A day in the life of Sharon Brooks would leave most of us exhausted. As associate dean of Yale Law School's Student Affairs, as well as the responsibility for ensuring the Career Development Office runs according to schedule, this Yale graduate juggles it with grace, experience and talent. Before bringing it all back to Yale Law, Brooks was a litigation associate with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a prestigious New York law firm. She also spent time as an anti-trust associate with Watchell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. By the time 2007 rolled around, she could no longer ignore the calling of her alma mater. She returned and began changing lives immediately. In 2009, she received the Yale Law Women Staff Appreciation Award. She knew she was where she belonged.
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It's hard to imagine that she's completed so much in the ten years since receiving her B.A from New York University. When she graduated there, she immediately began seeking her J.D from Yale Law School. Did we mention she also served as an Articles Editor while pursuing her JD? Further, she found herself serving on the Board of Directors for the Morris Tyler Moot Court of Appeals, the Black Law Students’ Association and the Yale Law Women Society. It comes as little surprise, then, that she found herself seeking out the most challenging cases.
In her role as Associate Dean, Brooks serves as the ''go to'' for so many students. She serves as a liaison between these students and Yale faculty and administration. She's earned a reputation of being one these law students can rely on - from a personal and academic stance. Whether it's someone who's willing to listen to those students who need a pep talk when it all becomes too much, Dean Brooks is reliable, ethical and sincere. She and her team offer assistance with the law school's Student Life Initiatives, which serves to help with transitions and other events that can sometimes prove a bit overwhelming to college students.
With a warm smile, an ability to get to the root of the problem and an authentic concern for anyone who entrusts her with their fears, insecurities or secrets, Sharon Brooks is a model career dean; one that exemplifies the position and all it should encompass. Her contributions are impossible to quantify, though they offer an invaluable service to the law school as a whole and the staff and students alike. For more information on Dean Sharon Brooks, visit the Yale Law School Staff Page at Law.Yale.edu/studentlife/OSAStaff.
