Classroom Teacher to Weil Summer Associate

NEW YORK – I came to Weil after spending 15 years working in various roles in education, including as a classroom teacher in both Baltimore and New York City. In that work, one of my primary responsibilities was to build capacity and confidence in my students so they could approach novel concepts critically. In optimal scenarios, my role would be to facilitate and guide independent learning as opposed to conveying a prescribed knowledge set.

When I started law school, and now as a summer associate, I was particularly interested in whether I would find a balance of opportunities to educate myself, and the resources necessary to challenge and refine my ideas. I was concerned that my learning style, and my desire to ask clarifying questions would not be welcome in law firm culture and would be seen as a weakness or inability to arrive at a correct result or conclusion myself. While interviewing here, I asked a lot of questions about training, expectations and professional development. I was consistently told that the people here want to nurture and guide the development of new attorneys, and that has happily been my experience to date. Since arriving, I have been given assignments which required that I go out and do my best to arrive at an answer. When my answer isn’t correct, or is only partly correct, partners and associates alike have taken the time to push my thinking, to suggest new approaches, and to explain new concepts to me. Despite the radical change in professional environments, the attention and concern for each of us individually has been extremely welcoming and reinforcing. I believe the remainder of the summer will be an amazing learning experience.