How to Survive Law School (and the Bar Exam) featuring Neena Speer

Neena Speer discusses why she decided to be a lawyer in the eighth grade and the importance of breaking rules in order to create something that you want to exist in the world.

In this episode, Neena Speer, a 2017 University of Alabama School of Law graduate, explains how the importance of continuity inspired her to create her nonprofit organization and why she wants to inspire other minority female law students.

How to Survive Law School (and the Bar Exam) featuring Neena Speer

About This Episode

Fearful of breaking her word to her mentee, Neena Speer created ‘Step 1-2-3: Mentor for Life Initiative’ to ensure that she could continue mentoring with the same child. Neena is a strong advocate of maintaining mentorship relationships because continuity is integral in a child’s life and Neena did not want to break her word. Neena welcomes listeners to start their own branch of the Step 1-2-3 program in their community.

Neena’s childhood inspired her to attend law school because she distinctly remembers disparities in busing different students in her neighborhood to various school districts. As a law student, Neena began journaling about her experiences. This led Neena to write the book, “Dear Future Lawyer: An Intimate Survival Guide for the Minority Female Student.” In this book, Neena explains the various people that one will meet in law school, the explicit biases that a student may encounter, and each chapter ends with a prompt for the reader to journal. Neena focuses on her perspective being a Black and Indian student while enrolled in a predominantly white institution (PWI).

Neena is a licensed attorney in Alabama and manages her own law firm where she specializes in trademarks, copyrights, business formation, contracts, criminal law, family and general law.

You may follow Neena Speer on Instagram @neena_rani, her brand @dearfuturelawyer, her new venture @trademarkthursdays that brings attention to specialized and simplified trademark tips based on her experiences as an intellectual property lawyer. You may also follow her law firm @nrspeerlawfirmllc and her mentorship organization @step123mentor.

Follow the You Are A Lawyer podcast on Twitter @YouAreA_Lawyer, Instagram @youarealawyer and on LinkedIn. Follow the podcast host, Kyla Denanyoh, on Instagram @kjd796.

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