VIDEO: Military lawyers have to master many fields

As an attorney, Marine Corps Col. Jennifer Parker understands the special circumstances that military lawyers face. Unlike their civilian counterparts, military attorneys are expected to be legal generalists at least early in their service careers. In this video, Parker explains how she developed the mindset to practice in many fields of law as a young officer. Her observations include:

• “I developed the legal skills and the mindset to be a generalist as a judge advocate in the Marine Corps by being humble.”
• “[W]e do practice in a lot of different areas. So, it’s important that when someone asks me a nuanced or complex legal question that I understand I cannot shoot from the hip.”
• “I may need to call an expert to come in and look at my analysis and make sure that it’s correct and that I identified all the issues and that I have addressed the concerns of the client.”

Look for the 5 Questions With interview with Parker to be published later this month in the print edition of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly and to be posted online soon at nclawyersweekly.com.

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