Monday Mentors with Austin Education Lawyer Haley Turner

Haley Turner, partner and education lawyer with Walsh Gallegos in Austin, joins us on the show today. Haley talks about the benefits of lawyering by Zoom, learning from those around you, and how to get attention with your resume.

COVID update (interview recorded June 25, 2020)

• reality of practicing through video conferencing v. in-person
  • removes a lot of superficial posturing and distractions and lets you get right to the lawyering
  • nine hour evidentiary hearing on Zoom recently, swearing in a witness with a camera aimed up her nose
  • hopes much of this will remain after COVID is gone; lets take ourselves less seriously and the law more seriously - less emphasis on posturing and pea-cocking
  • enjoys seeing her clients more frequently via Zoom in place of phone calls; will phone calls go the way of the fax machine?
• She didn't know anything about practicing through technology before this
  • making sure you maintain confidentiality when sharing documents with the other side during depos/hearings is an issue

Race and the law

• we need to reflect on how we've handled ourselves in the past
• educate ourselves on the facts and issues
• must advocate for our clients without putting forth negative/out-of-date concepts and stereotypes; don't have to sacrifice our morals
• purpose of the legal system is to ferret out injustice

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Haley's practice

• multiple offices across Texas and one in New Mexico
• represent public K-12 school districts
• she serves as general counsel for a number of districts across the state
• they have a litigation team, a transactions team, a special education team
• lots of travel all across the state to visit these school districts, many of which are in rural/remote communities, attending school board meetings, etc.
• COVID and schools
  • in some ways there is precedent with hurricane-created school emergencies and closures along the Gulf Coast, but this is another level
  • how can schools fulfill their obligations to employees and students during this environment
  • school districts are on the front-line
    • largest employer in many cities
    • largest budget in many cities
  • How do you plan to bring 000s of kids into a closed space with adults and prevent the spread of the virus?
  • Mix of virtual and in-person options at the parents-choice the most likely at this point
  • Impacts all the other non-COVID issues as well
• Supreme Court ruling on application to Title VII to sex discrimination in the workplace; will it impact Title IX?
• new Title IX regulations out of the Department of Education, especially related to the requirements on school's investigations and each party's rights

Advice to lawyers

• understand that you don't know much when you are getting started, but it's true, and you'll be more successful if you understand that and operate from that mindset
  • Be open to learning and taking input from others
• take vacations (even small ones) to give yourself a break and not burn out
  • doesn't mean take two weeks to go to Spain
  • identify what some effective releases from this level of stress
    • go for a run with no cell phone?
    • long weekend?
  • No gap years!
• Become an effective communicator
  • open, clear
  • asking questions; admitting when you don't know something
  • respectfully pushing back if you disagree with something
• Be willing to put in the work to become great at your craft

Advice to job seekers

• don't submit form cover letters and just change the names
  • if it's not clear that you took the time to tailor the cover letter to this job and this firm, it's an automatic no
  • make an effort and show that you understand what the firm does and that you want to learn
• highlight any diverse and unique work experience
• add an eye-catching item on your resume so you are memorable (ex. candidate put that she had won a hot dog eating contest)
• make good eye contact in an interview and articulate what your career goals are and why this position fits in
• appropriately show your personality and values

Final thoughts

• if you don't know something, don't act like you know; go and learn about it
• it's okay not to know

Rapid Fire Questions

• Trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: confidence and self-reflection / self-aware
• Key habit: confidence and self-reflection / self-aware
• Favorite app/tool: post-its
• Favorite social distancing activity: parking garage happy hours
• Favorite legal movie: NONE!

Thanks again to Haley Turner for joining us on the show!