Tell us about your interest in appellate work and why you decided to join this Mentorship Program.

My interest in appellate law began during my 1L year. Not only was I serving as a judicial intern on the Fifth Circuit, but I spent a lot of time with the 2018-2019 Captain of the Charles Hamilton Houston Moot Court Team. I learned why appellate work was so important in both spaces and what I could do to serve my community to the best of my ability in the appellate practice area. I joined TAP because I did not have any guidance on how to become an appellate attorney. Many of the places where I interviewed would always tell me that it was nearly impossible to start my career as an appellate attorney. I always left the interview discouraged from pursuing this path. As a first-generation law student, I learned most things about the legal space through trial and error. However, when I learned about TAP, I immediately submitted my application because this was something I had never seen or heard of before. After I began the program, I knew it was destiny for me to continue on my journey to become an appellate attorney.

What has it been like working with your mentor/mentee? Is there an experience you particularly enjoyed, something significant you learned, etc.?

My mentors have both been fantastic! When preparing for my interview for my post-graduate position, Ruthanne and Nic took the time to give me advice and even made recommendations on my behalf. Further, they have both assisted me in navigating the clerkship process and have let me know that the relationships we have built will be for a lifetime. As I navigate the appellate space, I look forward to reaching out to them for guidance, advice, or even recommendations. I have also been able to learn so much about them as lawyers but as individuals. Ruthanne is a subtle and humble force in her own right. Nic is a deadly genius. Both of them are lovely people, with caring hearts and tenderness in their approach. Their guidance has always led me in the correct direction. I admire them both so much and wish to be half as good as they are. Though our time together has been magical, it was limited to the virtual space. I can only imagine how much more magical it will be once we can meet in person.

What is something you will take with you from this experience? It could be appellate-related or broader, such as something you realized about yourself, mentorship, etc.

During this experience, I learned so much about just being myself and bringing that into the appellate space. In being an appellate attorney, I imagine that people have certain perceptions of how a practicing appellate attorney looks, their experiences, and their background. But it is so much more than the perceived expectation! What I love the most about TAP is that this program celebrates and embraces everyone’s differences and abilities. True diversity is not just diversity of race or nationality but also diversity in experiences, backgrounds, and skills. People are good in so many different spaces creatively, intellectually, and practically, and you have to be willing to learn and accept that. When you do, you are presented with a creative way of interpreting the law that can make it fun, enjoyable, and helpful to your current or future client. TAP knows this and seeks out mentors and mentees from all walks of life who all believe in expanding the paths into this space for anyone willing to take the journey.

I also realized through this legal journey that I can do exactly what I came into the legal field to do if I put myself out there as a person who is willing to learn and accept knowledge and advice. I have learned so much from my mentors in TAP, but also from Juvaria, my clinic professors, and other mentors who weren’t assigned to me or who aren’t even in this program. I am grateful for everyone who has taken the time to get to know me and help me learn what it is to be a diverse appellate attorney. I hope to make you all proud.

Tell us about your interest in appellate work and why you decided to join this Mentorship Program.

I have been passionate about appellate law since I participated in Georgetown’s appellate litigation clinic as a law student. I have led my own appellate boutique for the past five years. Before that, I worked as an appellate lawyer in the private and public sectors, and also taught in the very same clinic where my love affair with appellate work began. I joined the TAP mentorship program to pay it forward—as I have benefited from so many superb mentors on my own path. I am delighted to share my love of appellate advocacy, provide advice to an aspiring appellate lawyer, and to pass on knowledge that someone new to law, and appellate law in particular, may not have ready access to.

What has it been like working with your mentor/mentee? Is there an experience you particularly enjoyed, something significant you learned, etc.?

Megan has been a joy to meet with, and I have played – at most—a supporting role in her amazing successes so far. It is easy to see why she has done so well in law school and is well on her way to pursuing a promising appellate career. She is eager, super smart, hardworking, receptive to advice, and easy to talk through decision processes with. I have truly enjoyed hanging out with Megan (virtually) and sharing stories about our lives and our paths to the law. Hearing about Megan’s job search, her experiences in the Howard Civil Rights clinic, and how she has been weathering the pandemic and the Texas winter storms has been truly inspirational, and having the opportunity to offer my two cents at the margins, to someone so open to feedback, has been really fun.

What is something you will take with you from this experience? It could be appellate-related or more broad, such as something you realized about yourself, mentorship, etc.

One thing I will certainly take with me is a continuing relationship with Megan, as a mentor, and I hope over time, as a friend. Her willingness to talk about her own background and share her lived experiences has taught me in a personal and immediate way that--although talent is everywhere--not everyone starts in the same place in terms of access to information and knowledge about how best to position oneself for career opportunities. Being able to share tips and insights about navigating the first steps in what I am sure will be a stellar career in appellate practice has been extremely rewarding. And getting to know Megan has been a gift. Thank you.

Tell us about your interest in appellate work and why you decided to join this Mentorship Program.

I joined the Mentorship Program because I wanted to support The Appellate Project's important work. I've been an appellate lawyer in DC for several years, so I've grown intimately familiar with the appellate bar's lack of diversity. I've argued nearly twenty cases in federal appellate courts, and on all but one of those occasions, I was the only attorney of color to appear at the lectern -- not just in my own case, but in all of the cases on the calendar that day. When I first heard about TAP last summer, I was eager to support the organization in whatever ways I could. I'm grateful that the Mentorship Program has given me an opportunity to do that.

What has it been like working with your mentor/mentee? Is there an experience you particularly enjoyed, something significant you learned, etc.?

Getting to know Megan has been a real treat. Besides being smart and insightful, she's also just a fun person to hang out with, and I've loved getting the chance to geek out with her about appellate work. I've also learned a ton from her about what it's been like to be a law student during this crazy year, which has helped me in my own work supervising law students at Georgetown. I'm so thrilled -- and proud! -- that Megan will be working as an appellate lawyer here in DC after she graduates, and I hope that we'll get a chance to (finally) meet in person once life returns to normal.

What is something you will take with you from this experience? It could be appellate-related or more broad, such as something you realized about yourself, mentorship, etc.

I'll take many things away from this mentorship experience. More than anything, I'll take inspiration from Megan's passion for and interest in appellate law, which has been a great reminder of why I fell in love with appellate work in the first place. Megan actually turned down a great job offer from a firm in order to pursue opportunities that would give her more appellate experience early in her career. You can't help but be inspired by that kind of courage and commitment to this kind of work.