This summer, I’ve had the honor of writing both the first blog post and the final blog post. In my first post, I talked about the welcome wine and cheese event, the training sessions, and being back at Bilzin Sumberg. It is hard to believe that when I was writing that post nine weeks ago I barely knew Forrest, Luis, Alex, and Eric (Lauren I knew from last year!), and I had no idea that they would become such great friends and supportive colleagues.

Before we get to the end of summer fun, we have to get through the last of our assignments and our end of summer reviews. While I’m always a little bit nervous before the reviews, the attorneys always seem to provide helpful and encouraging feedback. Plus – my great mentor Lindsey Parker is always there with me! I’ve also tried to make an effort this year to reach out to individual assigning attorneys for feedback before my review — a suggestion from Jay Sakalo and Jessica Buchsbaum that I think has been helpful in improving my work and to building stronger relationships with the attorneys at the firm. Continue Reading The Final Few Days of a Great Summer

IMG_2508At the end of the last week, Bilzin Sumberg’s Women’s Initiative organized a Floral Design event for the women attorneys and summer associates. After work, we all headed down to a conference room and were greeted by tons of gorgeous flowers, Mediterranean food, and some wine to get the creativity flowing. At my table, we chatted about travel, tennis lessons, and how quickly the summer has blown past us, as we got ready to make flower crowns and carnation bouquets.       
Continue Reading Flora and Fun

Concept image of the six most common questions and answers on a signpost.One important decision (among many) that an aspiring attorney must consider is what legal market to practice in. Many factors go into this decision-making matrix, including—but not limited to—the demand for specific practice areas, paths to partnership, market trends, family, weather, food, and proximity to the beach. Of course, the order of importance of

2017 Summer Associates Mock Transaction Meeting 1I think it was Posh Spice who once said, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”  Sure enough, we ran into the proverbial wrench in the plan during a mock real estate transaction meeting last week.  Due to a (thankfully fictional) emergency, an amendment to our carefully negotiated contract was suddenly necessary.  Luckily for us, there is protocol for these types of situations.  We sat down once again at the negotiating table; when the dust settled, the buyer’s team had more time, and the seller’s team had more money.

As you can tell, our deal is moving right along!  To refresh the reader’s memory, Lauren and I serve as counsel for the buyer, David Beckham (aka Eric Reissi).  Hannah and Luis serve as counsel for the seller, Scary Spice (aka Alex Barshel).  At stake for the buyer is the last piece of property needed for the construction of a MLS stadium; at stake for the seller is a pile of cold, hard cash.  Since our first negotiation for the letter of intent (which Eric so eloquently explained) we have actually had several meetings and cut numerous deals.Continue Reading The Wrench in the Plan

Building Relationships (2)We are reaching the midpoint of our summer program here at Bilzin Sumberg and each day continues to present new learning and networking opportunities! Building relationships is essential to fostering a strong workplace environment, and everyone here does a phenomenal job of ensuring that we summer associates are a part of the team!

One way

Concept image of the six most common questions and answers on a signpost.

Our first week at Bilzin Sumberg came and went. We dined with attorneys, judged a baking contest, and attended firm events. Somewhere in the midst of that, we received our first few assignments. It only took a few days of working to realize how lucky we are to have so many resources available to help us complete them.

Just down the hall from the summer associates’ offices, Bilzin Sumberg houses a sizable library. Books line the walls from floor to ceiling, a familiar sight to us students. One or more librarians at a time staff the library all day and into the night. The library staff members are experts in their field and are available to us any time we have a research question, no matter how big or small.
Continue Reading I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends