Careers in Law Speaker Panel

Careers in Law Speaker Panel
Thursday, October 23rd
5:30-7pm in Ullman Commons 100 & 101

Careers in the Law
Is a law career right for you? Come and learn about the variety of positions and careers available in the legal field! The legal profession is a dynamic and complex system dependent on a diverse team of professionals - from attorneys and paralegals to law technology specialists and other experts.  A panel of legal professionals will describe the requirements, rewards and challenges of their work.  Hear about the education and training required to succeed and the different career trajectories possible in this evolving profession.

Speakers

Nairi Simonian Gruzenski - Attorney
Nairi Simonian Gruzenski attended UCLA undergrad, graduating cum laude and departmental honors, with a degree in Comparative Literature and a minor in English.  She completed her law degree at American University, Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., where she was junior editor of the Business Law Brief and received a Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Fellowship.  After law school, she received a Research Fellowship at American University, Washington College of Law through a cooperative agreement between the law school and the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections.  After the fellowship, Ms. Gruzenski had a short stint at the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division as a law clerk, and eventually joined the Department's Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation as a Trial Attorney litigating immigration cases before the various federal Circuit Courts, where she remained for six years.  Ms. Gruzenski eventually moved back to her hometown of Los Angeles, where she joined the private firm of Cohen & Lord, PC in Century City.  Recently, Ms. Gruzenski has rejoined the U.S. Department of Justice, this time as a government contract attorney through Lockheed Martin, working for the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, here in Los Angeles.  In addition to practicing law full time, Ms. Gruzenski teaches various courses for UCLA Extension's Paralegal Training Program; including Legal Research and Writing, Torts, and Civil Procedure.

Joy Murao – Global Practice Support Executive
Joy Murao’s professional career spans nearly 20 years of experience in the areas of litigation and practice support services, with a leading role in pioneering the field of eDiscovery and litigation support.  Joy earned her B.A. in English from UC Santa Barbara and a Paralegal Certificate from the ABA Approved program at University of San Diego.  She then joined the international firm of O’Melveny & Myers as Litigation Systems Analyst where she created and maintained litigation databases and conducted nationwide training for attorneys and legal staff on various information retrieval systems.  After an in-house position as Systems Analyst Programmer for ARCO’s Corporate Legal Department, she spent the next 16 years in leadership positions managing and developing global practice support programs of two international firms, Latham & Watkins and Paul Hastings.  Joy has served on the Advisory Boards of Thomas Reuters (West) and Law.com Legal Technology, the Steering Committee of International Legal Technology Association, and presented numerous talks at legal technology conferences in the U.S. and abroad.  Joy was listed as among Global Tech Leaders Top 100, and was named “Strategic Management Tour de Force.”

James McDade – Paralegal Manager
James McDade is a graduate of the UCLA Extension Paralegal Training Program, UCLA Personal Financial Planning Program and UCLA Anderson’s Executive Management Program.  He earned his B.S. degree in Psychology from William Carey University and holds two Executive M.B.A.s from UCLA and the National University of Singapore.  James has worked with and managed paralegals for 25 years and has worked for several major law firms including Munger, Tolles & Olson and Sedgwick, Detert, Moran and Arnold. He was Director of Litigation for SunAmerica Annuity and Life Assurance Company and was an Assistant Vice-President at IndyMac Bank.  James teaches courses in Business Organizations and Securities, Contracts, Civil Procedure II and the Paralegal Profession for the UCLA Extension Paralegal Training Program.

Moderator

Aymara Zielina – Legal Programs Director
Aymara earned her BA in American and English Literature, phi beta kappa, from Brown University and her JD from UCLA School of Law.  During law school she served as Editor of the UCLA Law Review, Co-Chief Articles Editor of the Women’s Law Journal, and completed a summer externship for two judges at the Los Angeles Superior Court.  After law school she practiced labor and employment law at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp and at a boutique California employment firm, representing management in wrongful discharge, wage and hour, and employment discrimination matters before state and federal courts, and administrative tribunals.  After six years, she turned to education administration, counseling law school students and alumni in career development issues as Assistant Dean and Director of Career Development at Pepperdine Law School.  Aymara currently serves as Program Director of Legal Programs at UCLA Extension, which offers professional and continuing education legal courses to the public.