MOVING FORWARD AFTER A JOB LOSS

Presented by the American Bar Association ABA Career Center and Center for Professional Development

American Bar Association Center for Professional Development 321 North Clark Street, Suite 1900 Chicago, IL 60654-7598 www.americanbar.org 800.285.2221

CDs, DVDs, ONLINE COURSES, DOWNLOADS, and COURSE MATERIALS

ABA self-study products are offered in a variety of formats. Find our full range of options at www.ShopABA.org

The materials contained herein represent the opinions of the authors and editors and should not be construed to be the action of the American Bar Association ABA Career Center or Center for Professional Development unless adopted pursuant to the bylaws of the Association.

Nothing contained in this book is to be considered as the rendering of legal advice for specific cases, and readers are responsible for obtaining such advice from their own legal counsel. This book and any forms and agreements herein are intended for educational and informational purposes only. © 2015 American Bar Association. All rights reserved. This publication accompanies the audio program entitled “Moving Forward After a Job Loss” broadcast on March 13, 2015 (event code: CE1503CAS).

Discuss This Course Online Visit http://www.americanbar.org/groups/cle/course_content/cle_discussion_boards.html

to access the discussion board for this program. Discussion boards are organized by the date of the original program,

which you can locate on the preceding page of these materials.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Presentation Slides 2. How to Survive Those “Pink Slip Blues” Carol M. Kanarek 3. Job Search Strategies for Lawyers in the New Millennium Mark Weber

1

Moving Forward After A Job Loss

March 13, 2015 | 1:00 pm Eastern

Moderator Bio

1

Kathy Morris is the moderator of the American Bar

Association's monthly Career Advice Series. A former criminal defense attorney, she has taught law, pioneered professional development initiatives in law firms, and in 2000, launched the original Career Resource Center of the ABA. She counsels law students, lawyers, law schools, and law firms through her longstanding practice Under Advisement, Ltd., www.underadvisement.com. She received her JD from Northeastern in Boston in 1975 and her BA in 1971 from the University of Michigan.

Visit the ABA Career Center Website to:

• Search and apply for more than 450 high-quality legal jobs nationwide

• Upload your resume for review by hundreds of potential employers

• Receive email alerts when new jobs are posted that meet your search criteria

• Or post a job if you have an open position to fill

www.ambar.org/careers 2

Faculty Bios

3 Moving Forward After a Job Loss

Mark Weber has more than 20 years of experience counseling and advising students and attorneys about their careers. Before becoming the Assistant Dean for Career Services at Harvard Law School in 2000, he held that role at the University of Illinois College of Law, his alma mater. Mark is an active member of NALP, and has held numerous leadership positions within the organization including serving on the Board of Directors, the Long Range Strategic Planning Committee, and Chairing the Nominating Committee.

Carol Kanarek has provided career related services to lawyers, law students, and law firms for over 20 years. A past Chair of the ABA Young Lawyers Division Career Issues Committee, she conceived of and edited the first edition of Changing Jobs: A Handbook for Lawyers. Carol is a widely published author and frequent speaker at bar associations in NY and nationally and at NALP. She has a JD from the University of Michigan Law School and an MSW from NYU.

Program Agenda

• Top Issues

• Tips on the Topic

• Participant Questions

• Agree/Disagree

• More Participant Questions

• Takeaways

• ABA Resources

Moving Forward After a Job Loss

4

Top Issues

Moving Forward After a Job Loss

• How a job search after a job loss differs

• What not to do and say during your search

• How to strengthen your search and stay on course

5

Tips on the Topic

• Be strategic

• Have talking points that help you stay on message

• Try not to take the job loss personally

• Treat the situation as the opportunity it is

Moving Forward After a Job Loss

6

Audience Questions?

Moving Forward After a Job Loss

7

? ?

? ?

? ? ? ?

Agree/Disagree

Networking can be a waste of time after a job loss.

Moving Forward After a Job Loss

8

Agree/Disagree

An interview is not a confessional.

Moving Forward After a Job Loss

9

Takeaways

• You can’t move forward if you’re in denial about the past

• Try to manage your moods and expectations

• Losing a job can be a career advantage

• No matter what, you haven’t wasted your career

Moving Forward After a Job Loss

10

11 www.ambar.org/advice

Visit www.ambar.org/advice to register for our next

Free Career Advice Series Program:

How to Be a Super Supervisor

Friday, May 8, 2015 1:00 to 2:00 PM ET

12

www.ambar.org/advice

2

1

How to Survive Those “Pink Slip Blues” By Carol M. Kanarek

You’ve just gotten word that you’re being laid off--an all too common occurrence in the volatile world of legal employment. So what do you do now? First, don’t panic. Many lawyers inadvertently do major damage to their job prospects by being too reactive in the immediate aftermath of a layoff. One of the most common errors is contacting headhunters immediately, an action you should take only after you have done some market assessment and established an overall strategy for your job search. Another frequent mistake is venting anger and frustration at your current employer. You will have much greater negotiating power if you calmly assess the situation and respond with a reasonable proposal. In order to do these two things effectively, you should consult with two professionals: an employment lawyer and a career counselor who has substantial experience working with lawyers. Most companies and many law firms now require each departing professional staff person to sign a severance agreement, in which the person who is being laid off waives his or her rights to sue the company or firm, in exchange for receiving severance pay and other benefits (e.g. insurance continuation, outplacement services). Evaluating such an agreement at an emotional time can be difficult. Unless you are certain that the severance package you are being offered is reasonable for someone of your experience and tenure with the firm or company, and that you do not have a basis for claiming your termination was unlawful, it is always a good idea to have your agreement reviewed by a lawyer who is knowledgeable with respect to such matters. The extent to which you can successfully negotiate changes to the severance agreement depends on a variety of factors, including whether you are leaving as part of a group or as an individual termination, how senior in the organization you are, and the circumstances of your departure. It is generally easier to negotiate issues that don’t cost a lot of money or create an undesired precedent. For example, you can sometimes extend the date that you leave active employment and start receiving severance, assuming you can provide some valuable conclusion to one or more projects for the employer. Many severance agreements are silent with respect to what the employer will say about your termination and job performance when called for a reference by a potential employer. Before you sign, it is a good idea to obtain a written commitment to follow a mutually agreeable script. If your employer has adopted a policy of not providing substantive references and is unwilling to agree to such a script, ask that the agreement include their commitment to abide by that ‘name, rank and serial number’ policy. In most instances employment can be terminated “at will”--for any reason at any time. However, certain exceptions to an employer’s unfettered right to dismiss an employee have been recognized

2

in various federal and state laws and court decisions. For example, it is illegal to discharge an employee based on the individual’s gender, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, or disability (and additional factors, such as sexual orientation, in some localities). If you suspect that the reason identified for your departure is actually a pretext, consult an employment lawyer to determine if the facts support an argument that your discharge is unlawful. Issues involving vesting of stock options or buyback provisions should always be reviewed by a lawyer. Also bear in mind that salary already earned is legally payable to you, regardless of whether or not you sign the severance agreement. A career counselor who has experience working with lawyers can help to make your job search process more focused and productive, with less wasted time and fewer dead ends. He or she will not “place” you, but a good one will give you the tools necessary to find your next position, either directly or through a headhunter. Many companies provide some form of outplacement assistance to laid off lawyers, but you should ask to shop around for the firm or counselor who will be best for you. Some outplacement agencies are little more than glorified mailing services, with a “one size fits all” approach to vital components of their clients’ professional presentations. For example, many such agencies recommend resumes with “job objectives” or “executive summaries” (filled with lots of “action verbs”). They also often provide generic cover letters containing jargon that many legal employers find annoying. This kind of presentation is almost a sure giveaway that you are in outplacement. When you are looking for a career counselor or outplacement firm that will be right for you, bear in mind that effective assistance for most lawyers usually includes the following:

• Career planning, including both self-assessment and market assessment, so that you can identify those career options that will be both satisfying and realistic. Many career counselors place a strong emphasis on interests, skills, and values clarification--all of which are certainly important--but an effective counselor will place equal emphasis on market analysis, to ensure that the jobs you pursue are actually attainable for someone with your skills and salary requirements. In the larger cities there are a number of counselors who are former practicing lawyers, and these people can be particularly helpful if you are most interested in exploring your options within the law, whether in-house or in a firm, government agency or non-profit organization.

• Direction in the development of a systematic job-search campaign, including resume and cover letter preparation, and training in competitive interviewing and salary negotiation. Most experienced in-house lawyers will benefit from having different forms of resumes to use in different situations, and a savvy counselor will help you to customize your resume format and content to suit the job or industry for which you are applying. It is particularly helpful to prepare resumes that highlight particular aspects of your experience BEFORE you speak with any headhunters. You will enhance your chances of being interviewed for a particular position if the search firm submits a resume that demonstrates you are “a square peg for a square hole”.

• Assistance in tapping into the “hidden job market,” which yields the majority of jobs for experienced lawyers. Many CEOs of smaller companies that are not currently using in-house counsel are very receptive to an approach that demonstrates how you could save them money by working as an inside or outside “general counsel”--either on a full-time or

3

part-time basis, depending on the company’s needs. The right counselor can help you to make an effective proposal. Alternatively, many law firms will consider hiring lawyers from corporations (particularly if they have had prior law firm experience), and an experienced counselor can help you to draft a practice development plan and negotiate issues involving seniority and compensation if you are considering the possibility of law firm practice.

• Assistance in applying for positions with employers that rarely or never use headhunters, including most small companies, most small law firms, and virtually all governmental agencies, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations.

Before you submit your resume to search firms, submit it to professional colleagues who may help you to connect with jobs directly. Do not overlook any of the following:

• Former members of your law firm or company’s legal department. • Lawyers at other firms or companies that may face legal issues similar to those you have

dealt with. • Lawyers and alumni from former places of employment, especially law firms.

Once you have established a job search strategy, and prepared appropriate forms of your resume, you may want to speak to some headhunters. Bear in mind that search firm personnel are not career counselors, nor do they represent you. They represent employers, and it is the employers who set the parameters for the searches. Consequently, it is very much in your best interest to find out what kinds of positions a search firm has available, and to submit a resume which best fits the requirements of a particular job. Even if you were placed by a search firm previously, it may seem that the number of opportunities available through this route seems to have diminished. That is probably not your imagination. There are many more lawyers in the market for each in-house position than there have been over the past few years, and employers who can fill their positions directly (i.e. without having to pay a hefty search firm fee) generally prefer to do so. Also, bear in mind that most companies--unlike law firms--generally list their legal positions with only one or two headhunters. Consequently, you may need to speak to a large number of search firms in order to uncover the universe of appropriate positions. The American Lawyer includes a comprehensive pullout, “Directory of Legal Recruiters,” in its January/February issue each year. Other legal publications also print this information periodically. In addition, some retained search firms (that are not listed in directories of legal recruiters) handle general counsel-level positions. It can be very helpful to speak to directors of human resources at corporations in your desired geographic area to find out what search firms they use. Finally, don’t forget that this cloud may have a silver lining. If you are unhappy with the toll that the “golden handcuffs” of booming economic times has taken on your personal life, you may wish to use a layoff as an opportunity to reassess your work/life balance altogether. Your legal skills may be in demand in another area of the country that offers a lifestyle more compatible with your values and interests. Or you may decide that now is the time to stop living out someone else’s vision of what you should be, and to follow your own dream of work that is more entrepreneurial/more predictable/more fun. If you’re reading this publication, you’ve probably distinguished yourself in many ways for which you should be very proud. Take your time; get good advice; and bear in mind that--chances are--“the best is yet to be”.

3

Job Search Strategies for Lawyers in the New Millennium By Mark Weber It’s 10pm on a Sunday night and your heart sinks just thinking about the impending work week. You are without doubt unhappy with your job, but also too exhausted, paralyzed, or overwhelmed to do anything about it. You need a plan. Searching for a new job is a huge investment of time, energy and oftentimes money. You don’t want to waste any of these precious resources only to end up in a new job that isn’t any better than the one you already had. Nor do you want to invest all your resources and end up demoralized and frustrated because you’ve targeted an unattainable dream job. Before you send out the first resume, advanced planning and understanding of yourself, your skills and the market is crucial. Thinking about all these factors will help you target a realistic goal, plan a strategy to attain that goal, and most importantly, maintain a positive attitude throughout the job search.

I. Self Assessment

If you were completely satisfied with your current job, you would not be looking for a new job. So what is it about your job that you do not like? What is it that you do like about your job? Be specific. Before jumping into the job market, consider whether any changes you can make within your current employment situation will make a difference. If you are not happy because of the ups and downs of M&A work, perhaps just a switch to your firm’s capital markets department would be the solution. If staying at your current employer is not an option however, the first step is to start thinking about what kind of job or jobs you do want. Again, specificity is key. Being able to clearly articulate your professional goal will not only focus your search, but will focus a potential employer’s attention as well.

a. Substance

First: what practice area(s) do you find interesting? If your current practice area is satisfying, then you already have a strong skill set from which you can launch your search. If it is not, you may already have an idea about what your desired area of practice is. If not, more self-analysis is in order. You may have to go back to your reasons for applying to law school – did you somehow get derailed in your career path? What classes in law school did you find interesting? What articles in legal journals do you find yourself reading in depth? At the same time, keep open the possibility that a legal career is just not what you want anymore: a more drastic career change may be the road to happiness. If you do want to switch to another practice area or make a more dramatic career shift though, you need to think about whether such a change is realistic, how to go about making a switch, and whether you are prepared for the harder search process attendant with that career change. Really take the time to put together a game plan for your job

search. Think strategically about your next steps, and about the time frame needed to implement your plan. Rather than being overwhelmed and feeling stuck in your situation, a plan can enable and empower you to take the next steps toward your goal.

b. Setting Think about what work environment would best suit your personality. Do you want to work in a law firm? If so, would you like a big firm, small firm, or even a solo practice? Would working in-house or for the government make you happy? Are you thinking of working in a public interest organization? A lot of that may depend upon your preferred working style. Do you want more responsibility and independence? Do you prefer to work on more long-term projects? On projects that make an impact? Some organizations allow more flexibility in your work schedule, others may give you more responsibility, still others may allow for more or less travel.

c. Sacrifices The job you want may not come without sacrifices: pay, geography, prestige, or lifestyle. How much are you willing to sacrifice? If a job presented itself on the West Coast, would you be willing to leave your friends and family on the East Coast? While sometimes it is hard to make a decision in the abstract, it does help to think about such issues in advance. How much of a pay cut are you willing to take if you make the decision to leave private practice for a government job? Are you enough of a risk taker to start a solo practice? Answering these questions will again help you in formulating your job search strategy and determine what next steps to take. In thinking about these issues, try not to close off too many possibilities at the initial stage even if you think you’d rather not pursue a specific path. For example, even if your ideal job would be in-house at an investment bank, you should not disregard chances to explore in-house opportunities at other companies. Be realistic and flexible. In many cases, casting a wider net will ultimately land your desired job. For some, all these questions will have easy answers. You may have been thinking about your next career move since before you graduated from law school. For others, these questions may draw a blank. Self-assessment is not always easy, especially when you are pre-occupied with the stresses of your current job. Luckily you need not work in a vacuum: other chapters in this book, a multitude of career planning books, some geared towards lawyers, others for the general population can be extremely helpful. The Myers-Briggs test can offer valuable insight into your working style. Friends and family may also be able to offer insight on what your strengths and weaknesses are.

II. Assess your Skills Take a realistic look at your background and experience. What are your marketable skills: not only your substantive legal knowledge, but also the judgment and professional

2

skills you’ve acquired over the years? What skills and credentials do you wish to highlight? Figure out how to present these assets. Sometimes writing a draft cover letter will help you focus on your best selling points. Prepare a draft of your resume and see if these credentials and skills come across to a first-time reader. If a disinterested party were to look at your resume, what sort of job would they assume you want? Does it target the job you are seeking? What should your resume look like for the job you want? As you speak to more people through your network, you’ll have an even better idea of what a potential employer is looking for. You may very well need to build your resume: what experience do you need to acquire? What knowledge do you need to attain? Are there any professional affiliations or groups you need to join? Most lawyers do not have a strong transferable base of knowledge until after three or four years of practice. If at all possible, try to get relevant experience in the context of your current job. You may need to affirmatively seek some assignments or supplement your skills with projects outside your department. If you are in private practice, pro bono cases are great opportunities for supplementing your legal knowledge (they’re great for out-of-firm references and networking too). For some fields an additional or advanced degree may help. Many opportunities in tax law prefer a candidate with a tax LLM for example. Continuing Legal Education (CLE) classes are also a great way to supplement your skill set (and again, good networking opportunities). There may be some who are returning to the legal market after taking some years off, typically women who have taken time off to raise children. For these returning job seekers, CLE is invaluable for getting back up to speed on legal developments during those years away. In addition, it shows a potential employer that you are serious about restarting your career; otherwise you would not have made such a huge investment of time and money to attend the courses.

III. Assessing the Market

So now that you know what you want, you need to determine whether your goals are attainable. Many factors may figure into your job search, a fair number over which you have little to no control. The economy of course, will play a large part in determining what jobs are available. A potential employer will have specific needs and ideas about what it is looking for in a new hire. Your goal is to find out as much as you can about these x factors to see if you can work them to your advantage.

a. Informational Interviews and Networking

One of the most difficult, yet most important steps in any job search is the informational interview. The old adage, “it’s not what you know, but who you know” has a lot of truth to it. Career counselors are constantly advising their charges to embark on informational interviews; some recommend that 70% of your time in a job search be spent networking. Yet few people understand how to actually do it. You are not networking simply for the sake of padding your holiday card list. Whether you are informally networking at a party

3

or doing it under the guise of a more formal informational interview, your goals are two-fold: to acquire information and to impress professional contacts. The goal is not a job (at least not immediately). What you need are all the inside information or connections you can get in your target industry, employer or practice area. Specifically:

• Are your assumptions about the work environment valid? Find out the advantages and disadvantages of the position.

• What trends do insiders in the industry see? Are there any new opportunities in developing areas?

• Ask questions about the structure of the company or organization. Are there other opportunities within the field or within the company that you were not aware of?

• Figure out what skills and qualities the employer values. Ask about your contact’s own career history.

• Finally, you need advice – what steps would your contact recommend to someone seeking a job in your area of interest?

Try to connect with people who may be able to provide such information. Personal and professional friends and acquaintances are a good start. They might be able to make introductions to others they know. The idea of ‘six degrees of separation’ is not far from the truth, especially within certain specialties and industries. Bar association groups, law school or college alumni associations, law school career services offices, acquaintances in the neighborhood or other community groups are also good sources for meeting people. Try to attend as many functions as you can, offer to lead groups or help on projects. The more you get to know people in a substantive context, the easier it is to forge a lasting connection. Being systematic and strategic in your networking approach is a good way to get the most from the process. Make a list of people who might be helpful in your job search. Write down the questions you have about the industry, company or position so that you will remember to bring these up during your meeting (but don’t read from your list during the meeting!). Overcome any initial feelings of shyness or insecurity you may have and reach out to those on your list. Some informational interviews will be more helpful than others, but be sure to ask during your meeting whether you can follow up afterwards. If possible, try to leave each meeting with a specific point to follow up on, such as another contact or a piece of advice to improve your skill set or resume. Most people are very willing to help others, but remember that they are not simply an information trove that you can tap. Try to get to know them as people, be considerate of their time, and above all, don’t forget to thank them for meeting with you. When someone is sacrificing their time at no obvious benefit to them, a thank you note goes a long way. The thank you note is also your first step in following through and maintaining the connection. The process of searching for a job will likely take a number of months or even a year. Your contact may not have any specific leads on a job during your initial meeting, but one may crop up later in your search. Furthermore, although people who

4

you are contacting now may not help directly in this job search, they could be instrumental in your next search. It is up to you to maintain and cultivate the connection. Finally, don’t forget to let them know when you do land your new job, and thank them again for all their help. Networking ultimately is about attitude, enthusiasm, and a genuine interest in other people. It is not about being the biggest schmoozer in the room. As you go through the process, think of it as creating a circle of people who know you, respect you and like you. The more you do it, the more comfortable it will feel to you and the more natural you can be, allowing your strengths to shine.

b. The economy and state of the industry Of course, a significant factor in any job search is the state of the economy. Sometimes we can get so entrenched in our own job that we fail to recognize trends in the general economy or in a specific industry. Keeping up with current events and trends is not only crucial to assessing the job market, but also goes a long way when striking up conversations and networking with people in your area of interest. General newspapers, business papers and also newsletters within your industry will provide valuable information. In addition, industry newsletters can provide names of potential contacts in the area in which you are most interested. Finally, don’t forget to search the website of whatever organizations you may be interested in. Very often you can find information about the organizational structure, values, and business strengths of the company. What is the newest development or area of growth? Where is the company having problems? That could be an area to avoid, yet sometimes turmoil can also churn up opportunity; which situation is it? An insider’s knowledge provides you with invaluable insight.

IV. Applying for the Job

a. Getting in the Door

Oftentimes the first impulse in any job search is to reach for the classifieds, or in some cases, to call a headhunter. However, most successful job seekers will tell you that they got their position through personal contacts. Having spent (hopefully) a large amount of your time networking in the past few months, you have a substantial body of contacts who know that you are looking for a job. Don’t forget to maintain contact with the people that you’ve reached out to, and keep them updated on your job search. In that way, they will remember to contact you if an opportunity comes to their attention. This is not to say that you should ignore the services of a legal recruiter or never answer a classified ad. Government agencies or smaller firms and institutions regularly hire through public postings. Today, the internet makes it extraordinarily convenient not only to search for these openings, but also submit an application and resume without even paying for a stamp. You would be remiss if you did not research online sources for job listings. Log onto company and law firm websites: many larger organizations will directly

5

list openings on their site. Your law school career services office may also have a job bank where they list opportunities for alumni. Headhunters too, can be effective in certain contexts. Most often they succeed with mid-level to senior associates who are moving from one large law firm to another. They also recruit on behalf of large corporations, especially where a company may be searching for an in-house counsel with expertise in their particular industry or field. In either of these scenarios, if you do not have a personal contact, a legal recruiter may be of help. Be aware though that you cannot simply hire a legal recruiter to find you a job and be done with it. A headhunter receives a commission from the employer for a successful placement: your needs don’t necessarily coincide. You must not only be an active participant in your job search but the lead driver. Make sure the headhunter does not distribute your resume without your permission. Make sure you understand what steps the headhunter can take on your behalf before you commit to using his or her services. Work only with recommended headhunters who listen to your needs and understand the requirements of the jobs they are listing. Finally, there is the unsolicited cover letter approach. After you’ve networked and networked until you’ve exhausted all apparent resources, after you’ve searched the internet for possible job listings, and after you’ve determined whether a headhunter is for you, you can try the unsolicited letter. You will hear stories of unsolicited cover letters resulting in jobs: the person serendipitously has exactly the right qualifications for a job that the company was about to list. Realistically though, this is the least effective method of job searching, simply for the reason that more often than not, a job opening doesn’t even exist. So upon receipt, your resume will be filed away and perhaps when and if an opening ever occurs the human resources department will remember that you once wrote asking for a job – not a very likely scenario. By far the better tactic to take if you are not shy about sending out unsolicited letters is to use them as a networking tool; don’t use them to ask for a job, but rather use them to ask for an informational interview. Whichever approach(s) you take, you need to maintain accurate records. Make sure you keep track of who you’ve spoken to, about what, who you’ve sent resumes to, and when you did so. Multiple applications to a single employer can sometimes confuse and delay the process.

b. Timing Perhaps you have been able to do all this research and networking after-hours or taking time off for “doctors’ appointments” or half a day for a “family obligation.” At some point though, you will probably need a substantial period of time for follow up interviews. Once you have truly decided that you want another job, you need to devote full effort in searching for that job. At the same time, you don’t want to slack off at your current job, nor do you want to make it obvious that your days there are numbered. The best strategy is to try to take a week’s vacation and devote that time to the search: try to schedule as many interviews as you can for that week.

6

V. Positive Persistence

Be patient. Very rarely does the ideal job appear immediately. Be positive. Rejections will be inevitable, and do not necessarily reflect on your qualifications. Maintaining a positive attitude will go a long way in persuading others to help you when networking. Be realistic as well: rejections could be a message that you do not have the requisite skill set for the job you are targeting, or perhaps that you are not effectively selling your skills to the employers. Be persistent. You should be constantly reassessing and finding more information about what skills you need and how you should present those skills if your message is not getting across. You never know when your next meeting, application or interview will result in your new job. Mark Weber has more than 20 years of experience counseling and advising students and attorneys about their careers. Before joining Harvard Law School in 2000, he was the Assistant Dean for Career Services at the University of Illinois College of Law for six years. Prior to that, he practiced law for six years at a mid-sized firm in Chicago focusing on tax, corporate and bankruptcy matters. He is also a CPA and worked in the tax department of a Big Four public accounting firm in Chicago for two years. Mark is an active member of NALP, the Association for Legal Career Professionals and has held numerous leadership positions within the organization including serving on the Board of Directors, the Long Range Strategic Planning Committee, and Chairing the Nominating Committee. Mark received his B.S. in Accountancy from the University of Illinois and his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law

7