Webinar Recording
Aug 19, 2020
Webinar Recording: Alternative Legal Careers: A Discussion on Non-traditional Paths for Juris Doctors
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About the Program
Let’s face it, not all juris doctors are practicing attorneys. We’ve all heard this phrase a time or two: “There’s lots you can do with a law degree.” The question is “what?” During this discussion, we hear from three juris doctors using their degrees in non-practicing roles. We explore various areas where you can use your JD including project management, education, and legal sales and marketing.
Panelists:
Courtney Smith, Legal Project Manager, Seyfarth
Clients look for project management to help support the work of attorney teams across all of Seyfarth's practice groups. When there is a large or complicated scope of work, Courtney helps keep things organized and on track, and helps facilitate direct lines of communication between client and internal teams. She ensures that new engagements start out on the right foot with the right processes in place. For existing engagements, Courtney helps find process improvements to better deliver for her clients.
Dustin Robinson, Senior Client Engagement Manager, Seyfarth
Dustin advises on the deployment of portfolio and matter management tools that provide a foundation for meaningful attorney-client partnerships. As the firm's client engagement manager and a solutions consultant, this often takes the form of assisting with new or enhanced portfolio standups and optimization of the process, project management, technology, and data solutions the firm offers. He also keeps an eye and an ear open for other ways to augment the firm's service delivery for clients, be it through offering assistance from another wing of the firm or advising on bespoke consulting solutions.
Phillips Thomas Hornbuckle, J.D.
Phillips Thomas Hornbuckle, J.D. (she/her/hers) is a native of Anniston, Alabama. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with her Bachelor’s degree in international studies from The University of Alabama in 2009, and earned her J.D. at UA School of Law in 2012. In her time as a Blackburn Undergraduate Fellow and Alabama Action Co-Director, she used her time in both programs to engage with peers and professionals on multifaceted and challenging state, regional, and national issues. Phillips’ passion for investing in people led to a career shift from law into student affairs.
Phillips is currently the Director of the Office of Intercultural Student Life & Global Programming at York College of Pennsylvania in York, PA. Her department provides diversity and inclusion programming and international student support, and runs the York Cares Food Pantry, which supports students experiencing basic needs insecurity. She also supervises the Office of Spiritual Life and the Doris and Bernard Gordon Center for Jewish Student Life. She is the project director for state and federal grants that support campus-wide efforts to combat sexual violence and leads her campus’ committee focused on increasing voter engagement and turnout through the PA ALL IN Democracy Challenge and NASPA Voter Friendly Campus initiatives. She also serves as her college’s NCAA Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee and assists with institutional responses to reports of bias and discrimination.
She currently lives in Harford County, Maryland, with her husband Chad Hornbuckle, Ph.D., and their two children, Atticus and Etta.
Moderator:
Whitney Woodard, Legal Project Manager, Seyfarth
Whitney uses her project management experience and legal education to create efficient processes and streamline legal service delivery. Prior to joining Seyfarth, Whitney was a project manager in the telecommunications industry, where she worked with major carriers to implement regional upgrades across the nation. Over the course of her career, she managed large-scale LTE upgrades, developed and implemented a high-volume client deliverable production room, and served as a consultant for internal business units on project management and client management practices. Whitney brings her agile project management approach and large-scale project experience to the legal industry. Whitney is on the Junior Board for My Block, My Hood, My City and enjoys giving back to the Chicago community.