Photo by Jennifer Dumoulin. Joon Park, Law’99 (right), talks to students about his experiences working and living in New York City.
Photo by Jennifer Dumoulin. Joon Park, Law’99 (right), talks to students about his experiences working and living in New York City.

‘Welcome to New York!’ Queen’s Law

In the early hours of Jan. 22, about 130 Queen’s Law students travelled from Macdonald Hall to wake up in the city that never sleeps. There they enjoyed all that New York City has to offer, including a special opportunity to meet alumni and friends representing a wide a range of careers in the Big Apple.

At the Manhattan office of Baker & McKenzie, seven Queen’s Law community members talked about their career paths and offered advice in a panel discussion:

  • Jason Biafore, Law’05, Supervising Attorney, Legal Health Division, New York Legal Assistance Group
  • Hugh Macdonnell, Law’91, Managing Director, Head of Client Capital Managemen
  • Joon Park, Law’99, Park Legal Counsel Group PLLC
  • Judge Kimberly Prost, Ombudsperson, UN Security Council 1267 Al Qaida/Taliban Sanctions Committee, and Public International Law program instructor at the Bader International Study Centre
  • Michelle Roberts, Law’07, in-house counsel, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC
  • Kevin Thomson, Law’06, Bad Boy Entertainment
  • Emily Kidd White, Law’06, JSD Candidate, New York University School of Law

Afterward, they chatted with students during a reception.

"Take advantage of opportunities” was the main message Madeleine Tyber, Law’17, took away from the discussion. “All of the alumni emphasized how helpful the Queen's community can be but that it's up to us to seek out and pursue those connections.

“There was also a sense that you never really know where you're going to end up,” she adds, “and to keep your mind open while chasing after things that you find exciting or worthy of further attention and scholarship.”

For the rest of the four-day annual visit, students crammed in a multitude of activities. “It was great spending time together, taking in Broadway musicals, world-class museums and Central Park,” says Jennifer Dumoulin, Law’15. “Top that off with surprise run-ins with celebrities and more shopping than a law student's wallet can handle and it's safe to say that we had a wonderful time in NYC!”