Street Address: (for overnight or courier deliveries only)
133 Wall Street New Haven, CT 06511 Phone: 203-432-1676 Fax: 203-432-8423
Location & Hours
The Career Development Office is on the main floor of Ruttenberg Hall in Room 183, adjacent to the Admissions Office and one flight down from the Office of Student Affairs.
During the academic year CDO is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. June through August CDO is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. CDO is closed weekends, holidays, and recess days.
Make an Appointment with a CDO Career Counselor
First-year students are assigned a counselor in September and should schedule appointment(s) with their assigned counselor at that time.
Click the link for an individual counselor to schedule an appointment online
Dean Voight is responsible for the overall administration and strategic direction of the Career Development Office. She also provides advising to JD students regarding law firm employment and counsels first-year students in her advising cohort on summer job searches across an array of sectors. Dean Voight has over 25 years of experience advising law students and graduates regarding careers. Before joining Yale, she provided career counseling to students at Duke Law School. From 1992 to 1995, she was an associate in the litigation department of the Boston law firm WilmerHale, where she handled general litigation matters. She received her law degree with high honors from The George Washington University Law School and a B.A. in Psychology from Boston College.
Director Norma D’Apolito provides advising to alumni, JD and LLM students regarding public interest employment including public interest fellowships. Norma also counsels first-year students in her advising cohort on summer job searches across an array of sectors. She has an extensive public interest law background as well as experience in law school education and administration. Most recently, Norma served as the Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice in Boston. Prior to that, she worked as a staff attorney for both the Juvenile Law Reform Project in Boston and the Prisoners’ Rights Project in New York City and as the assistant to the Special Master in a multi-institution class action lawsuit in the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. Norma also brings academic and counseling experience to her position in CDO, having served as Associate Dean and Adjunct Professor at Cardozo School of Law, as Director of Cardozo’s Political Asylum Clinic, and as an Assistant Professor in Johnson & Wales University’s Law Department. Norma has sat on the Board of Directors for a number of non-profit organizations, including a legal services corporation, a domestic abuse agency, and a community arts center. Norma is a graduate of New York University School of Law, has a Master’s in History from Brown University, and is a graduate of Vassar College.
Rochelle provides primary comprehensive career counseling and resources to students and alumni across a broad array of employment opportunities, with an emphasis on supporting those exploring judicial clerkships. A graduate of the University of Houston Law Center and the University of Chicago, Rochelle is a first-generation professional. Prior to joining CDO, Rochelle served as the Executive Director of the Professional Development Office at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the Co-Director of its Externship Program. In these roles, Rochelle counseled many students and alumni on all aspects of job searching and career development, focusing on examining governmental (federal, state, and local) opportunities, broader public sector careers, and judicial clerkships. In practice, Rochelle worked in consumer litigation for several years.
Rochelle is an active member of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), having served in several roles within its public service and judicial clerkship sections, and has served as a presenter at several of its conferences. Rochelle is one of five (5) law school members of the Online System for Clerkship Application and Review (OSCAR) Working Group, which advises members of the federal judiciary on the online system. She is currently the co-chair of Equal Justice Works' National Advisory Council (NAC).
Liz joined CDO in fall 2021. She began her service as CDO’s Interim Clerkship Director and transitioned to become our Director, JD Counselor & Coach. In a remote capacity, Liz advises JD students on careers in all legal-employment sectors; coaches students to assist them in defining and meeting their goals; and serves as CDO’s primary alumni counselor. Prior to joining CDO, Liz advised thousands of law students and alumni at Cornell Law School, Washington and Lee University School of Law, and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. A graduate of Duke Law School and Tufts University, she began her legal career as an employment litigator with a large law firm in Seattle, WA. Liz then clerked for a state court judge in Fairbanks, Alaska before becoming a legal career advisor over a quarter century ago. Liz is an active member of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP). She has served on myriad NALP committees since 1997, has been selected to speak at eight NALP Annual Education Conferences, and was NALP's liaison to the Prelaw Advisors National Council from 2009-2011. Liz has earned a Professional Certified Coach credential from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and is a member of ICF. She is also a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, having completed certification with the Co-Active Training Institute, the largest and most established professional coach training organization in the world.
Davis joined CDO in November 2022. In his current role, Davis counsels law students and alumni regarding employment opportunities across the legal profession, with an emphasis on law firms and the private sector. He also counsels international students, including LLM students, regarding legal employment in the United States. In addition to counseling, Davis develops employer relationships and contributes to CDO programs and resources. Davis practiced law in the private sector for more than five years, first at Paul Hastings LLP (2016 to 2021), where he worked as a summer associate in 2015, and then at Seyfarth Shaw LLP (2021 to 2022). His legal practice encompassed many areas of employment litigation and counseling on behalf of employers, including workplace discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, whistleblowing, workforce restructuring, restrictive covenants, and worker classification. Davis earned his J.D. from New York University School of Law and is admitted to practice law in New York and Massachusetts. Prior to law school, he spent two years as a high school teacher in New York City. He received an M.S.Ed. from the City College of New York and a B.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University.
Tina rejoined the Career Development Office as Director of Recruitment and Administration in September 2022 after three years in the YLS Alumni Engagement & Development department launching the Law School’s online mentoring platform, The Courtyard. Returning to her role in CDO, Tina directs all aspects of the school’s recruitment programs, employment tracking and reporting, and technology initiatives. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College.
Mary Korey
Assistant Director of Administration Phone: 203-432-7224 mary.korey@yale.edu
Mary joined CDO in August 2024, most recently working in YLS’s Office of Student Affairs. With over a decade of experience in higher education administration, she brings experience in program management, academic advising, and student affairs to the role. As Assistant Director of Administration, Mary provides support for CDO’s clerkship and fellowship programs. She is a graduate of American University (BA) and the George Washington University (MA).
Janelle Lewis
Assistant Director of CDO Data & Engagement Information Phone: 267-374-7489 janelle.lewis@yale.edu
Janelle rejoined the office full-time in 2025, where she now manages The Courtyard online community and maintains student and alumni information in YLS databases. She previously held several other roles at Yale, including as Assistant Director of Employer Relations at the Yale Office of Career Strategy and as Technology Communications Coordinator at the YLS Career Development Office. Janelle is a graduate of Messiah College and Yale Divinity School.
Jen joined CDO in 2020 as a Remote Career Counseling Consultant and provides advising to alumni and first-year students in her advising cohort regarding private sector employment. Jen earned her B.S. in Psychology from Brown University where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa and received her JD from Yale Law School. Prior to earning her JD, Jen worked as a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy. During law school she worked as a summer law clerk for the Federal Court of Australia and interned for the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union. Between 2004 and 2007, she worked as a Tax and Trusts & Estates Associate at White & Case LLP, focusing her practice on wealth planning for high net worth clients and general tax matters. In 2008, Jen transitioned to recruiting and in 2018 co-founded the legal search firm, Springboard Search Group. Over the past several years, Jen has advised and placed hundreds of Partners, Counsels and Associates across practice areas at top law firms around the country. She has also placed numerous attorneys in-house at companies ranging from a solar energy start-up to asset managers to a major sports league. She has also held workshops for lawyers seeking to pursue alternative careers and has spoken on Bar Association panels regarding associate career paths and the move in-house.
Van Ann (she/her) provides career advising to students on a remote, part-time basis, with specialized expertise in private sector employment and opportunities for students with diverse backgrounds. With over a decade of experience in the legal profession, Van Ann has counseled and mentored hundreds of students and new attorneys starting out in their careers. Prior to joining CDO, she served as the Director of the SEO (Sponsors for Educational Opportunity) Law Program, where she matched incoming law students with internships at corporate law firms nationwide, counseled students and alumni on excelling in their respective internships and careers, and advised law firms on recruiting best practices.
Van Ann is a former Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Diversity Pipeline Initiatives Committee and a former practicing attorney at Proskauer Rose LLP, where she practiced debt finance and was a co-Chair of its Asian Lawyers Affinity Group. She received her JD from Columbia Law School and her BA in Political Science and BBA in Marketing from Southern Methodist University.
Clinical Associate Professor Naomi Mann is the Executive Director of the Civil Litigation & Justice Program. She is Founding Director of the Access to Justice Clinic (A2J Clinic), an innovative clinic which pairs individual client representation with systems change projects. Students in A2J represent individual clients facing multiple systemic barriers (e.g., gender, race, class, and disability) in housing, family law, and employment cases. Students actively analyze and tackle the individual and structural injustices that their clients face and learn how individual client representation and/or systems change projects can address important access to justice gaps. Students build their own access to justice systems change projects in the second semester, and, in the process, develop their own professional networks. Before coming to Boston University, Professor Mann worked as a Civil Rights Attorney in the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights where she investigated, mediated, and resolved claims involving educational institution compliance with federal civil rights laws including Title IX, Title VI, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. From 2003 to 2010, Professor Mann worked as a staff attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services and Washington Empowered Against Violence, representing low-income domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in family law and restraining order cases. Professor Mann writes in the areas of Title IX, sexual assault, and constitutional due process.
Kiran (she/her) is an attorney with diverse experience working in the education, government and non-profit sectors. For ten years, Kiran provided career counseling for thousands of students and alumni at Columbia Law School in the Office of Social Justice Initiatives. She advised on government and public interest career opportunities, with a specialty in guiding students and alumni interested in careers in criminal prosecution at the state and federal levels. Prior to joining Social Justice Initiatives, Kiran was Assistant General Counsel at Success Academy Charter Schools, a nonprofit organization that runs charter schools in New York City. From 2007-2012, Kiran served as an Assistant District Attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. She was a trial attorney responsible for prosecuting hundreds of criminal cases involving domestic violence, hate crimes, weapons, narcotics, violent crimes and financial crimes. Prior to law school, Kiran was awarded an Urban Fellowship where she worked in New York City government. Kiran received a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. She graduated from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Political Science. While at Brown, she was awarded the CV Starr Institute Award for Leadership in Public Service.
Clara joins Yale Law School after most recently serving in the East Haven Public School district as a Social Studies Teacher. While serving as a teacher the last several years, she has conducted instructional design, curriculum development and implementation, and analyzation of performance metrics of new behavioral strategies. She received her Bachelor of Arts from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and her Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Southern California.
CDO Student Advisors
Bea Brown
Bea Brown is a third-year J.D. student at Yale Law School. She holds a B.A. in Ethics, Politics, & Economics from Yale University and a Master of Bioethics (MBE) from Harvard Medical School. Prior to law school, she worked as a research specialist for the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. At Yale Law School, Bea is a CDO Student Advisor, one of the two Managing Editors for the Yale Law Journal, and a member of the Reproductive Rights and Justice Project. During her 1L summer, she was a Summer Associate for the U.S. Judicial Strategy team at the Center for Reproductive Rights. Bea split her 2L summer, working as a Summer Litigation Intern for the Public Policy Litigation and Law Department at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and as a Summer Legal Intern for the Civil Appellate Staff at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Ashlee Fox
Ashlee Fox is a third-year student at Yale Law School and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She is from Oklahoma. On campus, Ashlee serves as a Student Director for her clinic, the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project, an Articles & Essays Editor on the Yale Law Journal, and a Ludwig Fellow through the Tsai Leadership Center. She has also served as Co-President of the Native American Law Students Association, Academic Advocacy Chair of Yale Law Women+, and Area 6 Representative of the National Native American Law Students Association. During her 1L summer, Ashlee interned for the District of Columbia in their Office of the Solicitor General. She split her 2L summer between Jenner & Block’s D.C. office, where she was a 2L Diversity Scholar, and Susman Godfrey’s Seattle office. Prior to law school, Ashlee worked in the Office of the Principal Chief at Cherokee Nation, where she served as Self-Governance Coordinator and Assistant to the Principal Chief. There, she was responsible for millions of dollars in Self-Governance compacts and funding agreements with the federal government. Ashlee graduated from Reed College in 2019 with a degree in economics.
Mikhail Grant
Mikhail Grant is a joint-degree J.D./M.B.A. student at Yale Law School and Yale School of Management. He holds a B.S. in Engineering and an M.S. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. Prior to law school, Mikhail worked as a research analyst in the Bay Area for the energy & climate team at Rhodium Group, an independent research provider specializing in data analytics and climate policy insights; he has four years of experience in energy policy research. At Yale Law School, Mikhail is a CDO Student Advisor and Chae Fellow. He has also been a Kerry Fellow and part of the Immigrant Rights Clinic. Mikhail also interned at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in Washington, DC, during his 1L summer. During his 2L summer, he was a summer associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in NYC. After graduation, Mikhail will be returning to Cravath as a Transaction Associate and hopes to also pursue an immigration pro bono practice.
Sumona Gupta
Sumona Gupta is third-year student at Yale Law School. She holds a B.S. in Socio-Legal Studies from the University of Alabama and a M.Sc. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Oxford. Being an Alabamian shaped her interest in the areas of immigrants’ rights and workers’ rights and the legal gaps that exist between them. Prior to law school, she did workers’ center-based organizing, legal aid for people detained in immigration detention centers, freelance writing, and studied the criminalization of migrants and labor organizers as a Master’s student. In her 1L summer, she served as a clerk for International Rights Advocates and during her 2L year, she was a summer associate at McCracken, Stemerman, and Holsberry.
She hopes to further explore how workers can fight dispossession and exploitation, especially across complex supply chains that stretch across the country and internationally.
Jae Kwak
Jae Kwak is a third-year J.D. student at Yale Law School. He holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. At Yale Law School, Jae is a CDO Advisor and a Chae Fellow. He was the APALSA Professional Development Chair and the Bulletins Editor of JREG. He served as a judicial intern to the Hon. Jeffrey Meyer in the District of Connecticut during his 1L summer. During his 2L summer, he was a summer associate at the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell. After graduation, Jae will be returning to the firm as a General Practice Associate.
Courtney Perales
Courtney Perales is a third-year J.D. student at Yale Law School. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology with Certificates in Latino Studies and Latin American Studies from Princeton University. Prior to law school, she worked in educational equity and higher education administration at her alma mater’s Center for Access and Opportunity. At Yale Law School, Courtney is a CDO Student Advisor and an Executive Articles Editor for the Yale Law and Policy Review. She is a transfer student from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she obtained a diversity internship to work with the data privacy and cybersecurity practice group at Locke Lord LLP during her 1L summer. During her 2L summer, she was a summer associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
Safia Sayed
Safia Sayed is a third-year J.D. student at Yale Law School. She holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Prior to law school, she worked as an economics research assistant in Washington, DC, at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the White House Council of Economic Advisers. At Yale School, Safia is a CDO Student Advisor and a research assistant with the Yale Budget Lab. She spent her 1L summer interning with the civil division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and her 2L summer interning with the Joint Committee on Taxation and as a summer associate at Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom in Washington, DC.
Now it is time to pivot and ask, where are your extraordinary gifts needed? How do you make this legal world that you are entering a better world? One where no one is shut out; one where the weak and vulnerable are not exploited; one that produces fair results based on the merits of the issues before it.
Visiting Lecturer Stephen Bright|2012 Commencement Address
