I began researching to do an article about two students from New Jersey City University who won "Best Opening Statements" at a compitition in Vienna, Austria. This led me to their coach and a professor at NJCU, Karen DeSoto.
The students were part of the Institute for Dispute Resolution who competed against 33 other teams from around the globe.
I reached out to Karen DeSoto for an interview. She is a professor at New Jersey City University, and co-founder and co-director of its Institute for Dispute Resolution. Read the interview about the Institute here.
Then, in a different discussion I gleaned more about her; a depth of experience and knowledge not expected from a woman a seemingly young as she appears. As they say, never judge a book by its cover.
She is young. In fact, she was the youngest attorney, first woman and first Hispanic in the history of Jersey City, New Jersey to ever be appointed Corporate Counsel for the city. She has been awarded attorney of the year, humanitarian of the year, listed in Hispanics on the Move in the magazine Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, and Top 50 Most Influential by The Hudson Reporter. She was honored by the NAACP, and through her work in employment discrimination and equal rights The Hudson Reporter said:
“Karen DeSoto has become one of the leading forces in Hudson County for civil rights, often taking cases that highlight racial issues in the county. Most recently, she was instrumental in bringing together civil rights activists to deal with questions in the Jersey City/Bayonne area of the county. By partnering with other civil rights leaders in and out of Hudson County, she has become a force to be reckoned with.”
You’d think that would be an entire career. But no. She received a Juris Doctorate and Master of Law in Trial Advocacy at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, served as a public defender, prosecutor, and attorney in private practice with the founding of the Center For Legal Justice.
Is that it then? Not yet. Since 2000 she has been an ‘On-air” legal analyst, appearing on MSNBC, ABC News, CNN Headline News, Fox News, The TODAY Show, and is currently the legal analyst for NBC News. Watch videos here.
So I wrote a profile about her HERE because she seemed to me someone that served as a role model for young women, rising in her career despite politically-inspired attacks against her. She pushes on.
This is an amazing woman.
