Lessons I Learned to Be More Effective As A Woman Lawyer (2024 Edition)

Alexandra “Xan” S. Bernay | Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP

Alexandra “Xan” S. Bernay is a partner in Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP’s San Diego office, where she specializes in antitrust and unfair competition class action litigation. She has also worked on some of the Firm’s largest securities fraud class actions, including as a key team member in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig. (S.D. Tex.), which recovered an unprecedented $7.2 billion for investors. Xan currently serves as co-lead counsel in In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litig., in which a settlement of $5.5 billion was approved in the Eastern District of New York and was upheld by the Second Circuit in 2023. This case was brought on behalf of millions of U.S. merchants against Visa and MasterCard and various card-issuing banks. The settlement is believed to be the largest antitrust class action settlement of all time.

Additionally, Xan is involved in In re Remicade Antitrust Litig. (E.D. Pa.) – a large case involving anticompetitive conduct in the biosimilars market, where the firm secured a $25 million recovery for end-payor plaintiffs. She is also part of the litigation team in In re Dealer Mgmt. Sys. Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Ill.), which involves anticompetitive conduct related to dealer management systems on behalf of auto dealerships across the country. She also works on a number of other cases, including an antitrust action against major airlines and a sprawling civil RICO case against Syndicates of Lloyd’s of London. She has tried to verdict two antitrust class actions, including a case against one of the world’s largest companies who was sued on behalf of consumers and a major bank involved in foreign exchange trading.

Xan speaks on a variety of issues on panels and legal education events related to litigation, including trends in antitrust law, issues affected women in the law, changes to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, settlements and other topics related to class action litigation. As part of her pro bono work with the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers’ Program Xan has successfully worked on several trials on behalf of clients seeking guardianship.

Xan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Humboldt State University. She then graduated magna cum laude with a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law, where she was a Comments Editor for the San Diego Law Review, and an Order of the Coif member. She was recently named a 2023 Distinguished Alumni at Humboldt.

Idara E. Bassey | JOY Counsel LLC

Idara E. Bassey, Esq. is a Freelance Project Attorney, Energy Strategist & Corporate Intuitive. As founder of JOY Counsel LLC she helps stressed-out women lawyers who struggle with prioritizing their self-care by leveraging tools and practices they never learned in law school so they can finally enjoy the personal and professional well-being they deserve. She has been a Personal Advisor to corporate professionals from various industries and has been retained by legal professionals on matters of executive performance, soft skills training, values alignment, stress reduction, and wellness. She earned a J.D. and an LL.M in Public International Law from the University of Georgia School of Law in Athens, GA where she was named a Ford Foundation Fellow followed by a Doctoral Degree in Metaphysical Counseling from the University of Sedona. She has published extensively in the self-help/spirituality genre over the past 20+ years including the award-winning essay collection Reflections of a Mystical Sistah (iUniverse Publishing) which tells the “story behind the story” of creating a lawyer life she loves. For more information on her lawyer well-being work visit her on LinkedIn or at www.LoveYourLawyerLife.com.

Alyssa Johnson | Alyssa Johnson, LLC

Alyssa Johnson, Esq., is a formerly practicing attorney who now works with individuals and legal organizations on topics related to emotional intelligence, the neuroscience of productivity, and racialized trauma as it flows through the White body. The underpinning of Alyssa’s work is helping people work in partnership with their brains by better understanding how the trauma brain impacts behavior and decision making. Alyssa has taught several CLEs on topics related to well-being and supporting women of Color in the legal profession. She was a contributing writer to Trauma-Informed Law: A Primer for Lawyer Resilience and Healing, which was published by the ABA in 2023. You can learn more about her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawyeralyssa/) or at www.AlyssaJohnson.love.

Session I – Effective Strategies for Women Lawyers: Challenges and opportunities | 2:00pm – 3:00pm

• Effective self-promotion | 2:00pm – 2:20pm
• Strategies for reviews | 2:20pm – 2:40pm
• Tips for mentors and mentees | 2:40pm – 3:00pm

Break | 3:00pm – 3:10pm

Session II – Lawyering Without Losing Yourself: Lessons for women lawyers | 3:10pm – 4:10pm

• Create your own definition of success | 3:10pm – 3:30pm
• Explore the creative brain and lawyer brain dichotomy | 3:30pm –3:50pm
• Learn what to do when thinking like a lawyer doesn’t work | 3:50pm –4:10pm