Los Angeles,California-The Armenian Bar Association in conjunction with the Loyola Armenian Law Student Association (LALSA), hosted a panel of Armenian attorneys at Loyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles on November 9, 2006. The panel was attended by over 70 attorneys, and was moderated by the Honorable Zaven Sinanian, a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge sitting in the Burbank, California courthouse of the North Central District.
The panelists were presented in two groups, one dealing with civil practice and the other with criminal litigation. The attorneys participating in the civil panel were Catrina Archuleta, Ara Babaian, Rita Bojalian, Lori Sinanyan and Vicken Simonian. The criminal panel included Natalie Adomian, Mark Geragos, Garo Ghazarian and Garen Nazarian.
The audience included law students from Loyola Law School and other local law schools in Southern California. A contingency of lawyers, mostly Armenian Bar members, also were present.
The attorneys provided advice and spoke about the transition from law student to attorney, how to be a zealous, yet ethical, advocate, the attributes of successful attorneys, and the attorneys’ own experiences and advice. Judge Sinanian, a former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Armenian Bar, served as an excellent moderator for the panel, providing a perspective from the bench and expounded on the comments of the panelists.
The criminal litigation panel started with nationally recognized criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos, the managing partner of Geragos and Geragos. Geragos offered anecdotes from the years of his illustrious practice, including the importance of gaining courtroom experience early to help develop the skills of a new lawyer. Natalie Adomian of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, a veteran prosecutor, provided an excellent discussion of the challenges facing those seeking employment with a government entity.
Garo Ghazarian is the Dean of the Peoples College of Law in Los Angeles, and a nationally recognized motivational speaker. He offered his expert views regarding the elements of criminal defense practice and the risks of substance abuse among attorneys in the high stress field of criminal defense. Nazarian, who works with the public defender’s office provided equally relevant advice regarding government work, specifically in the field of criminal law. How to deal with clients when they seem to know more about sentencing guidelines than their novice defense attorney was another theme discussed.
The civil litigation panel started with Vicken Simonian, a specialist in real estate and landlord/tenant matters, who provided a unique viewpoint from the eyes of a private practitioner, including the financial and ethical challenges facing law students who want to open up shop on their own. Lori Sinanyan, a partner in the firm of Kirkland and Ellis, provided useful information from the perspective of a woman raising a family while achieving partner status at a young age. The challenges of learning to become very independent and trusting yourself when working in a large firm, balancing work and family, along with the attributes of good lawyers were discussed.
Archuleta works for the firm of Meyers, Nave, Riback, Silver & Wilson, handling environmental law and public contracts. She is a graduate of Loyola and offered encouraging remarks while outlining appropriate ethical considerations.
Bojalian, the current Secretary of the Armenian Bar, is a former employee of CBS, a published expert in employment law, and currently in private practice. She offered very meaningful advice to law students including the importance of having a mentor in the early stages of one’s legal career, and ethical concerns which may arise with in house counsel positions. Babaian is with the firm of Ervin, Cohen & Jessup, LLP handling transactional, as well as business and corporate law matters. He provided the audience with important tips in seeking employment with mid to large sized firms, and the importance of following the rules of professional conduct.
The event was organized by Armenian Bar Student Affairs Chair Ellin Davtyan along with Loyola law students Taline Kizirian (president of the LALSA) and Maria Shakelian(social chair of the LALSA), Armenbar’s Executive Director Betty Jamgotchian, and her assistant Lisa Boyajian. Wine, beverages and Armenian delicacies were generously provided by Armenbar’s Treasurer Edvin Minassian, of Tennenhouse, Minassian & Adham and the Law Offices of Simonian and Kerkonian.
Lawyers who attended the forum will receive two units of MCLE credits.
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