YLD and Reed Smith LLP Panel Event: “Exit Strategies”
By Allison Brown
On September 23, 2009, the Washington Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and Reed Smith LLP co-hosted “Exit Strategies: How to Make Transitions and Power Moves to Further Your Career,” a panel event. The five panelists who participated were A. Scott Bolden, Managing Partner of Reed Smith; Monica Parham, Diversity Counsel for Crowell & Moring LLP; Judge Karen Howze, Magistrate Judge for the D.C. Superior Court; Warren Brown, Founder and Owner of Cake Love and Love Café; and B. Delano Jordan, founding Principal of Jordan Law LLC. Allison Brown, Government Attorney and Entrepreneur, was the moderator.
With the legal market in a state of flux, more and more attorneys are considering professional transitions, some voluntarily so, while others have been forced to do so because of circumstances beyond their control. Exit Strategies was billed as an event to help young attorneys broker the necessary moves to propel their careers in the right direction, and the room was filled to capacity as attorneys, of varying ages and levels of experience, came through to hear what gems our panelists had to offer.
Exit Strategies panelists discussed their successful, and significant, transitions from one career path to another. A. Scott Bolden spoke about moving from government service to managing partner of one of the largest law firms in the world, while Monica Parham discussed shifting from litigation practice in a large law firm to consulting that law firm on all issues related to diversity. Judge Karen Howze then spoke of her journey from journalism, and entrepreneurship within journalism, to solo law practice and then to the judiciary. Finally, B. Delano Jordan and Warren Brown reflected on their diverse pursuits in entrepreneurship - Mr. Jordan, from associate and counsel for a large law firm and in-house patent attorney for Intel to hanging out his own shingle in a very specialized practice area; and Mr. Brown, from government practice to going completely outside the law in an entrepreneurial capacity.
After discussing their individual transition experiences, panelists offered general advice and recognized that transitions can take many forms, such as: (a) contract or law firm attorney to starting one’s own practice; (b) law firm to government; (c) associate to partner; (d) law firm to in-house; (e) government to private practice; and (f) fellowship or clerkship to practice. Panelists also offered advice to those no longer interested in practicing law and to those concerned about transitioning given the current tenuous state of the market.
The recurring themes of the panelists’ contributions were about the value of networking, trusting one’s instincts, and taking calculated risks.
WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION TO HONOR CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYER JOHN PAYTON AT ITS ANNUAL LAW DAY BANQUET
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The primary purpose of the Law Day Dinner is to award the Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit and to present scholarships to deserving law students. It is awarded annually to an individual who has demonstrated a commitment to the ideals of one of our founders, Charles Hamilton Houston, a man who was dedicated to using law as a means of effecting social change and equal justice. Last year’s recipient was the Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States. Other past recipients of the award include Supreme Court Justices Thurgood Marshall and William J. Brennan, Jr.; the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (posthumously); the Honorable William T. Coleman, Jr.; Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Senior Managing Director of the investment firm Lazard Freres & Co. and Counsel to the law firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld and other prominent individuals. As the 2010 recipient of the Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit, Mr.Payton is being recognized for his distinguished contributions as a civil rights lawyer and public servant. One of his best known cases involved the use of race-based measures to address admissions requirements at the University of Michigan. He argued that case before the United States Supreme Court, Gratz v. Bollinger, and won.
The co-chairs of the Law Day Committee are WBA 1st Vice President Iris McCollum Green (Green & Foushee) and William (Billy) Martin (Howrey LLP). The honorary co-chairs for the banquet are Harvard Law School Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. and Elaine R. Jones retired Director-Counsel/President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. Both Professor Ogltree and Ms. Jones are past recipients of the WBA’s
Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit. | 
