The O’Melveny Podcast

Episode 12 - Practicing in Place: Lessons Learned from Remote Work

Episode 12 of the O’Melveny Podcast features a candid discussion between firmwide hiring partner Jeeho Lee (NY), Los Angeles office head Dawn Sestito, and labor and employment associate Racquel Martin (SF) about O’Melveny’s transition to a remote-work environment. Specific topics include how O’Melveny successfully integrated summer associates into the firm during the pandemic; how the firm upheld its commitment to racial justice; how it is maintaining its unique culture while working virtually; and how it is creating opportunities to continue building new relationships and growing existing ones despite remote-work arrangements.

Episode 11 - Damali Taylor: “Why Not You?”

San Francisco hiring partner Damali Taylor and Celo general counsel and O’Melveny alumna Brynly Llyr sat down in March before the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place order took effect to share their perspectives on career development and legal diversity through the lens of Damali’s impressive career. Damali walks us through her unique path to becoming an accomplished lawyer, from Jamaica to the Bronx to Yale Law School and eventually landing as a San Francisco Police Commissioner and white collar partner at O’Melveny. Other topics discussed include why diversity in the legal industry is so important, issues Damali faces in her capacity as a Police Commissioner, and how to manage stressful situations at work.

Episode 10 - Diversity & Inclusion at O'Melveny

Los Angeles hiring partner Catalina Vergara leads a discussion of the four pillars of diversity and inclusion at O’Melveny: pipeline, recruiting, retention, and professional success. Guests include DC-based Diversity & Inclusion Manager Olivia Blair, New York counsel and head of O’Melveny’s NY/DC LGBTQ Employee Network Dan Franklin, and Los Angeles associate and African American Professionals Network member Ashley Menzies.

Episode 9 - Breaking Down a Pro Bono Reproductive Rights Trial in Arkansas

Partner Leah Godesky, associate Kelly Scavone, and summer associate Lauren Casale walk through how their cross-country team, equipped with an “army of summer associates,” briefed, prepped, argued, and ultimately led three abortion clinics to victory in Little Rock Family Planning Services, et al v. Rutledge, et al.

Episode 8 - Pymetrics

What is Pymetrics, how does it work, and why are we using it? O’Melveny diversity and inclusion partner Darin Snyder joins firmwide hiring partner Allen Burton, associate Brandon Harper, and Pymetrics’s Andrew Avrin to discuss how the firm is innovating to address implicit bias in the recruiting process and increase diversity.