Mikella Fields
Mikella Fields

Second-year Brandeis School of Law student Mikella Fields was having a hard time finding a summer job after her first year of law school. But thanks to networking — and her connection to Central High School — she landed a legal internship at Fortune 500 company Yum! Brands, headquartered in Louisville.

Knowing of her job search, a family friend and fellow Central High graduate connected Fields with another Central High alumna: Jennifer Green, director, corporate counsel of Yum! Brands. Fields and Green met for lunch and Green encouraged Fields to submit her resume for a legal internship.

Louisville Law has a longstanding partnership with Central High School‘s Law and Government Magnet Program, of which Fields is a graduate.

“It was pretty cool to have somebody that cares like that. She turned into a great mentor for me,” says Fields of Green.

At Yum!, Fields reviewed and edited contracts and conducted legal research on IP holding companies. At KFC, which is part of Yum!, she was involved with marketing efforts and franchisee compliance.

“It was a good experience,” says Fields, who is interested in a career in corporate law. “To be able to do that kind of legal work as a 1L was great for me. I was in a place that was amazing and large, but they still gave me the amount of time that I needed and the attention that I needed to teach me things and help me learn things that I can use in the future.”

Fields continues to have a mentor in Green even though the internship has ended. Green has helped review her resume and has provided job-searching advice, Because of this experience, Fields is a strong advocate of networking and finding mentors.

“It’s important to network and out yourself out there,” she says. “You could be missing out on opportunities by not speaking to somebody or by not knowing somebody. That’s how I’ve gotten in to many doors — who I know. After who I know, it’s what I know and what I can do.”

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Bethany Daily
Bethany Daily is the director of communications for the Brandeis School of Law. She is responsible for both external and internal communications geared toward a variety of audiences, including faculty and staff, students, alumni and prospective students. Before coming to Brandeis, Daily was the associate editor at Louisville Business First, a weekly business journal. In that role, she was responsible for special publications and managed awards and recognition programs. Daily also has worked at the national headquarters of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in the communications department.