Atif Azher is a partner in Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s Palo Alto office. Atif’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, and he has been recognized as a rising star for his work representing private equity clients. His representations involve software companies, internet retailers, and pharmaceutical giants, among others.

Jonas Blank ’04, Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at NBCUniversal Media, LLC. After law school, Mr. Blank practiced at Skadden Arps in…

“Data privacy law” is one of the hottest areas in private practice right now. But what exactly does the work entail? And where and how…

Prokauer partner Jeffrey Neuburger is co-head of the firm’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group in New York. Jeff advises companies on a myriad of issues ranging from use of social media, technology acquisitions, to blockchain and crypto currencies. He also represents companies in privacy and data security matters. In addition, Jeff also teaches E-Commerce at Fordham University Law School and is the co-author of two books on business, law and technology, as well as editing and writing for the firm’s New Media and Technology blog and the firm’s blockchain blog: blockchainandthelaw.com.

Dan Chung ’03 is a litigator and partner in the Washington, DC office of Gibson Dunn. He worked as an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York and has a specialty as a trial litigator. Though not his only practice, a big part of what he does is securities litigation. When thinking about what you want to do in private practice, Dan advises law students to “start to think about ‘how can I be a counsellor or an advisor’ apart from being a lawyer… think about the skills or demeanor [needed in this respect].”

Lisa Haddad ’96 is co-head of Goodwin’s mergers & acquisitions practice and a partner in the firm’s Boston office.  Lisa has been with Goodwin since the start of her career.  In this podcast, she helps parse out the differences between “private M&A” and “public M&A” (Lisa explains that the distinction hinges on how is the buyer or seller in the transaction.)   Lisa also says that “if you have an interest in this area, you should pick up the Wall Street Journal or business sections of other newspapers – there’s a lot of interesting stories about mergers and acquisitions and market dynamics and how that might be playing into whether, and what type, of deals are getting done.”

John Gildersleeve is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson. His practice focuses on securities and complex commercial litigation in state and federal court. He started his career in litigation at Cravath in New York following a clerkship with a federal judge in the U.S. District Court, Southern District. When it comes to being a strong and successful litigator, he says “first of all, you need to enjoy writing, very much; maybe not to the extent of an appellate lawyer, where it’s the primary thing you do, but among trial court litigation practices, [securities litigation] tends to be fairly focused on writing.”

David Kafafian ’18 will start as an associate with JP Morgan in the Fall of 2018 and serves as President of the Harvard Association for Law and Business. David spent his 1L summer as a summer associate in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis and his second summer at JP Morgan. Prior to law school, David worked as a consultant at IBM.

Susan Lee ’02 is a Partner in the Healthcare Group at Hogan Lovells. Susan specializes in FDA work and works primarily with the pharma and biotech industries. Prior to practicing law, Susan served as a vice president for economic policy at a Washington, D.C. think-tank and as a consultant and manager at a premier global management consulting firm. In this podcast, Susan gives an overview of regulatory work and notes that regulatory work can be particularly attractive for those looking to develop a deep expertise in one particular subject matter and for those who are interested in the dynamics of a particular highly regulated industry.

Aniika Goldman '10 is the Director of Music Publishing & Business Operations at Spotify. She graduated from HLS in 2010.  At HLS, she was part of the Criminal Justice Institute and the  Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. After clerking for Judge Algenon Marbley in the Southern District of Ohio, she joined Cooley LLP in NY as an associate in the litigation department. She practiced at Cooley for 3 years, after which she moved to an in-house counsel position at Spotify in November of 2014. After practicing in-house for about 2 years, she transitioned to become a content program manager at Spotify, a position she held for 1 ½ years before moving to her current role in May of 2017. 

Ellen Ching, a 2007 graduate of HLS is a partner in the corporate department at Paul Weiss in New York City. Ellen focuses her practice on mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructurings. She has represented both publicly traded and privately held companies in a broad range of industries and has been named a “Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal.

The second event in HALB’s Women’s Leadership Speaker Series featured Kim Koopersmith, Chairperson of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and Jami Wintz McKeon, Chair of Morgan Lewis. These two important leaders joined us for a fireside chat where they discussed their respective paths to managing these two global law firms, challenges they faced along the way, and their outlooks on the rapidly changing legal market.

Natalie Perez '14 is an Engagement Manager in the San Francisco office of McKinsey & Company.  At McKinsey, Natalie works primarily with financial institutions. She worked as an SEO Intern at Cleary Gottlieb before law school and spent her 1L summer at the SEC and 2L summer working as a summer associate at Bingham McCutchen.

Madison McGreal '18 will start as a consultant in the Boston office of BCG in the Fall of 2018 and serves as a Management Consulting Chair for the Harvard Association for Law and Business. Madison spent her 1L summer at BCG and her second summer working as a summer associate at Ropes & Gray. Prior to law school, Madison worked for 2 years in asset management at BNY Melon.

What makes for a great interview? How do you get an employer to notice you in the first place? What matters most on your resume? What are the most common interview mistakes you should avoid? OCS and OPIA attorney advisors will provide you with guidance about how to ace your interviews and land your 1L summer job.

Dale Cendali, head of Kirkland & Ellis’s Copyright, Trademark, Internet and Advertising practice group, is perhaps one of the most highly regarded attorneys in…

Why would you want to clerk? What do clerks actually do? How does the job vary by type of court and judge? What does the application process look like from the inside? How can you make the most of a clerkship once you have one? Learn the answers to these questions and more from recent clerks. (For 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls, and LLMs at any stage of thinking about clerkships.)

OCS invites students to meet our Alumnus-in-Residence, Daron K. Roberts ‘07. After several years coaching football (for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Detroit Lions, the West Virginia Mountaineers, and the Cleveland Browns), Mr. Roberts now teaches at the University of Texas, where he founded the Center for Sports Leadership & Innovation. He is a career coach and author of “Call an Audible: Let My Pivot from Harvard Law to NFL Coach Inspire your Transition.” He will have a small, candid group discussion over lunch and is available for one-on-one meetings with HLS students who may be thinking about a career other than law, or who plan to practice law, but want to have a game plan for making a transition in the longer term.

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer’s Lou Ederer has represented companies from Tommy Hilfiger to Tom’s (the shoe maker) in precedent-setting cases involving counterfeit and brand protection disputes. His law firm partner John Ulin’s practice deals prominently protecting media and entertainment companies against piracy and unauthorized streaming. Hear about their cases and their careers in this podcast.

Hear a distinguished panel of judges discuss reflections on the job itself, paths to becoming a judge, and benefits of clerkships, all with a unique…

Neil Levy is a partner in King & Spalding’s Energy Regulatory practice who is based in Washington DC. He represents power producers, marketers, developers, pipeline and distribution companies before federal and state agencies and courts of appeal. His work covers regulatory, litigation and transactional issues arising under the Federal Power Act, the Natural Gas Act, and other laws related to the energy sector. Earlier in his career, Neil also served as a Trial Attorney and Attorney-Advisor in the FERC Office of General Counsel. He has been recognized in band one by Chambers Global for his expertise in energy matters.