Sara Williams’ Post

Last week we closed out our time in Scotland with Cumberland’s inaugural Art of Advocacy CLE. We kicked off with dinner at the Edinburgh Castle. Huge thanks to everyone who attended.

It has been an absolute honor and a privilege to have had the opportunity to teach and learn from this fantastic group of Samford University Cumberland School of Law students during our inaugural Scotland study abroad. Today marked the last day of my class. The growth this group exhibited after just three short weeks was incredible. The future of our profession is bright. #lawprofessor #studyabroad #edinburgh

Update from Scotland. Hard to believe we have been here for two weeks! I have such an amazing group of Samford University Cumberland School of Law students in my class, which has made this such a great teaching experience. We hold classes from 8 am to 12 pm, which leaves time to explore and get some work done in the afternoon. Malone and I took a trip with some friends to Loch Lomond last weekend. Scotland is such a beautiful country. Everyone has been incredibly kind to us. I have one more week of class next week and then a short break before our CLE program. Looking forward to more exploring. The biggest adjustment for us has been the effect of 10-10:30 pm sunsets on our sleep schedule. Oh and having a washing machine and no dryer. Getting back to my old roots of hanging clothes.

The Williams-Davis girls have arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland. I will be teaching here for the month of June while also exploring the UK with my daughter. If you’ve traveled to Scotland please share with me your favorite experiences so we can add them to our list.

Samford University Cumberland School of Law had the pleasure of hosting a group of interns from Maynard Nexsen. They were able to experience a mock criminal law class with Professor Chinelo Dike-Minor and then I had the opportunity to teach them a little about how to structure a cross examination. We ended their day with the Blocks Game which helps students refine their ability to refine their questions to one fact. The future of the legal industry is bright and it was a joy to spend the day with these bright, future legal scholars. Thank you Stephanie Mays for inviting me to participate. #trialadvocacy #transformationaladvocacy #lawprofessorlife

Earlier this month I had the honor of kicking off the Ohio Association for Justice annual conference in Columbus, Ohio with my “Becoming the Storytellers Our Clients Need” keynote. This keynote focuses on how trial lawyers can harness the neuroscience of persuasion to better connect with our jurors. However, a crucial component of telling a story is the storyteller. A large component of becoming better storytellers is shedding the belief that there is some ideal or model lawyer. That we all must speak and act a certain way. Instead we have to develop the mindset that who we are is enough and exactly what our clients need. I appreciate the attendees that came up to me afterwards and confessed they have taken on an attorney persona, but feel motivated to shed that and get comfortable being more of themselves. Thank you OAJ for having me. #keynotespeaker #storytelling #trialadvocacy #transformationaladvocacy

Remember this the next time you catch yourself feeling self doubt or imposter syndrome creeping up... There's a difference between learning and faking it. You ADD value to every room you enter, because of your unique perspective and experiences. Head into that meeting with the mindset that you are the asset and watch what a difference it makes in how you show up.