TJSL Cyber Law Students Visit Silicon Valley Internet Giants

April 22, 2013

Companies include Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and others

A group of TJSL students who are taking Adjunct Professor Aaron Ghirardelli’s Cyber Law class got to visit “Dot.Com Heaven” during their recent spring break, going to the headquarters and meet with the attorneys for Internet giants Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Zynga and the Electronic Frontier Foundation –  all located in the Silicon Valley.

These companies are big-time players in the cyber world.

“The field trip was a special project I created for my Cyberlaw class, some IP Fellows and other students” said Professor Ghirardelli. “I have worked at Twitter for one year and I have several contacts in the Bay Area in the tech world. When I started teaching at Thomas Jefferson, I wanted to give to my students an opportunity to hear from some of the lawyers working at the top web companies what it means to be an in-house counsel at these companies and what are the challenges in assisting clients in issues dealing with cyberspace.”

“I was fortunate to join the group for their last day of tours at both Zynga and Twitter,” said Jennifer McCollough (3L) who is an IP Fellow.  “It was really eye-opening how the cultures of companies in Silicon Valley ensure that their employees have a pleasant place to work.  At Zynga we saw the majority of employees are able to bring their dogs to work.  There was an awesome cafeteria, bike check and even dry cleaning!  I also enjoyed hearing different points of view on how in-house attorneys procured their positions and their day-to-day challenges.”

“As an IP fellow, I was able to accompany Professor Aaron Ghirardelli’s Cyber Law class to Facebook over spring break and we met with their in house IP counsel,” said Stephanie Ferguson (2L).  “He provided his students with an amazing opportunity to have intimate conversations with the various attorneys. With so many law schools in a 25 radius – this is the first time Facebook has ever had law students visit them. It’s so cool – and the laid-back atmosphere definitely goes through to the legal staff.”

“The experience has been a unique learning and networking opportunity for my students – a huge success,” said Professor Ghirardelli. “Students were very happy about all the opportunities they had and I received some good comments on this project. Students not only had an opportunity to visit some of the most intriguing campuses of the Bay Area (Facebook’s and Zynga’s offices are wonderful) but they also were able to personally connect with some of the lawyers working at these companies and they received valuable feedback on job opportunities, career advice and more.”

Photo Captions:

Facebook Photo:
 

Michael Morphew
Elizabeth Chu
Marinna Julian
Andrew Isaac
Stephanie Ferguson
Alyssa Andrews (behind her, Joshua Lee)
Joseph Perez

Twitter Photo:

Professor Aaron Ghirardelli

Joseph Perez
Marinna Julian
Andrew Isaac
Michael Morphew
Elizabeth Chu (sitting in front of her, Joshua Lee)
Alyssa Andrews
Jeremy Kessel (Twitter’s Head of Legal Policy)
Jennifer McCollough
Amy Keating (Twitter’s Litigation Counsel)
Tiffany McCloud
Jonathan Stahler