Marry Karam Receives 2023 YLS Rookie of the Year Award

by Amelia Andersen YLS Board

The YLS would like to congratulate Marry Karam for being one of the recipients of the Rookie of the Year award! Marry is in her first year of service on the YLS Membership Committee and she is excited to continue her work next year. The YLS selected Marry for this award because of her work on the committee and her rising leadership in the MBA.

Marry became involved in the Membership Committee to create more connections with other practitioners. As a 2020 law school graduate, she felt isolated when she started in the legal field and sought out opportunities to be involved in the YLS with the hopes of connecting with attorneys who have similar interests. The Membership Committee has not disappointed as the self-proclaimed “party planning committee” and Marry has found herself working with an excellent group of very motivated people.

This year, Marry helped organize the membership donation drive for the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO). This drive collected essentials, such as bedding, towels, and bathroom supplies, for newly arriving families and it was an enormous success! Marry has advocated for IRCO to be the recipient of the drive again next year because she is interested in contributing to an organization that supports people fleeing global crisis and war.

This cause is deeply personal to Marry as she and her family immigrated to the United States from Syria when she was younger. Growing up, Marry never met an attorney who shared her background or saw attorneys of color adequately represented in popular culture. While she knew early on that she wanted to practice law, not seeing herself reflected in the legal community made the field seem more daunting and unrelatable.

As an undergraduate, she graduated from Portland State University’s Explore the Law program to learn more about the field. This program pairs students with attorney mentors and helps them prepare for law school. Marry went on to attend Willamette University and now practices at Lissa Kaufman Law LLC as one of the only Arabic- was respectful yet fierce. She was clearly prepared and able to list important facts and standards without a pause. Emily was articulate and confident without being arrogant. The client was there and cried happy tears and is very grateful for Emily’s advocacy and important win. Kudos to OlsenDaines and the Underdog Law Office for turning out a rising star associate.”

In addition to being a zealous advocate and YLS committee member, Emily serves on the OSB’s Consumer Law Section Executive Committee, and in 2023 she was appointed to the Oregon House of Delegates for Multnomah County. Emily is a member of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Academy, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the American Association of Justice Civil Rights Section and LGBT Caucus, and she is licensed to practice in Oregon state, federal, and bankruptcy courts.

Marry Karam

speaking domestic relations attorneys in the state. The value of Marry’s participation in the PSU program is underscored by the fact that she now works for her former attorney mentor.

Marry’s interest in volunteering with the YLS is rooted in her own experience of breaking into the legal field. As a Middle Eastern woman, she understands the necessity of having intersectional identities reflected in the practice for future members. To this end, Marry plans to connect other YLS members with programs and opportunities that target underrepresented individuals interested in the legal field. In the future, Marry hopes to continue contributing to greater visibility, diversity and inclusion efforts, and shifting the narrative of what it means to be a lawyer. “I want to let people know that you can come from a little village in Syria and become an attorney.”