Salama Atadika ’07
Answering the Call: When working in law firms didn’t feel like a fit, she took a chance on a temporary position with Verizon Wireless, which wanted an attorney to handle EEOC charges of discrimination. Within a year, she was hired by Verizon as a full-time EEOC consultant. Giving Voice: Today, as manager, employee relations, at Verizon’s headquarters in New Jersey, she ensures that both employees and the corporation feel heard. “The biggest challenge is managing competing interests when handling a complex matter, such as the desire for quick resolution, and my responsibility to conduct a fair, balanced, and thorough review.” Advice: “Before moving to a corporate setting, research the company’s products, services, and culture. Be open to non-legal roles and positions that may appear to be a step down if they fit into your long-term career plan.”
Katie Condon Grace ’12
Prescription for Justice: As a staff attorney with MetroWest Legal Services’ Medical-Legal Partnership in Framingham, she trains medical providers at the Kennedy Community Health Center on substantive areas of law and how to identify patients’ health-related legal needs. Health Benefits: She then provides direct legal assistance and representation to those patients. “I practice as a generalist attorney and handle cases dealing with housing law, public benefits, access to health coverage, domestic violence, family law, special education, and immigration.” Don’t Despair: “The most challenging thing about my job is the intolerance and injustice I see on a daily basis, but the best thing about my job is that I am in a position to do something about it.”
Richard Lara ’93
Star Power: After eighteen years with his Miami law firm, Mase Lara, he went in-house in 2016 as executive vice president and general counsel for Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), the largest publicly traded Hispanic-controlled media and entertainment company in the US. Diverse Demands: “The most challenging aspect of my position is dealing with a broad array of regulatory obligations applying to our radio, television, digital, and concert divisions operating in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, and San Juan.” Breaking News: The unexpected makes his job exciting. “No day is the same, and I enjoy the adrenaline rush when shifting gears between artist contracts, ensuring compliance with SEC and corporate governance issues, working with outside counsel, and observing—and sometimes participating in—the creative process.”
Vincent Lau ’97
Destiny: A post-college job as an immigration paralegal led to law school led to an internship at Yale led to a firm in Worcester, where he planned to focus on law and higher education administration, but ended up specializing in immigration. “It is one of those fields that chose me,” says Lau, who is now a partner at Clark Lau, an immigration firm in Cambridge. Outcomes: He spends a fair amount of time managing client expectations given that right now “the process is a moving target.” Rewards: “Despite the uncertainty and increasing level of frustration with the process, I still enjoy the problem-solving. Whenever we come upon a not-so-obvious option that works, it’s like striking gold.”
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