Brooklyn Law School panel encourages students to think of different roles for attorneys

October 4, 2018 By Rob Abruzzese, Legal Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Andrew Rausa, a BLS alumni and the senior product and privacy counsel at Facebook, moderated last Thursday’s panel titled, “The Emerging Role of Attorneys in Product Development,” at Brooklyn Law School. Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Law School

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The idea of the modern attorney is constantly evolving from stuffy litigants in white shoe firms sitting in Manhattan high rises to a more diverse workforce that includes attorneys continuing to take a greater role in companies’ technology and product development processes.

This evolution was the topic of discussion at a Brooklyn Law School panel discussion titled, “The Emerging Role of Attorneys in Product Development,” that was sponsored by the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE) on Thursday, Sept. 27.

“Tech and data have permeated all industries,” said Andrew Rausa, a BLS alumni and the senior product and privacy counsel at Facebook. “Lawyers can play an important role in bridging the gap between tech and legal.”

Rausa served as the moderator for the event. Other panelists included Andy Roth, Rachel Vargo, Farah Zaman and Anna Rudawki.

The discussion centered around how attorneys can ad value for their clients and how they can embed themselves within organizations to better foster innovation and business goals.

“More people are being drawn into [privacy law], not only because it’s an exciting area and good career move, but because people feel strongly that we’re at an inflection point in time where technology has created issues for us, we’ve created issues, and they’re very difficult to solve,” said Roth.

During the discussion, many involved credited BLS professor Jonathan Askin and the Brooklyn law Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP), for helping to break their preconceived notions of what an attorney could become.

“Professor Askin has really promoted the idea of ‘Lawyer 2.0’—doing more than just typical lawyerly work in our roles,” Zaman said.