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Suzanne L. Bell ’90Deputy Director for LegalRecruitment and OutreachOffice of Attorney Recruitmentand ManagementU.S. Department of JusticeWashington, D.C.Karen B. Wong ’86PartnerGlobal Project FinanceMilbank, Tweed, Hadley &McCloy LLPLos Angeles, CaliforniaMark L. Karasik ’81PrincipalBaker & McKenzie LLPChicago, IllinoisJoyce L. Kennard ’74Associate JusticeSupreme Court of CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaBefore becoming a lawyer, Suzanne Bell was an assistant treasurerfor Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York. Since graduatingfrom USC, she has worked in just about every legal environment,except a corporation. Bell served as a Research Attorney for the LosAngeles Superior Court, and was an associate at the law firm, Manatt,Phelps & Phillips. Since 1995, Bell has worked for the U.S. Departmentof Justice, first as an Assistant United States Attorney, then as DeputyGeneral Counsel.Currently Deputy Director, she provides general oversight of the DOJ’slegal recruitment programs and retention and diversity initiativesand works with DOJ components in developing a strategic plan forenhancing the DOJ’s outreach and recruitment efforts to ensurecontinued success in attracting and retaining highly-qualified legaltalent from diverse backgrounds.Bell has a challenging job—the U.S. Department of Justice is thelargest legal employer in the world with more than 9,500 attorneysnationwide. Annually, the DOJ hires approximately 120–150 entry-levelattorneys through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, 100second-year law students through the Summer Law Intern Program,650 lateral or experienced attorneys, and 1800 law student volunteers.In addition to conducting the Honors Program interviewer training forthe attorneys in the DOJ, Bell’s team has also expanded managementtraining initiatives, including workshops lateral or experiencedattorneys.“My career has evolved,” says Bell. “I had no idea that I would beinvolved in recruitment for the Department of Justice. It’s importantto develop a reputation for excellence. Excellence helps createopportunity. I recognized and landed this great opportunity becauseI was flexible and open to new ideas.”Karen Wong has been a Milbank partner since 1996. Her practicefocuses on the representation of sponsors and financing partiesin connection with the development, acquisition, financing and/orrestructuring of power, petrochemical and other infrastructurefacilities in North America, Asia, and Latin America. In her overtwenty-one years of practice, she has led numerous development,financing and acquisition transactions involving electric generationassets (including large scale coal, gas and LNG fired cogenerationplants, as well as solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, wind, biomass,waste energy and other renewable energy facilities), transmissionlines, and oil and gas pipelines.Wong’s current transactions include several developments of coaland petroleum coke gasification poly-generation and substitutenatural gas projects, and financing transactions in the renewables(wind and solar), ethanol and biofuels sector throughout the UnitedStates. “Find a career path that will make you happy,” Wong advisesyoung attorneys, “because your best work doesn’t come out whenyou don’t like what you’re doing. After practicing for over 21 years,I am happy to say that I still find the legal work I’m doing to beinteresting, challenging and fulfilling.”Hailing from a Trojan family, Wong received her B.S. in BusinessAdministration from USC magna cum laude, then received a J.D.from USC Law. She served on the editorial boards of Major TaxPlanning and the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal(formerly known as the Computer/Law Journal). She is listed as aleading lawyer in the 2008 edition of Chambers USA for Projects inCalifornia and was recommended in PLC Which Lawyer? for bankingand finance. On the international arena, she is representing thesponsors of a mine mouth power project in Lao PDR that will sellelectricity to the Thai and Lao state-owned utilities.Mark Karasik has defended and prosecuted scores of commercialcivil litigation matters. He is a trial lawyer who has defended productsmanufacturers in product liability cases, employers in wrongfultermination and employee discharge cases, and professionals inbreach of fiduciary duty litigation. Karasik has been involved in jurytrials, bench trials, national and international arbitrations. He also hassignificant trial experience in the areas of negligence, product liability,contracts, and professional and fiduciary litigation.Karasik specializes in complex litigation that helps insure success forhis clients. He has worked for U.S. health care conglomerates andinsurers and handled litigation matters for national and internationalproduct manufacturers as well. Karasik’s litigation clients include AHRobins, Addison-McKee, Inc., Ford Motor Co., Intercraft, McDonald’sCorp., 6 N. Michigan Avenue Trust, Hubbell, and The Beitler Company.In addition to his litigation work, Karasik is also a frequent speaker andauthor on topics relating to areas in his particular practice expertise.He has been elected to membership in the American Board of TrialAdvocates. Karasik is also a current appointee to the Illinois AttorneyRegistration and Disciplinary Commission Hearing Board, and acts asa Hearing Board Chairman, appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court.Karasik received his B.A. at USC in 1978, before continuing his studiesat USC to receive his J.D. in 1981. “My education at USC Law wasintense and far-reaching,” says Karasik. “It exposed me to most areasof the law. My education at USC Law showed me that, as a trial lawyer,one can be successful in many different areas of the law, following myphilosophy that variety is the spice of life.”Court Watch calls Judge Joyce Kennard, “possibly the mostindividualistic justice on the Supreme Court.” Kennard has a legacyof dissent and championship of liberal-leaning causes. She hasa record of significant rulings, including Sands v. Morongo UnifiedSchool District regarding religious observance in public schools,Kasky v. Nike regarding labor practices and commercial speech,and Stevenson v. Superior Court, regarding age discrimination andpublic policy. Kennard works hard to look through the formalitiesto discover the real people at the heart of important issues.Born of a Dutch father and a Chinese-Indonesian mother, Kennardhas braved internment in World War II Japanese and New Guineaprison camps, the early death of her father, the amputation of herleg due to infection as a teenager, and on-going discrimination dueto being mixed-race. She eventually moved to California, attendingUSC and receiving a B.A. magna cum laude in German, thensimultaneously attaining her J.D. from USC Law and an M.P.A. fromUSC’s School of Public Administration. Prior to her position onthe Supreme Court of California, her previous judicial experienceincludes serving as Associate Justice on the state Court of Appealin Los Angeles; judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court;Associate Justice pro tempore on state Court of Appeal in LosAngeles; judge on Los Angeles County Municipal Court; seniorattorney on state Court of Appeal in Los Angeles; and DeputyAttorney General in Los Angeles.Kennard has received numerous awards and accolades for her manyaccomplishments over the years, including the Alumni Merit Awardfrom USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; the PublicService Award from the Asian Pacific American Bar Association; andinclusion in the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame. She was included inThe Counselors, conversations with 18 courageous women who havechanged the world, by Elizabeth Vrato, and the law review articleentitled Joyce L. Kennard: An Independent Streak on California’sHighest Court (65 Albany Law Rev., p. 1181, July 2002).20+ years alumni25+ years alumni48 law.usc.eduUSC Gould School of Law49