Tell us a bit about yourself and your experience as a legal professional.
I’m a first-generation Haitian-American that grew up in and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. I left the comfort of my “Brooklyn bubble” to attend Temple University in Philadelphia for undergrad and then Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C. for law school. I spent the first half of my legal career as a Corporate Associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP. This is where I also volunteered for voter and election protection projects, and to work on visa, residency, and asylum applications. I stepped away from practice and pivoted to a non-legal position at a law school running its pro bono and summer funding programs, which allowed me to work with students and help instill a culture of pro bono service that would translate into their future careers—whether as Big Law attorneys or elsewhere. A few years ago I returned to Simpson Thacher to oversee the firm’s corporate and transactional pro bono practice as a Pro Bono Attorney.
I currently work in a hybrid legal and non-legal role that bridges my experience as a corporate associate and pro bono programs director at the law school. This includes interacting with legal services organizations (like Start Small Think Big) to identify and staff small business and non-profit pro bono opportunities for our attorneys, assisting entrepreneurs and other pro bono clients in various capacities, and supervising more junior lawyers on their matters. I also get to create and launch new pro bono projects, from clinics to more complex full scope matters. My job is never the same and always interesting!
Why are you willing to provide your services pro bono to our entrepreneurs?
From our first day at Howard, we were taught that lawyers have a responsibility to be “social engineers,” a responsibility placed on us by former Dean of Howard Law and Civil Rights Attorney Charles Hamilton Houston. Being an attorney is a privilege, and I’ve always wanted to be thoughtful about how I show up as a social engineer. My role as a Pro Bono Attorney allows me to double down on this ideal because I not only get to work with entrepreneurs directly, but I also get to invest in and inspire attorneys who work with entrepreneurs too.
Growing up, I watched various family members and friends build small businesses on their own, some successful, some not. I have lived in Brooklyn for most of my life. So I know the positive impact that entrepreneurs and small businesses can have on a community and how a small business can potentially change the economic trajectory of a family’s life. If I, and the attorneys who volunteer with our small business program, can play a small part in helping an entrepreneur feel empowered because they understand the legal terms and their bargaining power going into a contract, I know I’m living up to my personal promise of contributing to my community as a social engineer.
