Legal Issues Experts

Through Goodwin Procter LLP’s long-term partnership with 85 Broads, my colleagues Gina Schilmoeller, Gigi Camp and I recently had the opportunity to interview ocean explorer Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jacques Yves Cousteau, and partner of 85 Broads member Susan McPherson.

As you introduce yourself at a cocktail party as an investment broker and your best friend is tied up closing a deal at her firm, Fabien Cousteau is introducing himself as an “explorer” and plotting his next foray into our deep blue seas. Or more accurately, Fabien is plotting his next trip to Florida to clean sea tur…

In this continuing series on attorneys who have transitioned to other careers, I recently spoke with Bathabile Mthombeni, the associate ombuds officer at Columbia University. A graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School, Bathabile practiced at a corporate law firm before moving to her current position. Recently, she started her own conflict coaching and mediation practice, aptly named, Untangled Resolutions. While her practice is geared toward dealing with conflict in general, she plans to specialize in providing conflict coaching, mediation an…

Jan graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978 and went to work in the Department of the Interior, where she worked primarily on surface mining regulation. In 1982, she came to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, where she has worked ever since, mostly on electric rate regulation. She has been a staff attorney, a senior attorney, and an advisor to Commissioner Jerry Langdon. She primarily worked in the areas of corporate transactions under section 203 of the FPA and interconnection of new generating facilities to the grid. Jan is a true mentor and an exemplary public serv…

1. How has being a woman affected your career or legal education?

As a first generation Italian-American I grew up in a family of very strong, fiercely opinionated, resilient, hardworking, articulate, and funny women who saw being a woman as a strength, asset and advantage; and who always showed me the value of balancing family and hard work. Growing up, it never occurred to me that being a woman was going affect my career or career choice: the women around me taught me “work hard, love hard, laugh hard and when you are done with that…work some more”. Oh yes…and put on red lipstick and tr…

I have to admit that there are benefits to being a man’s man. When my cousin, one of the most macho men I know, heard about Tiger’s 2 a.m. car crash, he confidently said, “I bet you there’s another woman involved.” My cousin could have broken the story that has monopolized today’s news.

I immediately rejected my cousin’s half-baked take on the car crash and accused him of jumping to conclusions. I thought, Tiger is smart enough to know that, today, one can not get away with transgressions—at least not for long. Who would take the risk of being photographed with an extra-marital lover?…

Sheila Murphy is the Associate General Counsel at MetLife, Inc., where she leads the Financial Products & Insurance Litigation Practice Group. Prior to joining MetLife, Sheila was a litigation associate at Thacher Profitt & Wood, a corporate law firm. She is an active member of CARE Women’s Initiative of New York, the National Association of Women Lawyers, and, of course, 85 Broads. She kindly sat down with me to discuss her legal career, seeking that elusive balance as a working mother and the importance of cultivating meaningful relationships in your professional life.

1. Can …

The commercial sexual exploitation of children has become an increasingly well known violation of the rights of children. The United States presents an interesting case of how a federal government can enact legislation to aid victims of commercial sexual exploitation of children, but also how the laws remain ineffective on the local level without appropriate enforcement. Though the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 has marked the change in the way U.S. federal laws address trafficking victims, systemic legal problems persist and complicate the process of aiding victims. Many of the…