Campbell Law 45th Anniversary Spotlight: Sarah Skinner ’19

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Nominator: Lindsey Reedy, Class of 2020

Lindsey Reedy is a 2020 graduate of Campbell University School of Law. She is an associate attorney at Hill Law, PLLC located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her firm works with a diverse array of startup companies and small businesses.

Nominee: Sarah Skinner, Class of 2019

Sarah Skinner is a graduate of Campbell University School of Law’s Class of 2019. Skinner is a junior partner at the BILTgroup in Raleigh, North Carolina. She brings together her accounting and legal background to help solve client problems and she couples her broad, general commercial legal background with her clients’ international and business problems to arrive at elegant solutions that work for their business.

Skinner came to BILTgroup with a broad international background. As the daughter of a Marine, she developed an appreciation for the dynamics of our global community at a young age. During her studies at Meredith College and Campbell Law School, she took advantage of a multitude of international opportunities including studying abroad in Costa Rica, competing in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (competed in Vienna in 2018 and Hong Kong in 2019) and participating in an adoption law service trip to Panama. While attending law school, Skinner also earned her LL.M. from Nottingham Trent University (UK) where she focused her studies on the implication efforts and effects of the U.N. Convention Against Corruption. Prior to joining BILTgroup, she practiced civil litigation. She is now taking that in-the-courtroom experience to her consulting practice.

Q: What is your favorite thing about your job?

A: Every day is different! I love being able to work alongside business executives to come up with unique solutions for the issues facing their business. Taking the time to understand your client businesses, their goals, and where they want to be in the future is crucial to being able to find the best solution.

Q: How did Campbell Law School prepare you for your career?

A: On the subject of bar prep specifically, I can’t speak high enough of Sha Hinds-Glick’s MPT course that was offered my last semester. The high volume of practice obtained in that course paid dividends when it came to exam time – the MPT portion became my comfort zone. The first hurdle to entering the profession is getting the exam out of the way, and any opportunities offered to let you do just that (even if it is not the most thrilling of classes) is highly valuable. A lot of the companies I work now with are international companies – the unique international opportunities at Campbell gave me a glimpse of how American lawyers interact in the global business scene.

Q; What attracted you to business law?

A: Business in general is an exciting field – getting to see entrepreneurship in action and assist with making tailored business plans a reality is extremely satisfying.  As Ayn Rand said: “Capitalism was the only system in history where wealth was not acquired by looting but by production, not by force, but by trade, the only system that stood for man’s right to his own mind, to his work, to his life, to his happiness, to himself.” Business law, tax planning and business consulting in general provides you with the opportunity to affirmatively promote the underlying objectives of capitalism.

Q: Share a memory or experience that has had a lasting impact on your career.

A: My 2L and 3L year, I participated in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot which not only gave him the opportunity to network with law students from around the world but served as a primer to International Commercial Arbitration law. I also really benefited from Campbell’s LLM program with Nottingham Law School (UK) which gave me the opportunity to dive into an international legal topic of interest to me: anti-corruption efforts.

Q: What does Campbell University’s motto “leading with purpose” mean to you?

A: To “lead with purpose,” you need first need to know what you stand for. Once you know what you stand for, show the world what is important to you through action rather than talk. Lead by example, focus on actions that move the world into the direction you would like it to go.

Want to nominate a Campbell Law Alumna/Alumnus to be featured in a 45th anniversary spotlight?

If you would like to nominate a fellow alumnus/na who is living the university’s motto “leading with purpose,” please contact Lisa Snedeker at lsnedeker@campbell.edu for more information.

 

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