Winter session course offers unique opportunity for students considering a career in law

This past January, Harpur College hosted its 8th annual winter session course entitled, “Current Issues In Legal Practice.” What makes this a truly unique course is that it is coordinated by the Dean of Harpur College, with legal modules taught by nine prominent, successful law alumni, several of them steering committee members of the Harpur Law Council of Binghamton University. Each alumnus shared their journey from undergrad through law school to career and spoke about their area of specialty. The course consisted of 3 nights of lectures held at the offices of Interpublic Group in mid-town Manhattan, hosted by Harpur alumnus, Andrew Bonzani ’86, Interpublic’s Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. On the fourth night, students participated in the annual Metro Connections Night, where they had the opportunity to network with additional attorneys who provided students with career advice and insight and answered students’ questions about working in the legal industry.

Twenty-two students participated in the January 2017 four day course. Students enrolled in the course ranged from freshman to seniors with various majors and shared a common interest – the law. Many students began the course with the preconceived notion that being a lawyer entailed arguing in front of a judge in a courtroom, similar to a scene out of “Law & Order.” After just the first night, that preconceived notion was shattered as students gained greater awareness about the different types of legal practice and the wealth of possibilities available with a law degree.

The first night of class kicked off with alumna, Judge Lillian Wan ’97, New York City Family Court Judge for Kings County. Judge Wan’s lecture and the readings provided to students prior to class focused on child abuse and neglect proceedings in family court. Judge Wan walked students through the process of becoming a family court judge and led an open discussion on the types of cases she hears on a regular basis. Heidi Goldstein ’81, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the Phoenix House Foundation led an interactive presentation entitled, “General Counsel for a Day.” Students got a flavor for what a general counsel does and the opportunity to participate in a hypothetical exercise on how they would recommend handling a particular matter. The third lecturer of the evening was veteran speaker, Frank Vellucci ’94, Partner at the law firm Chadbourne & Parke LLC. Vellucci introduced students to the important role attorneys play in the venture capital industry. For most students, venture capital and economics emerged as intriguing new career paths that many hadn’t even considered beforehand.

The second night included speakers Andrew Bonzani ’86, Shareema Abel ’96 and Linda Riefberg ’81. Bonzani presented on shareholder activism sharing a real-life example of how his company dealt with activism engagement and what his role was throughout the process. Shareema Abel ’96, Special Counsel for Ethics, Risk and Compliance for New York State Homes and Community Renewal, captured the students attention as she delivered a sample opening statement. Looking each student in the eye, standing tall, speaking clearly and calmly, walking gently around the room, Abel demonstrated the importance of how the words, body language and tone used in an opening statement can set the stage for an entire trial. Students were tasked with writing their own opening statement based on a fact pattern received prior to class. Several students volunteered and delivered their statements both from the prosecution and defense side and received valuable feedback from Abel. The impromptu nature of their case arguments made their compelling performances that much more impressive. Afterwards, Linda Riefberg ’81, In-House Counsel at the Innocence Project finished up the night, spoke on the timely issue of wrongful convictions, false confessions, and the appeals process, a topic students felt passionately about. Riefberg discussed her role and the role of the Innocence Project working to exonerate wrongfully convicted prisoners. Riefberg, former Chief Counsel of FINRA, showed students that your career path can take you in many directions and that flexibility exists to shift between the private and public sectors.

The third night featured Scott Ferrauiola ’87, Associate General Counsel for IBM Watson, Nelson Mar ’94, Senior Staff Attorney for Legal Services in the Bronx, and first time lecturer for the class, Allen Hecht ’82, Senior Counsel at National Grid and adjunct professor at Touro College Law Center. Ferrauiola educated students on the role of Artificial Intelligence in legal practice and projections for the future. Mar discussed education law in the South Bronx, the school to prison pipeline, trauma in education and racial disparity. Mar discussed a recent case he won that resulted in policy change in New York City Schools. Hecht delivered an enthusiastic presentation on ethics and how students can prepare now to be honest and responsible future attorneys and citizens. He commented that one’s career path is not linear and cited some examples in his own life. Hecht also focused on the importance of networking with people and offered tips on how to be successful at making and keeping connections. Students took Hecht’s presentation to heart and practiced using the networking skills he taught the following evening at Metro Connections Night.

A common theme that rang true through all the presentations, despite the area of practice or the differences in job responsibilities, was passion. Hard work, honesty and stepping out of your comfort zone were key take-away points for the students as they concluded the winter session class. It was inspiring for students to hear from individuals who were once in their shoes at Binghamton trying to figure out that next chapter in life. Several students commented in their writing assignment for the course, that they hope to one day be a presenter for the class, sharing their wisdom and passion for the law with the next generation of Binghamton students.

Whether you are a student just thinking about a possible career in law, or studying for the LSAT exam and prepping law school applications, this course gives students an insider view of the practice of law, exposure to the vast array of options in the legal field and further develops students’ understanding of what it takes to achieve a successful career in law. The course provides students with guidance, a sense of direction and most importantly connects them with alumni willing to listen and offer sound advice as students face important decisions about life after graduation. In this way, the Harpur Law Council winter session course is a truly unique opportunity for Harpur students considering a career in law.