Course Information
The Legal Profession
This course surveys the American legal profession, examining the work of lawyers across a range of private and public practice settings through panels and presentations featuring practicing attorneys. Students will consider the very diverse institutional contexts in which attorneys work and the various clients and constituencies they serve. Students will explore factors that shape attorneys’ work and careers as well as the structure, organization, demographics, and norms of the legal profession as a whole. Pass/Fail. [1]
Course contributions include videos from the following practitioners and adjunct faculty:
Large Law Firms - LitigationKristie Gallardo ’17, Associate, Snell & Wilmer
Stephanie Parker ’84, Practice Leader, Business & Tort Litigation, Jones Day
Chris Thorsen ’00, Shareholder, Baker Donelson
Large Law Firm - TransactionalShubi Arora ’05, Partner, Kirkland Ellis
Alok Choksi ’16, Associate, White & Case
Maria Hopper ’13, Associate, Haynes and Boone
John-Paul Motley ’99, Partner, O’Melveny & Myers
Stan Onyeador (JD/MBA’17), Corporate Associate, Cravath Swaine & Moore
Small/Mid-sized Law FirmsAntonio Aguilar, Associate, Taylor Pigue Marchetti & Blair
Keryann Cook, founding and managing Partner, The Cook Group
Mark Donnell ’11 (BS’05), Attorney, Sims Funk
Chris Gilmore ’11, Of Counsel, Townsend Lockett
Plaintiffs’ FirmsKathryn Barnett ’92, managing Partner, Morgan & Morgan
Mark Chalos (BS’95), managing Partner, Lieff Cabraser
Kalpana Kotagal, Partner, Cohen Milstein
Jahan Sagafi, Partner, Outten & Golden
Law Firms EconomicsBen Cowan ’97, Partner, Locke Lord
Ryan Morgan ’09, Partner, Locke Lord
Government AgenciesAmy Brown ’00, Deputy General Counsel for Housing Programs, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Tom Cross ’91, Associate Director, Metropolitan Nashville Department of Law
Adele El-Khouri ’13, former Attorney Advisor, Office of Special Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice
Kyonzte Hughes-Toombs ’04 (BA’01), Deputy General Counsel, Tennessee Department of Health;
ProsecutorsSasha Beatty ’17, Deputy General Counsel, Association of Prosecuting Attorneys
Carrie Daughtrey ’94 (BE’86), Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee
Judge Ana Escobar (BA’92), General Sessions Court, Metropolitan Nashville & Davidson County; former Assistant District Attorney General, Office of the District Attorney General (Nashville)
Neil Greenwell ’17 (BA’10), Assistant District Attorney, New York County District Attorney’s Office
Public DefendersKirk Henderson ’92, Supervisor, Capital Habeas Unit, Federal Defender for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Nakeisha Jackson ’15, Assistant Federal Defender, Eastern District of Tennessee
Vidhi Joshi ’15, Trial Attorney, Federal Defender Program, Northern District of Georgia
Georgia Sims ’09, Assistant Deputy Director & Training Director, Nashville Defenders
Legal AidAndrae Crismon ’03, Director, Volunteer Lawyers Program, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands
Stacie Jonas, Manager, Human Trafficking Practice Area, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid
Darrius Woods ’17, Staff Attorney, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation
