbyes.

As I reflect on the past nine weeks (that literally just flew by!), I’m grateful to the summer associates for their hard work and willingness to learn new things.  They started the summer program with clear goals about the type of work they wanted, the tag along opportunities that interested them and the attorneys with whom they wanted to interact.  We hope through the program and our training and mentoring we met – and exceeded – their expectations!

Throwback to our 2017 Summer Associates at Orientation!
Throwback to our 2017 Summer Associates at Orientation!

I know that they feel as though they grew professionally over the summer and made friends at the firm and among themselves. . .oh, and they had a little fun a long the way. . .

We just want to let Frankie, Elise, Geoff, Hannah, Jenny, Claudia and Lauren know that we’ll miss them (their photoshopping skills, and their very entertaining blog posts, see here, here, here, here and here)!

As we move into the final few days of the summer, everyone is wrapping up assignments, saying their good-byes and enjoying the last of the summer events. I’m getting sad about leaving and appreciating the view from my office more every day.

View from the Brickell Ave side of the office
View from the Brickell Ave side of the office

 

Last night, the Summer Associates, Jay, and Jessica headed to Trulucks in Brickell for an amazing feast of assorted appetizers, lobster bisque, steaks, salmon, and a decadent dessert platter. The conversation was lively, as we discussed the trips we have planned for the rest of the summer, Frankie’s apartment-hunt crisis, and Elise’s exciting run-in with the star of the Summer Shorts event.

We also reminisced about all the fun we had this summer – and everyone’s embarrassing stories. Jenny, for example, tried repeatedly to go down an up escalator during a tag along with Al Dotson. Upon realizing her mistake, she committed and tried to increase her pace, ultimately failing. Elise accidentally ordered an entire fish, eyeballs and all, at Sea Spice with Scott Baena. She claims to have ordered the filet – a likely story. Continue Reading The Last Supper

This past Friday, our summer associate class spent the morning sorting through boxes of food that were donated in order to help feed hungry people across South Florida. Except for a few mishaps, our morning at Feeding South Florida was both exciting and fulfilling. The Bilzin Sumberg crew was, of course, a food-sorting force to be reckoned with.

Continue Reading Feeding South Florida

 women event 3We are in the final weeks of our summer at Bilzin Sumberg, and the fun activities are non-stop. Last week, we had our mock real estate transaction closing and a lovely happy hour with Marshall Pasternack. On Wednesday, Jenny, Claudia, Hannah, Lauren, and I had an event with the Firm’s women attorney’s at Bottle & Bottega. We were greeted at the adorable gallery with delicious food from Daily Bread (a favorite of mine and Jenny’s) and some wine to get our creative juices flowing.

Continue Reading Painting the Night Away

The time for my final summer blog post has come. I know… try to hold back your tears (regardless of whether they are tears of joy or sadness). I’ve decided to take this time to share a few tips regarding how to make the most of your time as a Summer Associate at Bilzin Sumberg:

Continue Reading Five Survival Tips for the Summer Associate

Last week markIMG_1920ed the culmination of the Mock Real Estate Transaction–a training program designed to give the summer associates exposure to the full life cycle and many phases of a real estate deal.  The summer associates were divided into two teams, buyers (Team Captain America) and sellers (Team Iron Man).

 

Weekly sessions led by Adam Lustig and Phil Sosnow covered each phase of a real estate transaction, from Letter of Intent to Closing.  Coaches Manny Gonzalez and Kent Koch were assigned to each team to help us understand and draft documents, as well as advise us in conducting negotiations.  After the informative introduction, the teams would conduct a negotiation, attempting to reach a compromise by the end of the session.  Buyers and sellers were given unique fact patterns for each phase, highlighting needs and wants to drive negotiation priorities.

The path to closing was not always smooth.  In fact, during the Contract Amendment phase, our deal almost broke down entirely.  Buyers and sellers fully embraced their roles and negotiations for an extension of the property inspection period got very heated.  Personally, I learned a valuable and mildly embarrassing lesson about the importance of stepping out of the room to confer privately.  Thinking aloud in role of the seller, I blurted out “what do we think of $X for Y weeks extension?” Buyers enthusiastically embraced my suggestion, my team shot me looks of stunned disbelief, and Adam declared “that sounds like offer and acceptance!”  I frantically back-pedaled and thankfully we were permitted to disregard my comment and move on. Continue Reading The Summer War – Let’s Make a Deal

Fishing TripToday marks our second to last Monday here at Bilzin Sumberg and we cannot believe our time as summer associates is ending. Yesterday the summer associates were in for a treat! A fishing trip with our very own expert fisherman, Mitch Widom. We all met at the firm on a beautiful Sunday morning not knowing just how tired and tan (or sunburnt) we would be coming back. On the way to Isla Morada we enjoyed the famous La Spadas subs, fantastic margaritas by Mitch, and some ocean tales of wisdom by Jose.

Once we arrived it was game time. We arranged prizes for both most number of fish caught and largest fish caught and after a quick tutorial we were ready to fish. Our first and second locations were not too great for many people… except for Jenny who was able to catch the biggest fish of the day and take the cash prize home! We moved on to our third location and suddenly it seemed like all of us were shouting “fish on!” The third location was definitely the best (my unbiased opinion after catching 6 fish in the same spot).

We finished our day at Snapper’s where we had some delicious appetizers and entrees. The group’s favorite was the hog-fish, a great recommendation by Mitch. The summer associates had a lot of fun and we all agreed it was a great way to spend the day and get to know the attorneys at the firm in a more casual setting. After dinner we jumped on the bus and headed back to Miami while our driver played some great music along the way, everything from James Taylor to Justin Bieber!