By Christina Schweighofer
Talk to Amy Alderfer, JD 1999 for any length of time, and one word will repeatedly pop up: relationships. It is only fitting, then, that she should be the new president of the USC Gould Alumni Association. And it won't surprise anyone that she wants to focus part of the group's efforts on reaching out to new law students. "I want to make sure the students at the law school are introduced to the Alumni Association early on," she says, "so that we're not just welcoming them into our fold at the end of their third year."
Alderfer, who is a partner and commercial litigator with Cozen O'Connor in Santa Monica, has a number of additional goals for her two-year term. They include new synergies with bar associations and other USC schools, family events on weekends and meaningful programming for everyone.
She also wants to nurture relationships with USC Gould alumni from Graduate and International Programs and with those not living "right here in the hub," in Los Angeles. "It's important they feel connected and not like they're the only USC person in their region out there," she says, "because they are not." Currently, USC Gould has more than 10,000 alumni around the globe, from Argentina to Vietnam and everywhere in between.
Alderfer, whose favorite classes in law school were Torts and Civil Procedure, built her litigation practice by representing a wide variety of clients from large corporations to family businesses. Alderfer has particular expertise in defending putative class actions and mass tort cases. She thrives on the procedural aspects of her work, on developing strategies not just for the litigation phase but also for avoiding further lawsuits. "I'd rather build long-term relationships than just go for the quick fix," she says.
Arguing that effective advocacy comes from thoroughly understanding a client's business, she frequently meets not only with key company decision makers but with the employees who are the lifeblood of the entity. "I love making those personal connections with people on the ground level and finding a way to tell the company story so that other people understand the human side of some of these corporations," she says.
Despite spending most of her time on cases and clients, Alderfer retains enough energy to pursue other passions and interests and to enjoy family life with her husband, Jamie Bernald, JD 1999, their two sons in elementary school and their yellow Lab. She doesn't watch TV but reads literary fiction and non-fiction. Two recent favorites are "Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine" and "The Eternal Life of Henrietta Lacks".
The "much happier when busy" type, she advocates for women by mentoring female attorneys at the firm and by actively participating in Every Mother Counts, a charity that aims to improve the outcomes for pregnancy and childbirth worldwide. Alderfer is also an avid runner and completes three or four half-marathons a year. Once again, she's in it for the long haul.
n hypothetical start-up. We focus on a fictitious studio from conception to creating its legal entity to the release of a slate of movies. We reviewed financing as well as domestic and foreign distribution agreements, negotiated and drafted documents, and learned how to use those agreements to secure initial funding from banks.
Mei Tuggle, JD 2017
USC Gould School of Law
699 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90089-0071
Copyright © 2024 USC Gould. All Rights Reserved.