The Business Law Section Diversity Fellowship Program is designed to assist a diverse and inclusive group of lawyers in becoming better leaders within our profession and the Business Law Section, while enhancing their leadership skills, as an encouragement and commitment to attract young and diverse lawyers to join, participate and ultimately serve in leadership positions of the Business Law Section. The Business Law Section will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Fellowship Program with the incoming 2023 class. Applications are being accepted until April 1st. The Inclusion/Mentorship/Fellowship Committee will be sharing Fellow Spotlights to allow the Section to get to know our outstanding current fellows on a weekly basis leading up to the application deadline.
If you know a dynamic business law attorney, encourage them to apply here.
Jake Isenberg is a Class of 2022-2024 Fellow and practices M&A at Jones Day. I had the opportunity to talk to Jake and get to know a little more about him. Here’s what he shared:
What is your favorite thing about business law practice?
My favorite thing about the practice is getting to dabble in a lot of different industries and learning about different businesses that you may never normally encounter. I like the variety.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
For my job now, the best piece of advice I’ve received is to stay organized. Being organized is the number one skill you can have. Keeping track of deadlines and closely following a checklist to make sure a deal is on pace to close are both important ways to stay organized. Also, preparation, preparation, preparation is the key!
When did you realize you wanted to be a lawyer?
My dad practices family law and growing up, I knew I didn’t want to do that. I actually tried going the pre-med route but it didn’t work out. Ultimately, I had a long conversation with my dad about my future and my skills and came to learn that law was a lot broader than family law. I became interested in becoming a litigator. Now, I’m doing M&A and I really like it, but it’s fair to say I didn’t know this is what I would end up practicing.
What’s one thing people don’t know about you?
I went cage diving with great white sharks in South Africa. I saw 7 great whites. They dropped me in a cage attached to the boat and placed some meat in front of the cage to attract the sharks. They were so close I could have touched them. It was a really cool experience.