DIVERSE
2023
Partner
LAWYERS Making a Difference INTERNATIONAL
AWARD
Charlene A. Azema
Education: BS, UCLA; JD, UCLA Law School; MBA, UCLA Anderson School of Management Company Name: Knobbe Martens Industry: Intellectual Property Law Firm Company CEO: Steven Nataupsky, Managing Partner Company Headquarters Location: Irvine, CA Number of Employees: 673 Words you live by: There’s no one definition of or path to success. In our lifetimes we may have multiple iterations of what success means and we shouldn’t be afraid to reevaluate that definition and change course, if needed. What book are you reading? What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith and Mendeleyev’s Dream by Paul Strathem. What was your first job? I worked in sales and fittings at a tuxedo shop in high school. Favorite charity: Human Options, dedicated to helping victims of domestic violence. Interests/Hobbies: Dance, cooking, and coaching youth sports Family: I live in Orange County, California with my husband, Vassilios, and our three kids ages 6, 5, and 1.
An awful job interview jitters gave this lawyer critical life-long skills. The job interview was a bust – and a priceless gift to her career The best advice I ever received was to not underestimate the value of being prepared for an interview. It might sound simplistic or obvious to some, but this advice, which was taught to me unintentionally, completely changed my perspective about the path to becoming a lawyer. Having entered law school and getting ready for my first “real” job, I was not prepared for how to distinguish myself from the masses of other intelligent and equally driven peers. Until then, success had been measured by letters on a transcript and scores on a standardized test. But walking into an interview, one has to learn how to engage and to stand out beyond just the letters and numbers on a page. This was a lesson I learned after having
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tragically bombed one of my first law school summer job interviews. A prominent trial lawyer asked me: “Pretend I’m a jury and please stand up and give your opening statement on why we should hire you.” It might go down in history as one of the most challenging interview questions given to a newbie law student, but the silver lining is that it highlighted a shortcoming in my focus as I was launching into a career. My response was terrible to say the least, and my streams of hemming and hawing did not impress. But a few things became immediately clear when I walked out: First, I was not getting that job. Second, I needed to spend time away from my law books honing this new, undeveloped skill. After taking classes offered in
my MBA program, practicing with friends and mentors, and most importantly spending hours repeating on rotation in front of my mirror, interviewing became something I did with confidence, and added so much more color to the grades and scores printed on my resume. Also, that skill is transferable to so many scenarios I have encountered as a lawyer and in life. It’s a skill that resurfaces when meeting new people, pitching new clients, negotiating deal terms, and presenting oral arguments. And while as a transactional attorney I’ve never had a second chance at presenting a better answer to the jury, my humbling experience in that first interview helped me shape and develop a skill that would ultimately contribute to my future growth as a lawyer.
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