The Law Lives Project Anjie Vichayanonda

Hello listeners! My name is Brooke, and I'm an undergraduate student at Oklahoma State University. I'm majoring in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and planning to apply to law school this fall. I'm interning for Leg Up Legal and I'll be today's guest host for The Law Lives Project. This week's guest had a rough start to law school due to a bad relationship, but managed to find her way. She got exposure to law by working for a jury consulting company and she decided to continue working for that company and go to law school part-time. After law school, she started working for an insurance defense law firm, and she utilized the early years of her career to explore lots of different practice areas and practicing different law firms. Eventually, she found her way in-house and she primarily focuses on regulatory practice in consumer finance. Listen to the episode to hear all of the ups and downs of her career.

This week's guest is a full-time lawyer and life coach. She went to a T-14 law school admittedly to make money, but quickly found out that her path would not be an easy one. After graduating law school and having difficulty finding her first job and struggling with her own health, she decided to get certified in personal training and became a fitness coach while working in a fellowship. After her fellowship, she landed an in-house job and started building her life coaching practice on the side. I can't wait for you to learn her lessons of perseverance as she charts her own untraditional path.

Today's guest started off with humble beginnings and eventually earned her way into working in a highly competitive commercial litigation boutique. Although she developed an interest in law school during college, she had very limited financial resources and had difficulty applying to law school. She discusses her experiences in attending a low-ranked law school and her difficulties in obtaining her first job. But, with hard work she found a passion in litigation and found her way into working in a very competitive commercial litigation boutique and finally achieving the financial stability she wanted. Keep listening to hear her frank words about how to find your first legal job and what you should do to survive law school when the odds are stacked against you.

This week, I'm sitting down with a tax attorney who found herself going to a law school that she didn't ever apply to due to some unforeseen circumstances. After believing that she would be hired by her mentor at a large law firm after law school, she received tough advice from her mentor that ultimately led her to land a job with a solo practitioner. The solo practitioner initially rejected her requests for interviews and meetings, but eventually he saw her passion and tenacity. They grew their practice to be the third largest practice in their niche in the country and eventually he invited her to be his business partner. This week's guest has a path that is anything but traditional, but I can't wait for you to hear about it so let's jump right in. 

This week's guest gets up close and personal with us about the struggles of balancing her career with an abusive relationship, divorce, and a professional conflict at work. She was able to gain tons of skills early on in her career from sampling many different in-house roles, but her greatest challenges came from people problems at work and at home. There's no way for me to express how thankful I am that she was willing to discuss these tough issues that not many people are willing to articulate so let's just jump right in so that you can hear her story in her own words.

Today's guest had two major surprises while attending Columbia Law School. Specifically, she found out that she was pregnant with twins in her 2L year. Thankfully, she had a strong support system of family and friends that helped her finish law school on time and land a job in BigLaw in litigation. She managed to juggle the demands of work and single parenting for eight years in BigLaw before transitioning to a role in the investigations department of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Eventually, she left the SEC to become an accredited Financial Counselor to help lawyers and others learn how to pay down their debt and make wise financial decisions that will enable them to live the lifestyle that they want. I was blown away by her grit and honesty and I'm sure you will be, too.