Life After Yale: Careers: a Candid View Legal Profession Event on March 29

“Yale Career Panels: A Candid View of the Legal Profession” – November 15, 2017

This event is the twenty-sixth in a series covering different professions. The concept is to have a diverse panel of lawyers in different areas of the law, who will provide candid views of their profession. Our three panelists represent different perspectives: a general counsel, a former law school dean and law partner, and a litigation partner at a private law firm.

The panel discussion will be conducted in New York City and will be broadcast via an interactive streaming video system. Yale students and alumni are welcome to come to the New York City location or watch and ask questions via the interactive streaming video system.

Time: Wednesday, November 15, 2017 from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm EST (The panelists have agreed to stay for an additional 30 minutes from 5:30 pm to 6 pm to answer additional questions.)

Locations and Webinar:

New York Location: Conference Room at Young & Partners, 230 Park Avenue, Suite 1145, New York, New York

Webinar: Streaming video

Registration: http://yalecareerpanels-11-15-17.eventbrite.com Please register for just one venue (New York or the Webinar)

Topics: • Where is the profession heading (good and bad)? • How do you get into the profession and what is the typical career path? • What are the myths versus the realities? • What are the characteristics of people who tend to do well and are happy in the profession? • What types of people tend not to do well or end up unhappy and why? • If you don’t stay in the profession until retirement, what are the exit routes to other professions?

Panelists: Leslie Fagen, Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (Yale BA)

Osamu Watanabe, General Counsel of Moelis & Company (Yale JD)

Joan G. Wexler, Of Counsel, Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP, Former Dean, Brooklyn Law School (Yale JD) Moderator and Organizer: Peter Young, President and Managing Director, Young & Partners (Yale BA)

Biographies:

Leslie Fagen

Les Fagen is a senior partner in the Litigation Department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, a major international law firm.

Les has litigated on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants for more than 35 years, handling complex civil litigation matters. He has a strong track record of wins and favorable settlements at the trial and appellate levels in federal and state courts in multiple jurisdictions and in alternative dispute resolution proceedings.

Les has represented a wide range of clients in many industries, such as major private equity companies and hedge funds in substantial commercial disputes; major public company defendants in significant securities litigations, antitrust and transactional matters and internal investigations; clients in major international and domestic arbitrations; clients in the media, fashion and information services fields in intellectual property matters including trademark, copyright and licensing disputes; major manufacturers in product liability defense work, including class action litigation, and the prosecution of plaintiffs' claims relating to defective products; real estate litigation matters including appraisal arbitrations; significant trusts and estates matters; and a court appointment to represent all future claimants who fall victim to asbestos-related disease in connection with the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust.

Les is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is also an adjunct lecturer in law at Columbia Law School where he teaches trial advocacy and an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches an intellectual property litigation course.

He has served as a member of his firm’s Management Committee, as a former chairman of the Partnership Committee, and as co-chair of the firm's Litigation Department.

Les is a director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He has served as President and Vice Chairman of The Educational Alliance, Inc., a multi-disciplinary social service agency, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Maimonides Medical Center. He has been a David Rockefeller Fellow (2009-2010) at the Partnership for New York City.

Les is the author of numerous publications on arbitration, intellectual property and product liability. He is a graduate of Yale College (B.A. - 1971) and Columbia Law School (J.D. - 1974). Joan G. Wexler

Joan G. Wexler joined the firm of Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP as Of Counsel in 2016. She was President of Brooklyn Law School from 1994 to 2013, and Dean of the Law School from 1994 to 2010. Before becoming Dean, she was Brooklyn Law School’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs as well as a Professor of Law. She previously served as a law clerk for the Honorable Jack B. Weinstein, practiced law at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, and taught at New York University Law School.

Her practice focuses on litigation, corporate governance, and transactions.

Dean Wexler is a nationally prominent member of the legal community, and has held a wide variety of positions, including: President of the Federal Bar Council from 2004 to 2006, as well as its Vice President from 2001 to 2004; President of the Federal Bar Foundation from 1998 to 1999; Vice President of the New York City Bar Association, and Chair of its Committee on Honors; two terms as Vice President of the Women’s Bar Association, also sitting on its Board of Directors; current Member of the United States Magistrate Judge Selection Committee for the Eastern District of New York; Member of the American Bar Association’s Independent Law Schools Forum Committee, its Continuing Legal Education Committee, its New Deans’ Seminar Planning Committee, and its Data and Policy Committee; Life Member of the American Law Institute; Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and of the New York Bar Foundation; Member of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar; Member of the Boards of Directors of the Practicing Law Institute, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, the American Judicature Society, the American Law Deans Association, the Children’s Law Center, and the Fund for Modern Courts; Member of the Judicial Conference of the State of New York, and of the Planning and Program Committee of the Judicial Conference of the Second Circuit; Member of the Yale Law Journal Advisory Board. She has also received many industry and academic honors.

Dean graduated from Cornell University (B.S., 1968), Harvard University (M.A.T., 1970), Yale Law School (J.D., 1974)

Osamu Watanabe

Osamu Watanabe is the General Counsel of Moelis & Company, a leading independent investment bank listed on the NYSE. Mr. Watanabe joined Moelis & Company as a new investment banker and worked on its successful IPO. Mr. Watanabe was also General Counsel for Moelis Asset Management which includes MCP private equity funds, Gracie credit hedge funds, Freeport direct lending funds and Steele Creek CLO funds.

Prior to joining Moelis & Company, Mr. Watanabe held senior positions at Sagent Advisors, UBS, Credit Suisse First Boston and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Mr. Watanabe was in private practice at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Melbourne for ten years focusing on U.S. and international securities offerings, M&A transactions, restructurings, bank financings, real estate transactions, and broker- dealer, bank and investment company regulation. Mr. Watanabe clerked for the Honorable Morey L. Sear, Eastern District of Louisiana. Mr. Watanabe holds a B.A. from Antioch College (1982) and a J.D. from Yale Law School (1985).

Peter Young (Moderator and Organizer)

Peter Young is President and a Managing Director of Young & Partners, a leading boutique investment banking firm focused on the life science and chemical industries. He manages the firm and is actively involved in client transactions and financings.

Prior to founding Young & Partners, Peter was head of various related industry groups at Salomon Brothers, Schroders, and Lehman Brothers, a private equity investor with J.H. Whitney & Co., and a strategy consultant with Bain & Company serving life science and chemical companies. Peter received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School (Baker Scholar with Highest Distinction), an M.S. in Accounting from the New York University and a B.A. in Economics from Yale University..

Previous Panels and Upcoming Events

Previous panels have covered architecture, film and drama, internet and data services, entrepreneurism, medical (twice), legal (three times), finance and investing, investment banking (twice), investing (twice), consulting (three times), education, government service, non-profit organizations, R&D, real estate, and a comparison of investing/investment banking/consulting. Twenty of these career panels were recorded and can be viewed at www.yalecareerpanels.com. The series for 2017 - 2018 will include medical and legal in the fall, and two other professions in the spring.

Last spring we started a series called, “Yale Career Fireside Chats” with two events, one on “Managing Major Career Changes” and the other on “Serving on Boards”. They were recorded and can also be viewed at www.yalecareerpanels.com. We anticipate that we will do two career fireside chats this academic year. The first will be on November 9 on “The Art of Networking”. Register at https://yalecareerpanels-11-9-17.eventbrite.com.

The Series Sponsors

This series is jointly supported by various organizations at Yale University and Yale Alumni organizations, including the Yale Office of Career Strategy, the Association of Yale Alumni (AYA), the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute (YEI), the Yale School of Management, Students and Alumni of Yale (STAY), the Junior Class Council (JCC), the Yale Alumni Association of New York (YAANY), the Asian American Cultural Center, and the Association of Asian American Yale Alumni (AAAYA).