By Rachel Baum (2L)
On October 17, The Jewish Student Union (JSU) joined forces with the Entertainment Law Society (ELS), the Business Law Society (BLS), the Middle Eastern Law Students Association (MELSA), the Jefferson Law Republicans (JLR), and Phi Alpha Delta (PAD) to bring their members a unique networking opportunity: a night of “Bowling with Attorneys.” This inaugural event, held at East Village Tavern and Bowling, brought together students from diverse backgrounds for a night of fun, mixed with a bit of professionalism.
Among the 20 Attorneys who came out to support our students, were several TJSL alumni including: Eric Bernsen ‘12, Josh Bonnici ‘10, Jeremy Evans ‘11, Camille Guerra ‘04, Sabrina Green ‘02, Vanessa Pena ‘12, Kristen Roberts ‘10, Phil Shapiro ‘85, Rebeca Valenzuela ‘09, Erik Vieira ‘02. Also of note were: Patti Zlaket and Gayle Blatt from Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield, LLP, Danielle Dychter from Michael Sullivan & Associates LLP, Alex Dychter from Dychter Law Offices, APC, and Charles G. Bateh from CGB Sports Management, Inc. Accomplished TJSL Professor K.J. Greene was in attendance showing his support for the organizations.
“This event was a great way to have members of all the participating organizations, and some of the best practicing attorneys from the community, come together and interact in a fun relaxed environment! It was an incredible evening with a fantastic turnout of about 80 participants, the JSU fully intends to make this an annual event,” said JSU President Rachel Baum (2L).
Decorated defense Attorney Phil Shapiro (’85) observed: "I'm not sure who had more fun or networking opportunities, the students or the attorneys! There were a lot of business cards passed around. The lawyers renewed old relationships and really enjoyed meeting and discussing practicing law with the students. For many of the attorneys, it was exciting to talk to students about issues of opening a practice. All of the lawyer participants want to be invited back and look forward to other such events."
“I wanted to give my members and participating attorneys an opportunity to network in a fun and untraditional way,” said Chanel Diblasi (2L) President of ELS. “I felt this event would be a great method to break the mold of traditional networking events and allow the attorneys and students to see the personality of the person, instead of the title of student and attorney. The event did just that, and was a huge success.”
“Students were able to socialize and network with attorneys representing many different fields of law, while also exposing themselves to different clubs like JSU, PAD, MELSA, BLS, ELS and JLR. JLR is just proud to have been associated with such a fun and productive event!” said JLR Co-President Tim Bradford (2L).
Taly Haghighi (3L), President of MELSA, chose to involve their organization in the event “because our members got the opportunity to network, meet new friends, and have fun bowling! We are happy to have been a part of such a fun event!”
BLS President, Jeremy Elias (3L), felt similarly commenting “it was awesome to see so many organizations coming together to make the event possible. Being able to socialize with students and attorneys in that kind of setting was really a great experience.”
All of the organizations want to give a huge thank you to Aaron Traux for shooting amazing photographs of the evening! View the photos!