Master of Laws Interviews – Season 1 Finale: Asian, female, multilingual and partner, Catherine X. Pan-Giordano, Esq.

Dorsey & Whitney Partner, Corporate Group Head NY office, Chair of the U.S.-China Practice, Member of the Management Committee in New York City

Posted by Yi Song

Master of Laws Interviews Season 1 Finale – Catherine X. Pan-Giordano!

Dorsey & Whitney Partner, Corporate Group Head NY office, Chair of the U.S.-China Practice, Member of the Management Committee

Asian, female, multilingual and partner, Catherine X. Pan-Giordano, Esq. is the epitome of success that Ingrid from the hit Netflix series Partner Track aspires to achieve.

Catherine is featured in the New York Times Magazine as one of Top Women Attorneys in New York, hailed as a Rising Star. She was honored as one of the Top Women in Dealmaking by The Deal in 2023; recognized as a Foreign Expert (China) by Chambers Global for four consecutive years and in Lawyers of Color’s Power List.

Growing up in China, Catherine loved ancient Chinese detective stories and crime fiction. She has studied law in China, Sweden and the U.S. She has been the top of her class throughout her school years, except at law school in the U.S., where she admittedly learned the most. When she started her career in the U.S. as a first-year associate, she made an unusual request with the firm that hired her. What was her ask? How did she make partner in BigLaw and earn one of the seven seats at the firm’s Management Committee? What was the most important factor contributing to her success?

Subscribe to the LinkedIn weekly newsletter to receive FREE insider tips. Read Catherine’s story here.

Master of Laws Interviews Project Season 1: Episode 9: How to succeed in law school as an internationally trained lawyer?

Posted by Yi Song

Ophelia Kemigisha, a human rights lawyer from Uganda is known for her activist work in feminism and LGBTQ rights. Like every law student, she spends most of her time reading cases. What surprises her about the reading and writing in law school is that cases you read are so convoluted yet you are expected to write something so simple and concise. What is her biggest takeaway about reading and writing in law school?

Subscribe to the LinkedIn weekly newsletter to receive FREE insider tips. Read Ophelia’s story here.

Master of Laws Interviews Project Season 1: Episode 8: How did he land an externship at BigLaw?

Haohan Wang applied to 25 externship positions and received 15 interview invites and 3 offers.

Haohan Wang received his first law degree in the UK. He studied and worked in Beijing, London and Brussels. What are the top networking tips that landed him an externship position at BigLaw?

Posted by Yi Song

Haohan Wang

A UK-trained Lawyer from China and Legal Extern at Paul Hastings

How did he land an externship at BigLaw?

Haohan applied to 25 externship positions and received 15 interview invites and 3 offers.

Haohan Wang received his first law degree in the UK. He studied and worked in Beijing, London and Brussels. What are the top networking tips that landed him an externship position at BigLaw?

How did he find the inside information about what specific skillsets certain firms are looking for?

How did he navigate the differences in business cultures, while working for White & Case representing a state-owned enterprise in China?

What does it mean to “think like a lawyer” while ordering dinner?

Subscribe to the LinkedIn weekly newsletter to receive FREE insider tips. Read Haohan’s story here.

Master of Laws Interviews Project Season 1: Episode 7: How did a LinkedIn influencer secure his externship at BigLaw?

Posted by Yi Song

How did a LinkedIn influencer secure his externship at BigLaw?

Pushkar Keshavmurthy, a LinkedIn influencer before he even set foot in law school, is the third-generation lawyer in his family. He’s dedicated to establish a career in international arbitration.

How did he jump start on building his professional network before he even set foot on the U.S. soil?

How did being a LinkedIn influencer help him land his externship at King & Spalding?

How did he demonstrate to his future employer that his previous experience add value to the firm?

Subscribe to the LinkedIn weekly newsletter to receive FREE insider tips. Read Pushkar’s story here.

Master of Laws Interviews Project Season 1: Episode 6: How did a multilingual professional dancer find her calling in public interest law?

Posted by Yi Song

Gabriela Rendon
Staff Attorney at Gender Equality Law Center

How did a multilingual professional dancer find her calling in public interest law?

Gabriela Rendon, Esq. first came to the U.S. to pursue her career as a professional dancer with Martha Graham School in New York City. Fluent in English, Spanish and French, she studied law in Argentina and France. Eventually she found her calling in public interest law at Gender Equality Law Center.

How did she turn her post-graduate fellowship into a permanent position?

How did she find a career that enables her to do impactful and meaningful work?

Why is it important for lawyers to keep a creative outlet?

Subscribe to the LinkedIn weekly newsletter to receive FREE insider tips. Read Gabriela’s story here.

Master of Laws Interviews Project Season 1: Episode 5: Eve Perez Torres – How did Sofia Vergara inspire her to embrace who she is as an international lawyer?

Posted by Yi Song

How did Sofia Vergara inspire her to embrace who she is as an international lawyer?

Eve Perez Torres moved to the U.S. from Colombia and started law school at the age of 34. She studied part time while raising a child. Today she is the Senior Attorney at FedEx working on legal and regulatory matters with counsels from around the world.

How did she land your first law job in the U.S.?

How did Sofia Vergara inspire her to embrace who she is as a lawyer?

What is it like to work in the in-house legal department for a multinational corporation?

Subscribe to the LinkedIn weekly newsletter to receive FREE insider tips. Read Eve’s story here.

Master of Laws Interviews Project Season 1: Episode 3: Xin Tao – How did he make it to the top at BigLaw as a non-native English speaker?

Posted by Yi Song

Before Xin made partner at Baker McKenzie, he could not find many role models who have the exact same background as his. He moved to the U.S. from China in his early twenties to pursue a graduate degree in biochemistry. He was increasingly disillusioned about the scientific research he was doing. One day, he was studying in the library with a friend, who was studying for the LSAT. It all started with a joke about whether Xin would be able to beat his friend on the test. Xin ended up going to law school and the rest is history.

By now you have probably read the Paul Hasting’s presentation on the non-negotiable expectations for junior associates, what does a BigLaw partner think of that? How did Xin find his first job in the U.S. leveraging the alum network at Georgetown Law? How did he survive and thrive at BigLaw? What are the challenges he faced as a non-native English speaker and how did he overcome it? How does he develop meaningful relationships with colleagues and clients?

Subscribe to the LinkedIn weekly newsletter to receive FREE insider tips from Xin. Read Xin’s story here.

Master of Laws Interviews Project Season 1: Episode 4: Yara Karam – How did a LinkedIn recipe turn into her BigLaw externship?

Posted by Yi Song

It’s also important to know how to market yourself to potential employers without selling yourself short.

Yara Karam

Yara Karam and Amal Clooney have at least two things in common. They are both Lebanese. They are both international lawyers with a LL.M. degree. Yara is fluent in Arabic, French and English. How did a Rice Krispie recipe on LinkedIn lead to her externship at Hogan Lovells, where she was tasked to do cool things such as going to congressional hearings and joining a call with the Secretary of State of the United State? How did she leverage her language skills and work experience through existing connections on LinkedIn? What’s her advice on how to become a valuable addition at your first job?

Subscribe to the LinkedIn weekly newsletter to receive FREE insider tips from Yara. Read Yara’s story here.

Yi Song, the Executive Director for Graduate and International Programs and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law, is the founder of the Master of Laws Interviews Project. The project provides curated insights to help internationally trained lawyers to establish and develop their U.S. legal careers.

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