Alumni Profiles: CU JDs at Work Outside of Law Firms
Law school is a great foundation for a variety of career paths, from starting with a firm to founding a company. Read on below for some examples of the fascinating jobs that CU Law graduates are involved with now, including Marshall Custer as general counsel at GrooveShark, Julie Penner as an analyst with Liberty Media, and Chad Woodford in the legal department at Twitter. Each profile includes tips for networking and making the most out of your time at law school so that you too can prepare for your future career.
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John Bergmayer, Senior Staff Attorney, Public Knowledge My position involves advocacy at all levels—communicating with the public through blog posts and media appearances, representing Public Knowledge at conferences like Netroots Nation and South by Southwest, talking with Congress and agencies, and writing legal and policy briefs. In addition to focusing on the pressing needs of the day I am able to work on longer-term projects, and talk about the “big picture” future of different policy areas. Read full profile |
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Mike Boucher, Founder and CEO, Dakota Legal Software I do not do much of our own legal work, but being able to quickly assess a legal position or argument helps me work with our lawyers effectively. For example, by understanding the legal reasons why a lawyer might initially approach a particular situation with a risk-averse posture, I am sometimes able to help our lawyers achieve personal breakthroughs in their risk tolerance that they might otherwise find imprudent, or even terrifying. Read full profile |
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Marshall Custer, General Counsel, Grooveshark It's cliché, but I love everything about my job. I love waking up in the middle of the night with a problem running through my mind, I love the fact that there aren't enough hours in the day to finish what I need to do, and I love that the people I work with all feel the same way. I'm fully engaged in this job because of the variety and the challenge. Read full profile |
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Lisa Graves, IT Strategic Sourcing Associate Director, Intel Corporation It is the best combination of technical, business, and legal that I could “happen” into. My technical background enables me to understand the technology my group procures, my business background enables me to understand the IT business my group supports, and my team has to be experts in contracts—the best of all my experiences to date. Read full profile |
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Eric Lentell, Corporate Counsel, VeriFone, Inc. I really enjoy the ability to work on transactions in emerging markets. It is very interesting to see how different cultures approach negotiating transactions. Read full profile |
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Julie Penner, Analyst, Corporate Development, Liberty Media I work in an interesting and dynamic industry, and we own fun consumer companies. My job is also different every day. One day it could be building a financial model on a potential acquisition, the next it could be researching competitors in the online flowers market. It’s always changing and the topics are always interesting. Read full profile |
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David Wolf, CIO and Managing Principal, BSW Wealth Partners I enjoy leading an outstanding organization composed of exceptional people – building a company that enables our clients and our people to live the lives to which they aspire. Read full profile |
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Chad Woodford, Legal Counsel, Twitter At Twitter, I love working with such an energetic, engaged, intelligent and passionate team on building a service that connects people everywhere to what's most interesting to them. No two days are the same and I'm constantly challenged, intellectually and creatively. Read full profile |
