The Cup of Coffee That Helped My Career
By Lauren Jones
I didn’t know anyone when I moved from Illinois to North Carolina for law school. As if being a 1L isn’t terrifying enough, the old adage I kept hearing, that “It’s not what you know, but who you know,” made the prospect of networking feel intimidating and mysterious. However, through NCBA’s Grab-A-Coffee Program, I found that an informal meeting turned into a summer internship, three wonderful mentors, and a free pizza (or three).
I first signed up for the Grab-A-Coffee program after receiving an email from my school’s Office of Career and Student Development because the program connected students directly to a lawyer in their field of interest. When Sarah Roane and I first connected, I knew we would get along. Even via email, she came across as warm, brilliant, and excited to help. During our first meeting, she asked me what practice area I was interested in. I told her that I was keeping an open mind and was excited to intern with any practice area. Sarah mentioned that she had a connection to a worker’s comp/personal injury firm in Greensboro and asked if I would be interested in potentially interning there. She told me to bring my resume to that week’s social event, and I did. Within five minutes of meeting James, he told me that they’d try to make something work out.
To say that working as an intern this summer at Roane Law has been an absolute privilege is an understatement. Chris mentored me and made sure that I had what I needed moving forward. Going in, I had very little interest in workers’ compensation and personal injury, but now, they are areas that I am eager to investigate more. Watching James and Kara litigate has convinced me that it is something worth striving for. And I want to extend a giant thanks to Brittani, Kerri, Meranda, Stephanie, and Jim – you all rock.
Now as a 2L, my biggest piece of practical advice for law students is to read your emails. The North Carolina Bar Association, Greensboro Bar Association, Women’s Bar Association, North Carolina Muslim Bar Association, etc. all want to include students in their communities. They send out multiple messages to connect with new law students.
Attending these events makes “networking” less scary. Instead of an intimidating adage about “who you know,” I now think about networking as spending time with people who share the same interests and eating a free pizza (or three).
The Young Lawyers Division encourages all lawyers and law students who signed up for the fall 2022 Grab-a-Coffee program to check your email for details of your match assignment. We had more than 200 students sign up for GaC. Thank you to all of our volunteers!