Starting with Lawline!

Let's take it back to the beginning! That's what we did in our recent watercooler channel by asking employees, "How and when did you start working for Lawline?" Employees loved hearing all the Lawline lore in response to this prompt, which shed light on their history of joining Lawline. Check out their stories below:

Michelle Ramires - Email Marketing Coordinator

A recruiter reached out to me via LinkedIn. When I had that first call they mentioned I would be working with the CEO, who lived in Spain at the time. I thought that was super cool! Especially being Portuguese myself. I had a few interviews at the end of 2020 and then had my final interview right before New Year's. A week into 2021, I got the call and I got the job and started a few weeks later. 

Cali Franks - Program Attorney

I stumbled across a LinkedIn job post after researching a CLE topic. I applied and reached out to Sigalle Barness, Chief Communications Officer. We had a quick phone chat and I was interviewed shortly after that. The rest is history!

Arika Wadsworth - Marketing Coordinator 

Love this prompt!! I had been on quite a long job search back in 2022. I was SCOURING LinkedIn listings and came across the Marketing Coordinator position at Lawline. When I saw that Lawline was a "CLE" company and that the listed contact was Miylie, who lives in Cleveland, I thought "Wow, this is perfect, I can move to Cleveland if needed!" The position seemed like it perfectly fit what I was looking for, so I applied. Once I was offered an interview, I did a deeper dive into Lawline and realized that CLE did not mean Cleveland. I knew Lawline had some sort of law element based on the listing, but then soon realized it was based in NYC (way cooler than CLE to me).

After my initial interview with Miylie, the HR Generalist, I was BLOWN AWAY by the culture at Lawline, which was important to me in leaving that toxic work culture at my last job (where I would cry before work and be scared to interact with my coworkers). I met the Marketing team after that and just hoped they liked me as much as I liked them. And then, ditto to Cali, the rest is history!

Miylie Roan - HR Generalist

I found the role through Linkedin and thought "WOW this company sounds AMAZINGGG" and along with Arika, I thought I just had to apply because I live in Cleveland (CLE) and thought it was the universe speaking to me lol so, I applied and Alyssa Mrzljak, Business Operations Manager, reached out shortly after. I immediately clicked with her and then with Michele, Chief People Officer, and well... here I am

Alyssa Mrzljak - Business Operations Manager

I love this prompt too! In 2021 (I was hired a month after Michelle R., Email Marketing Coordinator!) I was working as an EA remotely for a company in NY but decided to start looking and found a recruiter posting for an EA role supporting Sigalle, Chief Communications Officer! I interviewed with Sigalle & Michele, the Chief People Officer, and was so blown away that Lawline had such fierce women on their executive team, and was excited to learn from them. I was super nervous after I accepted because I had been with the last company for almost 10 years and was afraid to leave a dynamic I knew worked even if it wasn't the best at the moment but ended up reading David's book and got to the part about how we can't get better if we always stay in our comfort zone and knew I was making the right choice. It was the best decision!

Rich Hernandez - Chief Operations Officer 

In 2012, I moved from Buffalo and stayed with my family while on the job hunt in NYC. After roughly 3 months of applying to all sorts of jobs, I eventually applied to a LinkedIn job posting for an evening customer service position at Lawline. While going through my daily application routine, I missed my scheduled phone screen with Lawline. I was mortified. I immediately contacted Frank, the VP of Business Operations at the time, and luckily, he was willing to reschedule and speak with me anyway. The next step was to come into the office for an in-person interview. I interviewed with several Lawline employees and then spent 15 minutes fielding what I thought were actual customer service calls (but were Lawline employees doing them).

The day ended with a discussion with the CEO. I don’t remember what we talked about, but towards the end, David invited me to the Lawline holiday party that happened to be that night. While I hadn’t received an offer yet, I figured showing up could only help my chances. I got the call the next day with the offer and never looked back.

Meredith Cohen-Pilat - Director of Customer Experience 

Also in 2012, I moved home from Boston. and applied to a marketing intern (??? why would I do this? I'm not a marketing person....) position at Lawline, which was a little bit sales and a little bit CS. I did multiple rounds of interviews, which at the time did not follow a formalized process but instead included a lot of brain teaser questions like, "How many airplanes are over Atlanta?" I was then notified that I did not get the job, so I started applying to grad school programs instead. Then a few days later I got a call from Frank that I actually did get the job. I started very soon after that and also got into grad school programs so I ended up doing both at the same time. After a week as an intern, I was offered a full-time position

Kate Moore - Program Attorney

In 2021 I was working with a career coach because I didn’t want to be a lawyer or a professor anymore, but didn’t know what the heck else to do. So I was talking to former lawyers in all sorts of industries. The coach put me in touch with Michele, the Chief People Officer because they knew each other and we all lived in the same town. It was in the spring and I had just signed a contract for another year of teaching, so I couldn’t apply to the position that was open at that time, but I liked what Michele had to say about the org, and liked it even more when I found out that Angelica, VP Learning Solutions, had been at Lawline for a long time because we went to law school together and were in the same clinic and I knew she was a great person who wouldn’t work at a bad company. When another position opened up at the end of that year I applied, and that was that.

Michelle DeGonzague - Customer Support Manager

Similar to Arika - in 2019, I was also trying to get out of a very toxic work environment in the music industry. I saw a customer support position posted on LinkedIn and applied. I had a screening interview with Kathleen, Email Marketing Manager, (before she was a marketing genius she was a bizops extraordinaire), then 2 in-person interviews. The last in-person one was quite long - I think around 3 hours. It was split into 2 parts, the last part being Michele, David, and me together. I was so nervous I didn't even want to ask for water LOL. I think it was the next day Michele called me to tell me I got it -  I saw the number calling at work and ran into a bathroom stall and the automatic flusher kept going off as she was telling me the good news

Elizabeth Pauley - Program Attorney

I had been working at a legal tech company as an attorney editor when I had to take some time off after having my twins. When I was ready to return to work, I was unsure what direction to take because I knew I didn't want to go back to a law firm environment. I started off doing some contract work for another company, and then I couldn't believe it when I came across the Lawline position soon after and it was such a great fit!

Angelica Cesario - VP, Learning Solutions

In 2015, I was pregnant with my first child and practicing at a law firm where I was working late and talking to clients at all hours of the night and also had a workplace culture that I no longer wanted to be a part of, especially as I was about to embark on a new journey as a parent. I took a leap of faith and left the firm without even having anything lined up because I knew it was not what I wanted for myself. I found Lawline on LinkedIn and applied for a Program Attorney position on a whim. Work-from-home Wednesdays intrigued me, along with the good vibe I got from the posting. I figured it was still legal-adjacent and supported my passion for education. I first had a phone interview with Sigalle, which went well, and then I got invited to a few rounds of in-person interviews. I remember meeting with Sigalle, a former program attorney who is no longer at Lawline who later became lead program attorney and then director of the function, and then Michele. Shortly after, I got invited to another round of interviews with Michele, a former COO named Kevin, and then had a solo interview with David. I remember being so nervous in that interview with David and also just hoping that I could make it through those interviews without throwing up since I was deep in the throes of morning sickness. 

I got the job and started soon after with a developer named Danny Bushkanets, who is no longer with Lawline but was a great guy. We started the same day and had our onboarding together, and he later gifted me with a baby gift for Lucy that was the first baby gift I had ever received at that point, and we now still have it and my son plays with it regularly.

Svetlana Glacken - Customer Success Manager 

I began my Lawline journey in July of 2020. The country was deep in a pandemic and changing jobs at the time seemed like a terrible idea. I worked for a respectable legal marketing network where I was the Customer Support Team Lead. I knew all of the processes and could support any product on the fly. However, I desperately needed a change.  The company I worked for didn’t adapt well to remote work and all signs were pointing to the return to the office in person.

It was a nerve-wracking time. I had no idea what our situation with the kids’ school schedule would be like in the Fall if they returned in person and I was worried about my father-in-law who helped us with drop off and pick-ups. I was searching for a fully remote role and applied for a Customer Support position at Lawline on LinkedIn. I had no idea what CLE meant, but appreciated the education aspect and wanted to continue being involved in serving the legal community.  I am so grateful that Michele and Meredith believed in me and gave me a chance to become a lawliner.

P.S. The company I worked for stayed remote for at least another year or so and then started outsourcing their Customer Support abroad. I was heartbroken to learn about this development. No one saw this coming.

Ariel Johnson-Pena - Attorney Compliance Coordinator 

Way way back in November of 2023, I applied to a posted job on LinkedIn that seemed to flawlessly combine my background into one position, and allow me to still be a part of the legal world and still continue my non-traditional route of law. I was previously working as a Hearing Officer with the Texas Workforce Commission, holding and determining appeal hearings on unemployment claims. I was contacted by a lovely individual, Miylie, and the interview process began. I sweated through every single shirt I wore for each stage of the interview process. I was interviewed by Meredith and Erika in the final stage and felt right at home! The job offer came right before Christmas and made my year. I started on January 16, 2024 and am excited to continue to grow in this company and building relationships with everyone.

Erika Tremblay - Accreditation & Compliance Manager

In March of 2022, I was so proud of the Graduate Advising team I’d built at Mercy College, but I was completely compassion fatigued. I had also made myself to “go-to” person for everything so I was mentally and physically burned out. I was at the point in my life where I knew I needed to find a job where I could be an asset but also have a solid team to support me too! A friend that had recently left and started recruiting called to say she had this opportunity that she felt I’d excel in and she set up an interview. I interviewed with Alyssa and I was so intrigued by the position and the company after our conversation. I didn’t know much about CLE, but I immediately felt at ease with Alyssa and her laid back honesty was so refreshing. Then I met with Meredith and Michelle D and, lets just say, the foundation to form the cheese girls was laid. 

 
I started on April 13th 2022 and honestly, through the first few weeks, I kept pinching myself to remember this was real. I am so grateful for the people here and I am so happy to be part of this company!