AFA welcomed 1Ls and new LLMs today at our first meet and greet of the year. We also enjoyed raising the glass once again with old friends. It was exciting to have such a great turnout, especially from vets from militaries across the world. Here’s to a great year ahead!
Tag: HLS Veterans (Page 1 of 4)
AFA members had the pleasure of dining with attorneys from Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom, Bill Frank, Vinnie Chiappini, and Garen Marshall, at Russell House Tavern. A big thanks to Skadden for the opportunity to learn about the firm, its history, and its support for veterans!
Skadden is one of the only large law firms with a veterans affinity group, SkadVets. They also are committed to pro bono work for veterans. For more information about Skadden’s pro bono works for veterans, read about “Military Mondays.”
The Armed Forces Association and National Security Law Association teamed up to host attorneys from Arnold & Porter for a lunch panel discussion about the firm and its national security law practice. The attorneys included:
- Chuck Blanchard (HLS ‘85), Partner and Former General Counsel of the Air Force and the Army
- Amy Jeffress, Partner and Former Counselor to the Attorney General
- Chris Beeler, Associate and Former Army Engineer Officer
- Alejandra Parra-Orlandoni, (HLS ’15), Associate at Gunderson Dettmer and Former Navy Surface Warfare Officer
The attorneys discussed Arnold & Porter’s exceptional national security law practice, including its work related to CFIUS, white-collar investigations, government contracts, export control, and the growing field of cybersecurity. In addition, the panelists spoke about own public service, detailed how it informed their experience as lawyers at Arnold & Porter, and emphasized the importance of government service, especially for law students interested in pursuing national security law. Lastly, Chris Beeler and Chuck Blanchard spoke about Arnold & Porter’s significant pro bono work, in particular Arnold & Porter’s commitment to veterans navigating service-connected disability claims.
Arnold & Porter is a proud Gold sponsor of the Armed Forces Association.
David Perkins, a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and a U.S. Army veteran, spoke with AFA members about his military service and his transition to the legal industry. David detailed his unique experience of being called back as a 2nd year associate at Cravath to active duty from the Inactive Ready Reserve to deploy to Afghanistan in 2008. He also discussed the growing presence of veterans in law schools and the legal industry. He advised AFA members to leverage the skills that they developed in the military, such as effectively managing others, adapting to tough situations, and negotiating solutions, to succeed after law school.
David Perkins and Cravath helped support last year’s women student veterans panel co-hosted by AFA and the Women’s Law Association.
Featuring its crest and the U.S. flag, AFA’s new t-shirts are in! AFA members Pamela Gaulin, Josh Mathew, Matt Folks, and Carl Min had the opportunity to present shirts to Dean of Harvard Law School John Manning, Dean of Admissions Jessica Soban, and Dean of Students Marcia Sells. Dean Manning, Dean Soban, and Dean Sells were incredibly grateful. Dean Manning shared stories about his own father’s service in the European Theatre during World War II, and Dean Soban spoke about HLS’ efforts to attract veteran candidates.
