Where do you go with two degrees in philosophy (summa cum laude) from an Ivy League school, a law degree from the University of Chicago, two years at a large New York law firm and a tenured professorship at Hofstra Law School?
Standup comedy, of course.
“Sometimes people ask me, ‘Why did you go to law school?’ I’m like, ‘I’m setting up a joke I’m going to tell in approximately 14 years,’” comedian Liz Glazer quipped last week during her routine at the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) Diversity Committee’s annual New Year kickoff celebration.
NJSBA Trustee James A. Lewis V, who co-chairs the committee with Maria P. Vallejo, introduced Glazer and said she taught him at Hofstra and helped inspire him to pursue civil rights law. He also caught her act at a comedy club.
The Diversity Committee event was held over Zoom, which Glazer used to her advantage by occasionally riffing off some of the attendees’ comments written in the chat feature. Even some snippets of one attendee’s inadvertently unmuted conversation about a case became comic fodder.
During a half-hour set, Glazer talked about her unusual path to comedy; the respect she has for friends, students and colleagues who are still in the profession; and the fact that she’s still licensed to practice law in New York. (“My mom will not let me not be licensed,” she joked.)
The comedy set was followed by “speed networking” activities, where participants were split into breakout rooms of six or less and had the opportunity to meet and talk to each other.
“In this time of quarantining and social distancing, in-person meetings and social networking are few and far between. We are happy to have been able to provide folks an opportunity to meet and network in a fun and safe environment. The speed networking event using small, virtual breakout rooms proved to be a success, and we hope to offer it again,” Vallejo said.
Attendees learned tips to help break the ice at the outset, such as to share their contact information—name, LinkedIn profile or email address—in the chat so they wouldn’t forget their new contacts, and to take a screenshot of their group—with permission—so they can connect names and faces.
“I loved being able to chat with three or four other attorneys from around the state and from different affinity bar groups, reconnecting with familiar faces and making new connections. And I particularly loved being in rooms with new lawyers just starting out their careers, answering their questions or being able to offer networking connections to them,” said NJSBA Trustee Ayesha Hamilton.
The free event was presented in cooperation with the NJSBA Labor and Employment Law Section, LGBT Rights Section, Minorities in the Profession Section, and Women in the Profession Section, as well as the Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey, Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey, Garden State Bar Association, Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey, New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association, New Jersey Women Lawyers Association and South Asian Bar Association of New Jersey.