Courtney Shields graduated from Quinnipiac University School of Law in 2018 with a concentration in Civil Advocacy and Dispute Resolution. Prior to attending law school, Shields graduated from Susquehanna University with a Bachelors in Political Science. She then deferred her enrollment with the law school to spend a year living in Dublin, Ireland to work as an event coordinator at a 5-star hotel in the city centre.
Shields officially enrolled at Quinnipiac University School of Law in fall of 2015. She devoted her time at QUSL to several different student-run organizations, but always gravitated towards Alternative Dispute Resolution as an underlying theme in her approach to problem solving. Shields’ first certified legal internship was at the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO), where she was introduced to mediation in cases of discrimination in employment and public accommodation. Shields then completed the Center’s 40-Hour Mediation Training and later became one of the first students to take part in the CHRO Mediation Project, which helped lay the foundation for the school’s new in-house Mediation Clinic.
Shields went on to spend the fall semester of her 3L year interning at the South African Human Rights Commission in Cape Town, South Africa. There, she was able to put her client counseling and mediation skills to the test in a multi-cultural city with 11 different national languages. That same year, Shields was also elected President of SDR and served as the Center’s Student Co-Fellow.
As the Center Student Co-Fellow, she represented the Center at the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution 2017 Spring Conference in San Francisco and assisted with the Center’s Annual Speaker Series. Shields also served as Director of the ABA Regional Representation in Mediation Competition, while competing and coaching in ABA Regional Negotiation and Client Counselling competitions as well.
After graduating in 2018, Shields worked as a recruiter for QUSL’s Admissions Office, traveling around the country on behalf of the school the following year, while waiting to hear that she successfully passed the NY State Bar Exam. Afterward, she put her client counseling skills to use as a Temporary Assistant Clerk in family court at the New Haven Superior Courthouse.
Currently, Shields’ early career has come full circle as she recently completed her first year as a Human Rights and Opportunities Trainee with the State of Connecticut’s Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. There, she mediates and investigates claims of discrimination while working with the Commission’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee to help educate the general public on the fundamentals of client counselling, education and empathy. In her spare time, she still coaches and judges ADR Competitions for QUSL and is working on learning to speak Spanish.
When asked if she had any advice for students interested in a career in ADR, Shields said students should think outside the box when it comes to ADR. Students would be surprised how useful mediation, negotiation, and client counseling can be in both traditional and non-traditional legal roles. Effective communication and active listening skills are beneficial in any profession, not to mention in our own personal lives. Shields’ final piece of advice to law students is to always seek new opportunities, but know when you find the right fit for you.
To see Shields’ bio, click here.
