Transactional law alumni dinner matches students & attorneys
Question: How do you get nearly two dozen USC Gould alumni, all of whom are busy attorneys working in transactional law, to travel to campus for a 5:30 p.m. networking event with law students?
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| Business Law Society co-founders Justin Goldberg and Mikhail Brandon |
Answer: You invite them.
The Trojan network was on display at the inaugural Transactional Law Alumni Dinner, held April 1 at USC’s Town & Gown. Hosted by the USC Business Law Society (BLS), the networking event brought out more than 70 students eager to meet alumni representing 10 practice groups and more than 15 firms.
For Business Law Society co-founders Justin Goldberg ’13 and Mikhail Brandon ’13, who created the event, the idea was simple: sort tables by practice area, match attorneys with students interested in each area, and then let the conversation begin.
“We wanted to help create organic relationships between the alumni and the students,” Goldberg said. “The alumni have been awesome, they’re so responsive…that’s one of the key things about USC.”
Goldberg and Brandon said the event provides transactional law alumni with an opportunity to connect with the law school and creates a comfortable networking environment for their fellow students.
Both third-year students have aggressively pursued networking opportunities since their 1L year, scheduling informational interviews in Los Angeles and other cities that are home to USC Gould alumni. Because these experiences have been so valuable to them, they wanted to create an event that would help replicate that networking experience for 1Ls and 2Ls who may not be as outgoing and assertive.
“Networking can sometimes be difficult for law students. [They] are a little bit reserved,” said Brandon, who is earning a dual J.D./MBA with the USC Marshall School of Business.
By creating an event that emphasized casual interaction, the BLS co-founders hoped that students would be comfortable asking questions of attorneys in a particular practice area.
“If you want to be a real estate lawyer, we’ll put you in touch with someone who does real estate. Same with IP, M&A…It’s someone to bounce questions off,” Goldberg said.
Those conversations can lead students to not only learn more about a practice area but also to be able to discuss it more confidently on a job interview.
“We certainly can help students speak more fluently in their practice areas,” Brandon said.
Although the benefit to students may be clear, the participating alumni were equally enthusiastic about the event, according to Goldberg.
“[The alumni] love coming back and helping. Someone helped them, so they love paying it forward,” he said. “We thanked them, and they thanked us back.”
Marc Bauer ’07, a managing associate in Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe’s public finance department, said he enjoyed being able to share his knowledge with the law students.
“[The event] was great – they did a great job of setting up an atmosphere where we could have a free dialogue,” Bauer said. “It’s important for students interested in transactional law to meet lawyers practicing in their field.”
Bauer also had some advice for future lawyers.
“Make sure you do what makes you happy,” he said. “You’re going to be spending a lot of your time doing it.”
In terms of both the event’s planning and ultimate success, Brandon and Goldberg were quick to deflect credit. The logistical planning of the event fell to BLS board members Jennifer Cohen ’14 and Melissa Boey ’13. And the attendees brought the enthusiasm.
“The Trojan network activates on its own,” Brandon said. “All we did was put the pieces in place.”
Brandon and Goldberg hope the event will be staged annually, and that fund-raising activities and sponsorship opportunities for firms will help underwrite the dinner.
“I can’t wait to come back as an alum for this event,” Goldberg said.
- photo by Maria Iacobo
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